Hey all, had a fun little day today playing a $460. Have some hands to discuss- as always massive blunders by myself that are comical and I look back at like wtf but will ask.

H1- 1st couple levels of day and I have 60k from starting stack of 30k after running hot and stacking some Ax hand with a set. Ok so my image is aggro- I’ve shown 2 hands down where I bet river with no hand and get called and just show my hand for lols and to show I can be light (I’m tag). Ok so onto hand- ep opens to 600 at 200bb level, from now I have AA and make it 1800, old guy from button 3bets to 6100. From looks, he looks like standard old guy that is tight so I’m like he’s def super top of range. Ep folds, and I elect to call. Are we ever putting the 4 bet in here? I wanna say villian was at 30k to start hand or maybe slightly less. I thought our hand isn’t so face up if we 4 bet but idk maybe I just 4 bet here?

Hand- flop was AK2 and I cbet 3300 and he folds (sigh). I felt we def stack this guy on favorable flops. Wanna say he probably had 10-10 to qq honestly.

H2- this one is just comical. Ok I have 60-80k at 500bb level and still aggro image. Utg is a middle age super nit (didn’t know this yet). He opens to 3k and I’m bb with AQo. He has 18k to start hand. His sizing to me felt like scared 77-99 so I just pile 25k in and he snaps with AA. Do we just call here and see streets. The hand would have been me punting anyways bc flop was something like Q52. Spr was like 2-3 so I’m sure I check raise flop and we get in anyways but I feel I should just call the 3k bc it’s punty with his continue range to my jam pre. I didn’t know at this time the guy was super tight but found that out later in day watching his play (he limped a lot , didn’t play many hands).


H3 later in day- this blunder occurred. Ok kinda weak tight woman limos 1k at 1k bb level with 20-25k. I make it 3.5k to her direct left with black QQ. She calls and we see flop of K52. Xx. Turn 5. Xx. River K. She leads 2.5k and I lol rip? What do you do here? She ended up having KJo lol. Such a punt by me and spew of chips sigh. Can I just call river or raise small to 6.5k on river and elect to fold to her jam. Wanna say she would have jammed 18k on river? I just felt my qq was super underrepped. 3 spades on board also and I block with one spade. Such a bad hand by me. Is just calling river the way to go or raise/ fold river?

H4- ok some guy that just bought in has 30k and has been fairly aggro so far (main villian of hand). Ok so it’s 1600 bb level- idk stacks. Tight guy opens to 4k from LJ. I’m cutoff and have 88 and decide to call to set mine. Bb jams 16-18k. I feel he can be light here somewhat. Original opener folds and I call. 88<AQo. This ok? Math wise I thought it was fine with the 4k in the pot.

H5- this one is interesting. So drunk guy has built a massive stack 100-120k. He opens utg at 2k bb level to 30k. I have AKo in cutoff and 75k. I elect to rip and he calls with 10-10 and we bink an A on the river. This ok? Guy was opening really odd sizing and opening too much.

He ended up tabling the 10-10 before saying anything so I was like wtf is that a dead hand after I shoved 75k. The floor said he would get a round penalty due to showing his hand without saying anything. He ended up calling though which was odd bc he showed his hand without saying call or anything. The way he played- I def could see his range as AJs+ 88+ or something goofy like that. Idk I don’t have fold equity really but yea thought he could have misclicked and maybe us lighter than the standard 15x open? Idk prolly bad by me but it is what it is.

H6- I open button to 4k at 2k bb level and small blind who is weak tight guy flats from sb. Bb is new to table and has maybe 60-90k and 3bets to 13k. I just sigh fold button bc I think his range is AQ+ 10-10+. You ok with this fold? Has no history with guy but he looked like standard old white guy that isn’t 3betting light ever here. Easy fold? I feel it’s ok to fold here from an exploit reasoning.

H7- ok not sure sizing but drunk guy opens utg to 5k at 2.5k level and one flat. I have JQhh from button and elect to just flat at stack of maybe 120k. Is this terrible? I feel i should 3 bet fold this hand to like 20k but decide to take low variance route and hope to smash flop. This bad? I don’t have exact positions of players but I just fold flop of K52 or similar with no hearts.

My charts say to 3bet fold JQhh from button in spot like this. Did I good by not taking aggro route?


I ended up doubling from drunk guy when I had 50k after min opening QQ. Flop 10-8-2 and I cbet 1/3rd pot and he raises so I just rip and he called K-10 and we hold.

H1: OMC 4bets you, not 3bet. I would definitely put in a 5bet to 15.6k or something like that (depends on how many chips OMC had, if he had enough that a 5bet made sense I would've done it, if he didn't I would've jammed. Since we're holding two Aces it's very likely he has QQ or KK and he won't be folding those to us given our image (if he's ever folding). So that was a mistake imo.

