Thx yeah I agree with you, I actually made a massive mistake along those lines in session yesterday by not 4 betting a spot pre (or even flatting) and missed out on $300 to a guy it turned out grossly overvalues. Small pps such huge implied odds in low stakes that I do limp a ton in passive games where I don’t expect many/large raises pre but I should relook into this and find what position I should be cutting this off.


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I do feel one of my biggest weaknesses at the moment is sliding into weak passive play mode which is bizarre since I’ve traditionally been a very LAG and had the opposite problem raising too wide in too many positions...it’s like I’ve swung from too far one side to the other.


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More hands from this week

1-2 Bally’s $400 behind. I open TT in lp to $12 and old reg who can be a bit erratic and has 3bet strangely high frequency today goes to $35 otb w/$600 behind and I call. Flop 634 rainbow I check and he bets $25 I call. Turn is 2 I check and he bets $50, I find people fire their Ax way too much when they pick up the wheel draws in these situations so I call. River is a 8 and brings a 3rd spade/bd flush I check and he quickly bets $100. I think he checks behind here with showdown value like JJ/QQ and he can’t have any of the sets here with his 3bet pre...only other thing he can have here is bd flush but I feel like he would have taken more time considering river so I call and he has AJos.

1-2 Bally’s against same V as above, a few limps to him in highjack and he goes to $12, folds to me in BB I have AA I don’t want to lose him so just go to $30 and he is only caller. Flop 884 rainbow which should be super static for me so I’m fine with checking to keep overs in my range and possibly induce him to take lead with overpairs and overs. He checks behind so I downbet and lead $25 on 5 turn just wanting to keep him in hand and possibly induce a raise. He calls behind river pairs the 4 which is great because I can sometimes get called by Ax here on the double paired board. I tank and then bet $60...he tanks and shows 77 I ask if he’s folding and he mumbles call but in an angly sort of way so I verify with dealer that he is calling and then I show.

Here is a weird hand that I’m unsure about
AQhh utg +1 I limp (I’m opening here majority of time), utg +2 raises to 15 folds to me and I call. Flop Q94 2 clubs, I check call $25 from him. Turn Ac I check call $40. River Kc and I feel like despite my showdown value that I can turn bluff this river for these reasons: Ac Kc Qc are all out so he shouldn’t have any many opening club combos and I don’t feel he would barrel off with something like TT/JJ w/club on this flop and turn. Also check calling I should be wider and have more clubs. This was my thinking anyhow. He had $150 left behind I lead $75 and he tank a very long time before fold. I showed the red Q and he tilted pretty hard over the next 10 min or so so I’m curious what he had. The issue is idk if my hand is just too strong still on this river to bet fold. But would suck to check and have him check behind with AK,JT, sets, random clubs w/Ax and random small clubs w/pps (again I think this % is unlikely to have barreled flop). Anyways it was a weird spot and runout and I thought bet folding > check calling/check folding (these 2 seem super close with A/K/Qc on board vs random V?) > bet calling.
***checkraise turn seemed bad let’s him off range we’re beating that might fire brick rivers while gets money in bad vs hands beating me (yes I realize there’s very few beating me on turn). Also open jamming seems less credible on river than sizing I used or such was my thinking and I should have more Tx Jx w/club floating flop but maybe I’m overthinking here.

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Thoughts on the AQhh hand last one posted appreciated (or any hands for that matter). Do your worst I’m in the process of rethinking/rebuilding a lot of things. Thx


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Nice little boost!
My pc was worth $600 brand new, probs worth half that now! Gl with the grind!

Ya I had a sick setup with a Ryzen TR and an Nvidia 1070 but I spent way too much time playing games. I do still play MTG Arena on laptop but that’s about it right now.


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gl, only read first page but you absolutely need to shot 2/5 more aggressively than @ 12k - allocate 3 buyins at the 10k point for shotting it. Even only shot it on Fri/Sat or something, look at the game quality, but waiting til 12k is definitely a mistake.

glglglglg

TT hand - His down bet on the flop is atypical of a standard c bet. I would look to see if this is a reliable sizing tell for him. Check calling flop seems standard. When the turn comes and he still fires for about 40% pot, I just let this go. Sure he shouldn't have many straights or sets but he can have all the overpairs bigger than TT. He should also be barreling the river as well with his overpairs and overcard bluffs. The timing tell on the river does lean it towards air. I would just note that he three bets light and is capable of triple barrelling with ace high. But just because he does, doesn't mean you have to call him down with your whole range. I think TT is about the cutoff point.

