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Short handed against a mediocre thinker Short handed against a mediocre thinker

10-23-2010 , 04:38 AM
1/2, $230 effective. Only table in a room
In the middle of Nowhere, NV

Villain: Strangely competent for this level, but entirely too loose pf. He certainly wins in this game if only because of his ability to pick on the old weirdos. He views me as a TAG and has seen me make a couple weird, biggish, correct laydowns. He's also watched me go card dead for one of the driest 3 hours of my life. I feel like he sees me as wicked tight but his biggest competition at the table. He generally fast plays his medium strengths, waits for the turn with his big ones, and does plenty of different stuff with his other stuff.

5-handed, I've started raising a lot more, never with a hand and never gotten to showdown. I've also never bet a turn, either taken the flop or given up OTT.



5 handed, I'm UTG villain is BB.

I raise pre to $10 with AT, get one rando, he calls with zero delay.

Flop: T44

He checks, I bet $13, rando folds, he snap calls.

Turn 3

He checks quick, I bet $25, he almost instaraises to $60. I spend about 2 minutes figuring out WTF I'm going to do, including time cutting chips. I was completely torn between all 3 choices. I end up calling.

River: A

I find this to be a more interesting card than most prolly will, because I feel it f'd with his bluff range a ton, and it does absolutely nothing for my hand. He thinks for 15 seconds and casually slides in $80 which, again, I find very interesting. It's such a value # and it leaves me with zero fold equity.

I'm hoping for comments about anything but PF as it is not a # I would usually use, but it was correct for this lineup. I have thoughts I cam share if theirs any conversation other than "call".
Short handed against a mediocre thinker Quote
10-23-2010 , 04:39 AM
One important thing, his calling range preflop definitely includes weird 4's, any flushdraws, and a small amount of overpairs.
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10-23-2010 , 04:47 AM
I really dont see alot of bluffs in his range he may have decided to play hand like jj qq tricky pre but that is unlikly. Imo he either has like 56c or 57c or hands like that flushdraw gutter ball. Id say he has a 4 a large part of the time. Id fold the turn. what did he end up having
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10-23-2010 , 10:11 AM
If villian is capable of raising draws on the turn this is a insta call. As played you have a bluff catcher here. Is villian check-raising flush draws at all? I know villians like this that are so bad and play a ton of hands but only raise with the nuts or air never with equity and don´t vbet properly in spots like this to set up for a shove when they actually have it.
Short handed against a mediocre thinker Quote
10-23-2010 , 10:26 AM
From your description of villain fold or call is fine here I think. It's just one of those spots where he's bluffing or isn't. If he raises a draw OTT then I think he has to bet the river and if he's raising a hand like A2cc OTT then I think he still bets the river, your hand is a pretty obvious ten.

If I had to choose based on your info I would say call, but I'd have to actually be at the table myself and see villains play for me to make this call.
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10-23-2010 , 10:48 AM
I don't think I could ever fold.

One thing to think about, (I don't have any read on villain so this would be your spot at the table). A lot of the time if I'm in villain's shoes and I see somebody betting $25 into 60 on that board it seems as though they are trying to give themselves odds on a draw. If this is the case I make a smallish bluff-raise (I would go to 70, but 60 fits) with anything that I feel has equity, especially something like two big cards with a club. Then, since you just called you pretty much have a 10 or a flush draw, if I hit an ace I would bet it for value, which explains all the action and puts you ahead. Although a 4 is in his range a lot I think you're winning this as often as you're losing.
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10-23-2010 , 01:27 PM
I'm not fond of the title. You've presented no evidence that he's a mediocre thinker. In fact, if he's playing a lot of hands and winning, he's probably a pretty good thinker post flop. He balances his range on the flop and mixes up his play. That's a sign of a dangerous player at 1/2.

Your bet sizing is too small pf, too.
Short handed against a mediocre thinker Quote
10-23-2010 , 05:41 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPainosaurus
I don't think I could ever fold.

One thing to think about, (I don't have any read on villain so this would be your spot at the table). A lot of the time if I'm in villain's shoes and I see somebody betting $25 into 60 on that board it seems as though they are trying to give themselves odds on a draw. If this is the case I make a smallish bluff-raise (I would go to 70, but 60 fits) with anything that I feel has equity, especially something like two big cards with a club. Then, since you just called you pretty much have a 10 or a flush draw, if I hit an ace I would bet it for value, which explains all the action and puts you ahead. Although a 4 is in his range a lot I think you're winning this as often as you're losing.
This.

