QQ hand: I like a River value bet because the only thing you really lose to is a 7, but you made it way too big imo. People aren't calling normal sized bets with 3rd pair. I think 35 or 40 is much better to target 88.

A7 I agree with Arty. If you do fold, you are making some pretty specific reads on your opponent...do you really have enough data to make these spots reads at this time? As played, I can't see me folding unless my read is rock solid.

QQ river play I don't like at all. Villain never bluffs or bets his thin equity (we confirmed that read by the way we played A7). You have SD value and it is highly unlikely that any hand we beat calls. The reason I asked the question earlier is i wondering if you were playing the board...which would still be wrong in this spot. Overall a very clear x/f against the villain you have described.

But this is a very good post. You express some mental game problems and post a couple of iffy hands. If some losses have knocked you off your A game...this is exactly the way to deal with them. Get them out in open for discussion.

Onwards.

On reflection, I doubt the maths support a call in the A7 hand (it's more than just counting combos as a lot of hands need weighting). Nevertheless, I think my call would be bad....pretty sure I would still make it "in game" though . TBC...I'm not in this spot, because I'm pot controlling, bluff catching all the way.

I think the QQ hand is way more significant than the A7 hand tho.

Thanks for responses lads

What do you guys think of the other 2/5 HH specifically the 2/5 KQ hands (the one where i 3-bet a LAG and the one where i bluff-catch vs. a LAG). Feedback would be much appreciated on them as well ^^

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@Fatboy yeah i've had some pretty bad mental game issues lately... my mental game comes and goes when it feels like it tbh

@ohsnapz never thought of it that way thanks for that bit of advice will def think of that when i start building up a 4 BI+ stack next time haha

@Arty great advice like always mate

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Quick HH from 2/5 biggest pot thus far...

2/5 Turning Stone
(SB) Hero $1025: JJ
(UTG+2) Villain I $1400: Bad TAG basically takes FPS lines... lol
(Button) Villain II $450: Unknown so far young guy seems pretty agro/prolly has a bluffing range... bayes thm

Preflop: V1 raises to 15, 2 other v's call in MP, V2 calls OTB, Hero 3-bets to 90, V1 calls 90, Loose passive villain in MP calls 90, V2 goes AI, Hero calls 436...?, Everyone else folds

Flop, Pot = 1100 (2 players)
A96

Turn, Pot = 1100 (2 players)
2

River, Pot = 1100 (2 players)
Q

Pre is fine assuming his raising range is wide and he is likely to call.

Flop should be a check. What are you folding out with a bluff there? Maybe PPs below T but that's really it. All of those will fold later in the hand too. It's also a disaster if he flopped big and you get raised off your gutter in a spot where you would've stacked him if you bink.


This really depends on how wild he is. Against a guy that's generally aggro, but not spewing wildly, we should be leading the Flop. We need to get value now, and it is a complete disaster to have the Flop checked through on such a wet board.

If you think he's a super whale that is just firing away constantly then the passive line is fine until the turn. In this scenario, we need to x/r turn. There are a ton of draws out there that will go ahead and put the money in and there are a ton of rivers that we can't play well because we can't know which of the million draws he actually has.

Check calling three barrels is what fish do. Whenever you notice yourself doing something that fish do, it's time to reevaluate your thinking. There are times to be passive vs. super aggrotards, but they are few and far between.

Hm...

For the 1st hand if i x the flop what happens if villain stabs the turn i'm prolly going to fold most likely i can't see him having that many bluffs as he called my 3-bet OOP but you think a delayed cbet strat is better in these spots and will get more folds? I have the BDFD so i have really good barreling cards and it's going to be hard for me to have any bluffs here...

For the 2nd hand i thought he was a maniac/bad LAG or w/e at the time but he is actually pretty solid/competent. I don't see myself leading here OTF i don't think we should have a leading range... but maybe not? X-raising the turn seems like an interesting line given stacks + if we don't plan to get to SD very often... ill do EV calcs with this hand later to see if it would've been +EV to x-call both turn and river. Basically ur saying we shouldn't have a x-calling range in this spot and just be folding or x-jamming all-in?

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Also recent HH i played vs. 2 Regs line check?