AA hand - While you would like to keep him in, I assume you two are still relatively deep and would not three bet out of position with a premium so small. You are giving him amazing odds to stack you. I just three bet to 4x and make it $45 to $50 preflop. As played, I like a down bet on the flop and check back turn line better with my whole three betting range. He should be pocket pair heavy and I'd like to collect that value now as he should be peeling 100% of the time. Then the check back turn when he calls, looks like I'm giving up with AK and he's likely to bet the turn to protect his hand and depending on how aggro he is, he might go for thin value on the river. The line you did take is fine as well but it's more a line for value then a bluff line with AK imo.

AQ hand - Just open pre 100% of the time. There's just no good reason to limp at all with this hand in any position. Ok so you limp utg+1 and you get a bunch of caller so now you play a multi-way pot with a premium multi-way hand for a $12 pot out of position. Have fun with that. As played, you reap what you sow. Now you have no idea where you're at, heads up, out of position with a premium. With no information with the hands utg+2 raises with, I would probably just check call flop and check shove turn. Still plenty of hands he can call turn with, namely KK with a club, AK with the king of clubs and maybe just a bare AK. The river, turning your hand into a bluff is weird. Your line doesn't make much sense. While villain shouldn't have TT/JJ with a club, neither should you. You should legitimately only have JT clubs. I mean how can you have more clubs? Are you limp calling utg+1 heads up with any other club combo or offsuited JT or T9 with a club? If you are going to donk the river, I think just ripping it in is best for max fold equity, even though it doesn't make sense. You are giving him a great price with a hand that obviously beats yours.

One mistake I see with your thinking in general is thinking villains will have the same thought process as you or are thinking at the same level as you. Just play super solid poker. Stop trying to make it harder than it needs to be. It's ok to fold "hero call" spots and get bluffed some times. Unless you have a decent history vs the villain and have reliable live tells or their game is one dimensional and can deviate from standard play, just play super solid and collect the chips.

As has been already said, limping up front with T8 suited is bad. Not being topped up to $300 is bad.

As played, I like check raising flop and preparing to barrel off. With the button raising so small after many limpers, his range is insanely weak. J94 rainbow shouldn't crush his juicer type raise range beyond 99, 44 and J9 suited. I just attack him and set up a double barrel. Check raise flop to $70 and jam turn for $145.

By check calling flop and check calling turn, you are forcing yourself to make your draw. I would probably just check fold turn honestly. You aren't getting great direct odds on the turn. Your implied odds are ok but you should be going against a weak range so extracting max value on the river will be hard.

The river donk jam is just wtf. It screams I have a missed draw and just gonna jam and pray.

Actually I like check calling flop then check jamming turn. I get to see his turn action to validate his weak range before attacking it with max fold equity. If he calls, you should have 8 clean outs vs the top of his range.

Thx this the only way I’ve been able to sort out salvaging this spot postflop as well. That or as you mentioned just checkfolding turn.


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I figured voluntarily putting more $ in on turn would be - . I do agree he can call off with pair w/club hands though so that’s a solid consideration in just check jamming here, I was really just planning on check calling all non club rivers to let him fire again with worse. I do try to avoid assigning Vs my thinking process but at same time I like to try to assess what range I can believably represent, I figured more clubs present since I can have all str/gutter combos otf as well as (possibly) pairs w/a club that I’m floating flop with whereas he’s weighted much higher premium range which is hard to have clubs given board texture. Sizing on river I figure I save half the $ bet folding vs jamming but get close to the same call frequency.


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AA and AQ were played pretty poorly. TT is fine.
AA 3b has to be a lot bigger. And bet flop. No need to get fancy. You have the nuts, just bet and try to get as much value as possible. So much value lost by 3b tiny and checking flop.
AQ don't limp. As played, river lead seems bad. This is why you don't limp/call AQ pre, you get into weird spots like this

I think we lose a big % of his range pre 3betting too big and also I’m unsure if we get 3 streets of value without trying to let him take lead on flop, however certainly vs some hands (JJ/QQ/KK) here can make substantially more standard 2/3 pot flop turn possibly overbet river so question is are we losing lot of $ not approaching his entire range this way? I’m not sure, I know at the time I felt like he was opening too often too wide pre so felt he would have too much sun-premium hands for that value approach. I also believed he might take lead on his non pair AK/AQ hands (see TT hand vs same V)


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This is flawed thinking. You want to cb your whole range on flop textures like this. What are you going to do with your 3b bluffs on this flop? Are you going to 3b JTs and then just check a flop like this?