The blunder was you leading into him. Why on earth would you do that when we have all the aces?!

H2: I'm just calling often with AQ/AJ from the bb vs. an UTG open. Sure, in this hand it wouldn't have mattered, but I think we just call against a tight opponent or unknown who's UTG and opening. We disguise the strength of our hand, and we don't need to commit much if we airball the flop.

H3: I like a raise better than a jam. I'm not sure what you were hoping would call you, and blocking the flush is meaningless on a double paired board. Raise is better than call, call is better than jam.

H4: totally standard.

H5: totally standard.

H6: You don't say what you have.

H7: calling fine, 3betting is probably a little better, but calling is completely fine.

Sounds like you made a nice run, congrats!

H1 I goofed on positions. Villian checked to me on flop. I then c bet super small and he just sigh folded so I assume he had a jj/qq type hand. Maybe I just 5bet…. Sigh. I feel people tend to understand a 5bet is kk/aa a ton unless their is some sort of battling dynamic which I rarely see in live tournaments at low stakes.


H6- I folded AJo which seems super top of a button open range but guy just seemed super nitty.

I bagged like a tad under 20bbs for day 2. I played lol meh. I wanna say I made calls in 2 spots where villains are never bluffing + that QQ hand was a punt in a spot where it wasn’t needed. Think calling is better play in this spot or raise/fold to a jam but I’m just clicking buttons sometimes.

First 3 levels of day, had AA 3 times and KK. Flopped 2 sets with AA, flopped a set with 22 and got some lady to give me her stack. I x raise flop of 2Ax . Turn- I ponder my decision and she accidentally bets 2k out of turn so I just check and she has to bet 2k so I raise that bet with another x raise (no idea what she had but this was for a 300bb stack which is just a ton of bbs). Fun day minus I would rather run like that at end of day (obv) when one could easily turn a 50-100k stack into 300-400k vs turning an early day stack from 30k to 80k bc blinds are small.

Agree with most of what Auralex has to say. The one hand I question is the QQ hand with KK552 on board. Why are we even raising here? Are we expecting to get called by 88? Seems especially thin when she has a King here so often. In fact, I think vs this player type Fold>Call.

H1: I am 4-bet shoving here vs BTN. Looks like we can have AK as well as KK+. Because we are OOP post flop AK makes sense and might draw a call from QQ.

But since he isn't BTN and is SB/BB flat is OK sometimes to mix it up. But why bet this flop? Pretend you have a mid PP like TT and check it back. Villain clearly doesn't have AK/KK so its gotta be QQ. And you can have AK (but not likely AA or KK).

As played I would check the flop and probably the turn to induce a call on the river from QQ. If he has KK its all in anyway on some street.

H2: is a call in BB vs UTG open unless I know UTG opens very wide. I'm probably not c/r flop because KK/AA are so possible and 99-JJ would fold which does us no good. I'd rather keep UTG's range as wide as possible.

H3: Just calling river. The whole point of checking the flop and turn is to induce a bluff on the river.

H4: Must call vs 11 bb's. You are getting almost 2:1 pot odds. He could have any Ax really.

H5: I think him being drunk is the main factor here. He is likely to have JJ/TT given his pre-flop sizing so I might fold because really we aren't getting the right price to call. But if you really think he could do this with AQ or AJ even then it is a must call. Very hard to know. Glad you won the flip.

H6: I probably fold AJ here. But the raise sizing is very small given a call by SB and OOP in BB. So exploit would be to call not fold. However, if you think he is doing this mostly with QQ/KK then you won't make a lot if an A hits anyway.

H7: I don't like squeezing with QJs because a lot of the time we are aiming for draws which actually do better multiway. Also I prefer KJ/KT to QJ for blocker purposes. So I would call here.

Nah you are right. I think we have to call bc our hand is super underrepped. It’s like 2.5k in a small pot. I think calling is fine. What I did was dopey though obv. I hate making stupid mistakes like this.

Perhaps the raise with QQ is a bit thin. I just figured most players would bet a king on the turn and we’d get value from Ax and 66-99 (I see some weaker players open limp those middling pocket pairs), but it’s very thin and might be incorrect.

Edit: And if the positions were mixed up in Hand 1 then it makes a lot more sense to just call the 4bet preflop, but jamming isn’t bad since he so often has a hand he’s going with when he 4bets. Once that flop hits and he checks I’d check it back.

Day 2 hands galore!

Ok so I start day with 78k and 19.5 bbs, find a way to skirt into the money with 61k at 8k bb. Run that up to 350-400k from running super pure.