2/5 Turning Stone
(SB) Hero $700: QJ
(BB) Villain I $525: LAG will have a bluff-raising range and wide bluffing range when xed to, okay reg... all the reads i have thus far...
(CU) Villain II $600: TAG solid Reg better of the 2 regs

Preflop: Villain II raises to 20, folds to hero, Hero 3-bets to 60, Villain I cold calls 60, Villain II calls 60... 3-way

Flop, Pot = 180 (3 players)
J54
Hero bets 100, Villain I in BB calls 100, Villain II calls 100

Turn, Pot = 480 (3 players)
5
Hero x, Villain I x, Villain II x

River, Pot = 480 (3 players)
3
Hero x, Villain I bets 200, Villain II goes AI for 400ish more... Hero-folds

Hand 1: The question is what do you think he folds to a flop cbet? You seem to think that folding to a Turn stab is a problem. Why? If he stabs turn, he probably has you beat so just muck.

It's not that a delayed cbet is getting more folds, it's that it is getting the same folds. The point of going for a delayed cbet is that his range is much weaker if he checks the turn, meaning that you can discount a pair of Aces or Tens, and be called less often.

Seems like a terrible board to barrel imo. Nothing comes that scares him without giving you showdown value.

Hand 2: I think it's pretty insane to not have a leading range in this spot. Way too wet of a board with way too people to not go for value now.

Problem with calling the Turn is that we can't play the River well. He probably isn't firing all Rivers, but figuring out which Rivers are likely bad for us is really tough given the sheer number of draws he can have. An A, K, J, Heart, or Diamond could make his hand. That just makes our river decision unclear too often. You can definitely x/c then x/f river, but I don't think a x/c, x/c line ever really makes sense.

Nice thread OP ironically, I have played more in your neck of the woods (Yellowhead, ABS, Baccarat etc.) and you more in Montreal than me (despite originally coming from there. I spend summers in Dawson City, so grind the live games there (and winters in Asia).

Anyhow, GL, will be following

Cool thread, I live in Calgary and plan on grinding some more live cash, See you at the tables

I resemble that remark, but the stacksize is quite unfamiliar to me!

FWIW, I find these live hands quite hard to analyse accurately, as your opponents play quite differently to their online cousins, so I'm not confident in my ranging of them. e.g. With the JJ, I honestly don't know whether a call or a raise pre is best when it's massively multiway (don't these people ever fold??!), and I'm completely confused when the BTN backraises all in.

If villains just don't fold to 3-bets, you should probably stop doing stuff like 3-betting/squeezing hands like KQo OOP. I think you want more nut potential with your 3-bets and iso-raises in these sort of games if fold equity is in short supply.

Just discovered this thread..good luck sir!!

Wow many thanks for the support this thread support never fails to make my day :>

Btw Alberta >>> Quebec/Montreal by far $$$ wise... Missing Alberta really badly :l

@dubn i had to google dawson and wow that's pretty far... i'm assuming the games up north like alberta are very wild/actiony? I hear fort mac is pretty good never been there tho...

@rodge fav room in calgary? I like deerfoot the best tbh (not only coz i got a table share lol), but i think they have a nicer roo/professional staff although it's quite small. Grey eagle is pretty good coz of that poker rate thing, and cowboys is cool i guess they have the club thing there lol.



Thanks!!! Huge fan of yours seriously

I think a read a biography/interview post about you like a few months ago in a 2+2 article or something it was pretty damn inspirational and got me thinking abit

I'm just trying to take a line that maximizes my FE. I don't think he is going to be x-folding on a lot of turns he is going to have mostly a betting or x-calling range... typically only really fit-or-fold players will x to x-fold OTT a lot and that's why i don't like having a delayed turn betting range with bluffs.

Say v x OTT and i fire assume its a blank or w/e card and he x-calls plan OTR? You just really can't be one and done OTT in this spot...


The Bad TAG raised with T6s and called my 3-bet pre with it and then asked for a count for the guy who jammed AI for 450ish something... im not shtting you plz don't get high blood pressure

Yeah i would never squeeze any bluffs in this spot... it's a weak loose passive table.

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When the button backraises AI he has a pretty small/no value range and we might even be ahead of stuff like 99 or 88 etc...

I'm just going off Bayes Thm here, but he is unknown thus far and seems pretty agro is young and has tattoos and his attire is like woo... and if this guy was like an old man/conservative or frugal or something i would prolly think for a bit and fold.

Favorite room is deerfoot as well, Really only played mtts during their series but like the staff more than any other room and i seem to run super hot there as well

Did you get the chance to grind during stampede? Curious what games run during it. If your ever back in town shoot me a message!