I can agree with this since I do want to cbet most of my air on this flop although I don’t know that I’m 3betting light often enough from out of position in this spot to need to balance, the exception where I might have JTs etc here is if I’m squeezing out of blinds over an open like this and a flat. *in which case my sizing probably like $55 pre.


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Had a crappy session at Venetian on Saturday, pretty sure fairly standard spots but I’ll post some hands later this week to illuminate a bit. Was legitimately running poorly...in fact this unfortunate combo occurred >>> new table I sit in seat 5, turns out most aggro player is directly on my left so when seat 9 leaves early I grab it and new guy sits in my seat. New guy in my previous seat goes to $25 over s straddle and call and gets a call so I go to $90 with AK, he is only caller; Flop A5Q 2 hearts he checks I cbet $120 and he jams has QQ stacks me then 8 min after his seat gets called for the $600 random promo...sigh.

Not making any $ is a pain. To be honest I’m not the least bit frustrated by the results. I’m still trying to play my best and make good decisions, not tilting any, and fairly optimistic. Unfortunately it IS having some negative impact on my motivation to play and as such my volume has been crap this month. I probably won’t even update results until after next weekend bc I’ve just been skipping so much volume. Been playing way too much MTG and won my Fri Night Magic draft AND constructed standard formats for the first time ever (on one night). Tempted to jump in some qualifiers or something but I’ve been out of that sooooo long and it can be a time/$ sink.

I feel like I need to change something up, rebalance the chakras, find my chi, get the mojo going. Not sure what that entails yet but some sort of challenge may be in order be that volume or otherwise or maybe dive way into some new strategy site or switch up where and/or when Im playing? I’ll think it over and figure something out. I may even go back on the o8 grind for awhile but I’d really rather not.

More hands later this week including some spots from the -$ Venetian session.


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2 quick hands I lost at Venetian session, I think lines were ok, sizing maybe not ideal? but appreciate any feedback/criticism.

Hand 1: 300ish behind, 1 limper and I make it $16 in the cutoff with 78cc button calls w/400+ behind, small blind and big blind call. Flop is QT5 w/2 clubs, blinds check to me and this smacks opponents range over mine so cbet just seems bad if I can get free card realize equity...I check and button checks. Turn is about the best nonclub card I could ask for it’s the 6 so now I’m open ended w/fd, blinds check again and now I want to bet to A)build pot to leverage for larger river sizing when I hit a high % and also to legitimately barrel some brick rivers to win vs hands like KJ and Tx; It’s probably too optimistic but not impossible I just take on turn bet also. I struggle with sizing choice but bet $35, button raises to $90 pretty quickly and both blinds fold. Raising seems horrible but I have too much equity to fold and I should get full value on any rivers that hit me so I call. River is pretty terrible it’s non-club ace. I guess I can rep AQ/KJ but that seems too narrow and he can have these hands, also I just don’t feel like he folds much after that turn raise so I check fold to his $120.

Hand 2: Somewhat loose-passive recreational player w/$400ish behind opens to $15 in MP and gets a call, I squeeze on button to $50 with KTss and $380 behind. Original raiser calls the flatter folds. Flop Tc8d6d V checks and I bet $75, he calls. Turn 4d he checks, at this point I think he’s sticking on a hand like JJ/QQ so I don’t think firing again is good. River is Th though and he checks...now I should get value from almost his entire range he called flop with and not going value seems terrible. I debate sizing again before betting $90, I think anymore is just a jam and small chance he hero folds something we’re beating. He says “you got lucky on that river” before calling so I’m thinking Def overpair. I say “yeah I guess so I have a 10” ...dude seriously flips over AJdd and says “oh I thought you had a full house”. Cringe. Nitrolled.


