Hi everyone, was playing at a home game with friends tonight and got absolutely eviscerated. I have been on a pretty tough downswing, running into it left and right so I am very much seeing monsters in the dark everywhere. Still I am trying to play my game. The goal of this post is to identify any mistakes but also just hear from the community regarding how to handle situations like this.

The game is 1/1/2 (straddle is mandatory) and often has the 4 on too. Stacks get really really deep and in this hand Hero is ~$350 effective. Both Villains cover. Villains are both LAG's, V1 is a massive LAG who will call mostly anything pre flop, loves to bet huge and will put you in tough situations without a second thought. V2 is a LAG who is honestly kinda nitty at showdown but maintains his image with crazy bet sizings, showing occasional random bluffs, and table talk.

Hero should be viewed as nitty in this game. At this point Hero was down ~$300 bleeding from a hefty nit game tax but also playing super tight because I had been running extremely extremely card dead. What ensued is what happened immediately after I decided to loosen up a little.

1/1/2

25Ahhd9d

I open +1 A9o to $10 (this size has been standard at the table when the single straddle was on). V1 LAG 3bets from the blinds to $25. V2 LAG calls on the straddle. Hero decides to call. Hero's decision is simple: Villains had frequently been showing up with Q4o, Q5s, etc. in 3bet pots and I was pretty confident my hand was best pre flop.

Flop: 2h5hAd (Pot: $76)

V1 continues for $35, V2 calls, Hero calls. (V1 and V2 will usually c-bet/call with middle pairs - i.e. they love to float)

Turn: 9d (Pot: ~$191)
V1 checks (this is a sign of weakness he will continue firing with most of his best holdings). V2 bets $90. Hero has around ~$240 behind. Hero shoves.

Thoughts on everything are greatly appreciated.

Even with a nit tax you shouldnt be raising from +1 with A9o into someone 3 betting witb Q4o, but whatever, its a home game, its fine. if i did decide im loosening up a bit, id probably 4 bet squeeze to like $85 here and jam basically any flop.

As played, im calling the turn and letting V shove the stack himself. V2 sounds like he isnt an actual LAG, but just a TAG who occasionally spazzes out, so calling lets him spaz some, and value bet himself sith AJ+ some, which are holdings that make sense for a cold call of a 3 bet.

This is fine, the pot’s so big, and our hand is so strong, we just want to get all the money in the middle. It’s a double-flush-draw board and you have top two—odds are, at least ONE opponent has a big draw, and since there’s no guarantee he’ll shove the River if he misses (it would be awfully ambitious to expect you to fold $150 to win $520), so our best chance of getting paid is to shove now and make him call it off on a draw. (OR maybe he has A6 and will put YOU on a draw and call off light, etc.)

Also, preflop, I think you should highly consider 4-bet bluffing. This is not a hand that flops well, and absolutely not a hand that plays well multi-way. You faced a tiny 3-bet from a Blind and then a cold-call from a straddle, both from players you believe have very wide ranges—just make it $110 and pick up that dead money!

(If you want to be balanced, I’d be much more likely to just call with a hand—even a better hand—that has more post-flop playability, ATs or A5s, for instance. Q9o is kinda perfect for this: weak enough that you won’t be heartbroken if he 5-bet jams, but strong enough to block his great hands and not be dead if he calls.)

I fold A9 pre almost always. Never, ever opening from +1. Once you are here, shoving turn is fine/good. You can call, but there are a lot of scare cards and it would be terrible to have to fold the best hand or not get paid w/ the best hand.

i think the open is pretty bad even more so if you expect to get 3bet by things like q4o (i would guess this is a mistake ranging them) and dont think id be looking to play back by calling.