GLGL

Lol they have huge tourney series/events every 2 weeks now in Alberta... i bet your on that 780 poker group?

Mm not quite i was there during winter and spring deepstack series if i rem only played 1/2 and a bit of 2/5. I think a lot of mid-high stakes PLO games run during it and i rem hearing of some guy losing 100k in 1 sitting... the 2/5 NLH there is pretty good as far as i rem tho well which apparently only comes about during those events.
2/5 NLH is dead in calgary... it's just PLO games now, Edmonton is prolly the best 2/5 game in Alberta but 1/2 is basically a 2/5 ya know.

Gotcha ill contact you when i get back man... glad to meet you!

...Btw they have a lot of deepstacks events in the coming months i think the championship is @ grey eagle and they got one in sept @ yellowhead.

Ya i try to play all the mains in Calgary cause they are absurd soft. Also in that 780 group but its kinda a joke. Might have to learn plo if i want to start playing live cash, seems like its the only constant 2/5 that runs.

Edmonton is basically the halfway mark in between Montreal and Dawson City. And yeah, games in Dawson play fast and furious much like in Alberta, as Dawson acts as the hub for all northern poker players, gathering the likes of Alaskans and folks from the North-West Territories and the Yukon, of course

The closest casino to us is Prince George, 2150 kms south-east

Hope you are enjoying Montreal though, great city to be in (hope you are staying in the city though, not near the Playground...).

Seems like you want to make him fold a hand, which is a mistake imo, cause people don't like to fold hands. I'm trying to make him fold pairs under a T, which I think he will fold to a single bet.

Again, what hands does he fold to a Flop cbet? Are you double barreling all blanks? It's ok to give up on pots. Can't win 'em all imo.

So far i've been playing my D/C-game all week fkn horrible mental game issues i swear this is prolly the worst i've played in my entire life (calling mistakes, spazzing mistakes etc...). Not gonna lie i'm running pretty badly as well...

Thing with turning stone is that it's super soft but there is no bloody action either that or it's the run bad (lol). Mostly the weekends seem to be okay, but you can't even transfer tables if your on the main so wtf turning stone? Like today i get seated with 3 nits, 1 fish (who has like less then 200), and the rest grinders... thank god i ran well actually (2k stack, bought in for 1k coz of a spazz).

Will be back today for round 2 hopefully a better table. Still stuck 300 this trip w/USD roll hopefully can get in the green.

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Some HH vs. some Reggy Villain's (need some feedback, i felt i butchered some of these really badly never been in these spots before...)


2/5
(UTG+1) Hero $1400: QQ
(CU) Villain I $250: Agro Fish
(BB) Villain II $475: TAG Reg, has been pretty agro and loose thus far

Preflop: Hero raises to 20, Villain I calls 20, Villain II completes in BB... 3-way

Flop, Pot = 60 (3 players)
Q96
Villain II x, Hero x, Villain I bets 45, Villain II x-raises to 135, Hero calls 135, Villain I folds

Turn, Pot = 330 (2 players)
6
Villain II x, Hero x

River, Pot = 330 (2 players)
4
Villain II bets 100, Hero...?


2/5
(BB) Hero $1150: 77
(Button) Villain $520: V from QQ, positionally aware obv

Preflop: 1 limp in CU, V raises to 25 OTB, Only hero calls...

Flop, Pot = 55 (2 players)
862
Hero x, Villain bets 30, Hero calls 30

Turn, Pot = 115 (2 players)
9
Hero x, Villain bets 65, Hero...?



2/5
(SB) Hero $1850: JJ, @ this point im perceived as pretty active 3-betting both for value and light preflop in the blinds a lot and raising coz of this run good of hands.
(CU) Villain $975: TAG Reg solid/reasonable thus far, positionally aware, does have a bluffing range not fit-or-fold...

Preflop: 1 limp in MP, Villain raises to 25, Hero 3-bets to 75, Villain thinks and 4-bets to 225, Hero...?



2/5
(UTG+1) Hero $1600: AA
(UTG) Villain I $1250: V from JJ HH
(BB) Villain II $450: V from QQ HH

Preflop: Villain I raises to 20, Hero 3-bets to 60, Villain II cold calls in BB for 60, Villain I calls 60... 3-way

Flop, Pot = 180 (3 players)
T86
V II x, V I x, Hero x back

Turn, Pot = 180 (3 players)
3
Checked to hero, Hero bets 75, V II folds, Only V I calls

River, Pot = 330 (2 players)
4
V I x, Hero...?