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H1: I like cbetting flop rather than delayed cbetting turn because we aren't really repping any made hands as those we would usually bet flop on this wet board. As played I would size a little bigger because with your sizing you are going to get looked up by a lot of mid pair type hands I think. As played calling the raise getting direct odds to improve is good. I also agreed with check giving up on the river.

H2: I don't think KTs is a hand that should be in our squeeze range (without a very specific read), would rather have premiums and offsuit broadway blockers QJo+. I think overcalling and taking a flop multiway IP is better. As played I like flop bet for thin value and because we have 5 outs to improve when beat. Turn check is good as V should be weighted to overpairs (depending on how loose V is) that are continuing. River is obv a value bet, might even go slightly smaller because the 3 flush board.

Thx PA, hey you going to Westgate on Thursday? I want to come by and play but can’t until around 7pm, will anyone be there playing then?


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First hand - What were your reasons to iso this particular limper? For me, every decision that strays from sound, solid fundamental poker needs a great reason. So I'll choose to iso light when the limper is straightforward and weak. Great iso candidates are limpers that almost always limp call pre and then play fit or fold post. Also, the rest of the table are weak and straightforward. I prefer using big cards to iso with vs medium suited connectors. Medium suited connectors are better against tricky thinking players so you can crush their souls when you flop big.

As played, I like the flop check as well. As you reasoned, it's a horrible flop texture to try to c bet into three other players. On the turn, even though you pick up more equity, I would check again. After the flop checks through, it's highly unlikely a single turn bet will win the pot. While true that it will build the pot for the river if you hit, everyone's range should be weaker than usual. You are not going to usually get a fat river bet for value in that gets paid off. As Pureaggression said, you aren't repping much after checking the flop. The only hand that makes sense with the line you took is 66 and that's it.

I would just be happy to realize my equity as cheaply as possible here.

Hand 2: Same question from Hand 1 as far as good reasons to stray from solid poker. A loose passive player is a horrible candidate to three bet iso. Their raising range is going to be much stronger. Just fold pre. If they are the player type that won't fold their raising range ever and you can stack them if you flop big, I could maybe get behind a call since there's a cold caller and you have the button but that's all really you have going for you here.

As played, I'm fine with the line you took. I agree with the larger flop bet to discourage over cards from calling. Obvious turn check back vs his most likely QQ/JJ as you read as well. Obvious value bet on the river when he checks again. Sizing is fine but I think you could go as high as half pot and still get called by QQ/JJ.

As for the villain's actual hand of AJ suited, this is why you don't iso that player type. That's not solid fundamental poker. That's exploitative poker, just trying to win every hand and bluff every chance and bulldoze everyone. While there are tables where that's highly effective, just realize even in those kinds of games, you don't have to go that exploitative to win and win big.

Just need to be more selective when you decide to play exploitative poker.

I usually help start the game at 2pm, don't tend to stay til finish but I would say it goes to 10pm or so.

Thx, on hand one the limper was limp folding almost 100% pre so I sort of disregard him entirely treated it like just an open which I’m def opening this hand in cutoff often, I was opening for 12-15 so the $16 somewhat taking into account the limp. I can get behind check-call on turn, I just figured sooo many fairly hidden outs that I needed to build pot for legit value bets otr also if I was flat-called I had intended to barrel a fair amount of rivers especially if it came from either blind and I got to act last otr.

Hand 2 the cold call was a very loose passive as well and had flat-folded to several 3bets previously so his flat felt weak (dead $ to raise) and I anticipated his fold, this is why I felt was good value in squeeze and win there or go hu with position postflop. 4bets just don’t happen in these games w/out AA/KK so I can psb a lot of brickish flops when he flats-xflop and have him fold hands as good as JJ/QQ as well as all his broadway combos. I do understand what your saying though, if he was a loose agro opener with the flat then I take down pre a much higher % vs that wider opening range. You ever flatting the KTs with position in this spot though or just fold?


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I'll call some times if I feel maybe one or both of the blinds call. But I think folding is best. It's just a little too weak to play. Has lots of reverse implied odds. How are you going to play it if you flop top pair with the king? Say you flop QJx and turn or river a king? Just too many marginal hands you can make vs a MP opener's range. Too much guessing.

I agree I’m actually thinking I’d more likely flat this out of bb if I’m closing action but maybe that’s flawed. Felt too weak to overcall but felt too strong to not consider squeeze candidate...again maybe my thinking is flawed on that consideration.


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