Your bet sizing OTF and especially OTT is too small. Your hand is underrepresented given your bet sizing. If you had bet the turn larger, then you can comfortably bet/fold. But you screwed yourself by betting so small that he might think this is a decent bluff spot. IMO, you have to call given your bet sizing and expect to see a 4 a decent amount of the time.
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10-23-2010 , 06:23 PM
I can't believe I murdered this HH. There was no other limper, it was HU on the flop. Also, pf bet sizing in live games is/should be proportional to the flow of the game. $10 was good. I see a decent split for fold/call so far.
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10-23-2010 , 07:25 PM
After rereading the HH I think there are a few things I missed.

Has villain acted this quickly in other hands? Given how quickly villian acted do you think he is acting?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jihad
He generally fast plays his medium strengths, waits for the turn with his big ones, and does plenty of different stuff with his other stuff.
So a 4 is a lot more likely than I originally thought. At the same time he isn't repping much. How tight is this guy post flop? Does he float the flop or turn bluff raise often?

Then his river bet sizing screams "call me".

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jihad
He views me as a TAG and has seen me make a couple weird, biggish, correct laydowns.
But then a part of me thinks since he has seen you make some big folds, that maybe he thinks he can push you off a big hand on such a dry board.

Weird hand. I feel like you underrepped your hand, but don't think villian can be bluffing much. River bet sizing by villian scares the **** out off me. I can't fault your river decision either way.
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10-23-2010 , 08:41 PM
villain might Vbet worse, like any AXcc, putting you on a naked ten or JJ-KK.
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10-23-2010 , 10:52 PM
Description of the villain, and the fact that villain made many of these actions quickly, indicates to me that there is a reasonable non-zero chance that this line can be taken with flush draws and other semi-bluffs that you beat.

It seems to be enough of a chance that you will be good on the river often enough to make the call.

Obv. this needs to be taken into account with your personal observations of villain and whether you think he is likely to take the line I described.
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10-25-2010 , 12:09 AM
Thanks for the responses. My river decision ended up being based on the fact that I thought he was a decent hand reader and capable of making moves, and I know that he knows that I know my range is almost entirely bluff catchers. I think his bet sizing on all streets was great, amd mine was bad.

I called. He said nh, Q hi.
Short handed against a mediocre thinker Quote
10-25-2010 , 01:04 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jihad
Thanks for the responses. My river decision ended up being based on the fact that I thought he was a decent hand reader and capable of making moves, and I know that he knows that I know my range is almost entirely bluff catchers. I think his bet sizing on all streets was great, amd mine was bad.

I called. He said nh, Q hi.
Wow. I agree with Venice. This guy is definitely NOT a mediocre thinker.

NH.
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10-25-2010 , 01:24 AM
villain did not play tihs hand poorly.
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10-25-2010 , 01:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jihad
Thanks for the responses. My river decision ended up being based on the fact that I thought he was a decent hand reader and capable of making moves, and I know that he knows that I know my range is almost entirely bluff catchers. I think his bet sizing on all streets was great, amd mine was bad.

I called. He said nh, Q hi.
Your poor bet sizing induced a bluff. Now if only you had secretly planned such a genius line!
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10-25-2010 , 03:54 PM
Well I'm no poker genius, but I knew he was capable, and I was going for value while being aware I was inducing.

I agree, he played it well, an I told him I thought so. He was fairly aghast I made the call. He got up immediately.
Short handed against a mediocre thinker Quote
10-26-2010 , 07:51 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jihad
Well I'm no poker genius, but I knew he was capable, and I was going for value while being aware I was inducing.

I agree, he played it well, an I told him I thought so. He was fairly aghast I made the call. He got up immediately.
the correct move against a more fishy opponent is to say 'I had 2 pair, how can I fold'

As played, he left the table, nh sir
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10-26-2010 , 08:01 PM
$35 for $106, snap call. If he has a nut flush draw he may think his Ace is good. He may think he can get you off a 10, you have to call.
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