That's a really good point btw solid post man and i appreciate your advice so far.

Have a lot of off-table work i gotta do...

I think im done i cbf with playing live atm given how other things in my life have been going, this month has been a horrible downswing yeah can't say im playing A-game either tho really bad mental game. I just had a mental breakdown in the poker room/threatened to fk up the guy outside for slowrolling me on purpose (he was a 40-50 yr old guy/MAWG)... and got "kicked out"/banned for a day they were cool if i stayed tho lol. Also line x plz? (I think i should 3-bet more pre, but not sure in this spot given his line pre).

2/5
(SB) Hero $825: AA
(UTG) Villain I $900: Obvious fish, tho readless just came to table
(MP) Villain II $110: Loose passive

Preflop: Villain I raises to 40, Villain II calls 40, Hero 3-bets to 100, Villain I calls 100, Villain II goes AI

Flop, Pot = 330 (2 players)
Q86
Hero bets 200, Villain calls 200

Turn, Pot = 730 (2 players)
T
Hero goes AI for 525 more, Villain tank-calls

River, Pot = 1800 (2 players)
9

Hero tables instantly (just coz im last aggressor or w/e)... Villain thinks for a bit slowly, then smirks @ me or w/e and tables JJ

Bad mental game part...

2/5
(BB) Hero $650: 88
(UTG+1) Villain I $900: TAG Reg
(MP) Villain II $450: Nit

Preflop: V I raises to 20, V II calls 20, Hero calls 20

Flop, Pot = 60 (3 players)
852
Hero x, V I bets 30, V II raises to 65, Hero 3-bets to 200, V I calls 200, V II folds

Turn, Pot = 500 (2 players)
6
Hero goes AI for 475, V calls (enjoy the spew lol)

River, Pot = 1500 (2 players)
J

V tables AK

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Stuck -1400 atm like a -3.5k month or something? Anyways i give up... at least for now. Maybe pick online back up again? It's so demotivating as well when you have like 1 upswing for every 5 downswings or w/e too lol... (been stuck here a week with these kinds of days over and over again) Btw this is a pretty sht post i wouldn't blame anyone for unsubbing or just never posting in here again.

Sorry to hear about the downswing, I think it's a good idea to take a few days off to clear your head.

I would've 3b bigger in the AA hand esspecially with the cold caller in between.

Sure slowrolling is a dick move, the people who like doing it are usually rec players. Best thing you can do is not react and giving them the satisfaction.

Stay strong.

Some way back it was on my mind to post something about the next downswing, so I'm kinda sorry I didn't, but there is an etiquette to these PGC blogs (at least I think there is ), so I didn't want to rain on your parade at the time.

Anyway, I get that live edges are huge and this factors on variance, but NLHE is a game of tiny edges, which means variance is always going to bite yer arse sometime. And live players can't just drop down and push the volume accelerator to grind out of it.

Do you remember my post about 100 buyins, as written by Millar and his gang in Small Stakes Holdem...I think this is the reason why they set the BRM to nit factor warp. So you can mentally cope with a few months (year?) of live doomswitch.

Another factor is the age thing...especially playing older guys. I am an older guy...I've raised two boys, now in their late twenties. If I want to push a young guys buttons, I know exactly how to do it. Personally, it's not for me, I'm a peaceful old ***** er these days, but playing live a year back a young guy threw his chips at me when I stacked him. All I did wrong was outplay him about three hands on the bounce until he tried to bluff me when I had a boat. My point is, for all sorts of reasons, the age gap gonna tilt someone, either by accident or purpose.

Advice

Cool off, think it through, work off table, work online, build a much bigger roll, read a mental game book (I read the Poker Mindset, Matthers and Hilger, I think, I thought it was excellent, really did the trick). Post some online stuff on here.

GL

BTW, aside from the 3bet size mentioned above both these hands are just nh wp beats/coolers. Get 10 of those a day online

I apologized to the guy afterwards honestly i never try to have bad etiquette at the table ever ESP TO OLDER GUYS... (fk these youngs guys that like to slowroll and make shtty -EV bluffs that's who i'm out for tbh) but him slowrolling me was like the straw that broke the camels back because of how my week was going. That's why i said i had a "mental breakdown" lol... too much stress was getting to me with other stuff going wrong in my life i just can't handle this (im really weak).

Thanks for the post

Thanks man cheered me up a bit will try to do better