Then these hands occur I want thoughts on-

Ok so big stack is solid seeming player who is like middle of tight/loose. He opens 3 off me to 22k. I have K9s with 400k. I 3 bet to 66k as a 3bet fold. Solid? Villian folds and we take down 4.7bbs easy.

H2- ok so I open 99 to 20k at 10k bb and big stack guy 3bets me to 65k on button. I start hand with 440k? And he has 800-900k prolly. I elect to call (not sure if this is right)? Wanna say I was utg or +1. Flop 268. I check and he cheats 60-70k and I call. Turn 4. Check check. River A I check quickly and he bets 75k and I sigh fold. I honestly think AQ and AK is big part of his range here. Is this ever a call? I felt his small river bet was pure value after giving up on turn honestly. I think he never checks back turn with JJ+. Anyway we play this hand differently?

H3- I open JQo from lp and bb defends. I open 20k and bb defends. Stack is maybe 250-300k?. 10-10-q and I cbet 15k. Villian pops to 50k. He’s the type that is Rec and never doing this with J9 or Qx. I elect to call and see what he does on turn. Turn 5. He leads this time big and I sigh fold and show Q. He shows 10d so cool good fold by me I guess. Is it bad to call flop? I feel I wanna call flop to see if he’s ever light here and shut down turn but yea he has 10x like 90% of the time I feel. He’s never doing this with J9 or jk I feel.

H4- 180k at 10k bb level. I open A10dd to 20k and bb defends (big stack guy). Flop AJ5. I cbet 15k into 55k, he calls. Turn 10. He checks and I bet 60k into 85k and not much behind. He ranks and jams. Gg jkpoker1 Villian has QKdd and we hit the showers. Are you fine with flop sizing here? I see no reason to go but really? The hand played itself I feel, like I’m never getting away but just wondering if you like sizing?

Btw are you fine min opening when average stacks are 20-50bb late in tourny? I ran into 3 really gross bb defend spots. I see other players opening 2.5x to 3x which I consider a massive mistake with such shallow stacks. I got some folds by just opening kinda meh hands to a min open so I see no reason to go bigger and I tend to think I have a massive advantage against a weak bb defend range when in position. Are you cool with min opens?

I’m going to guess people here say min opening is great if you can play solid post.

Hey man where'd you play this MTT?

Turning stone lol

Thanks for feedback mr rick.

H1- I feel I can rep ak if I jam but do people really punt so many bbs this early with QQ or JJ? I could see him calling qq or kk but I doubt jj. I do have an aggro image as I’m 32 and look like I’m in my 20s (I think- like standard internet nerd that plays poker). My image at table was fairly aggro also so maybe I just rip. Also I think I should check back flop. Last week, I checked a set of QQ in a tourny and ended up costing me my stack in the money so I was kinda like don’t want to repeat that but this situation is totally different.

Villian never has J10 or similar hands they can have draws really. Do you like bet turn and set up river jam? I feel if we go xx on flop/ turn and just bomb river it looks kinda fishy. Idk though. I prolly would bet like 100-150% of pot on river to try and go for max value obv which never works I assume.

H5- I easily think he can have 88/99’here bc the guy was crazy. He had trouble counting his chips at the end of the day. Other players were like is he drunk or on drugs? He honestly seemed like he could have been on drugs. I def think AQ is in his range and maybe Aj but doubtful.

H7- I agree with you as I don’t mind seeing a flop multi-way with a hand that can smash flops with draws/ 2 pair. I like to error generally on doing what’s most aggressive. However I think drunk guy was super sticky so he prolly calls with a bad hand like kq or kj which we don’t beat so I’m ok. I think if we 3 bet, we almost gotta cbet if heads up to try and take pot when we miss. And the pot would be pretty damn inflated at my stack size of the time.

DAy 2 hands. Looks like spell check messed up your positions, but using K9s as a 3!/Fold is fine

H2. Marginal call preflop. Rest seems standard.

H3. If your read is this is never a draw, just fold the flop (and don't tell anyone). I doubt that player type has a worse Q. Not sure what you are hoping for.

H4. Flop sizing looks fine at this stack depth. I'd guess a solver would have 2 sizes at deep SPR, but with SPR 3, it looks like a range bet for a small size to me. I'll ask PIO. I'll assume you were an MP open.

Solver does split between 1/3 and 2/3 at SPR. AT does split pretty much down the middle. At SPR 10, you do need to bet bigger in these spots...

Thank you for this. Very helpful.

H2- should I just muck pre? I’ll be honest, I’m most likely going to be owned playing 99 oop here against a decent player (guy seemed solid and had heaps). I didn’t get vibe he was super aware or aggro so maybe I just need to find the muck in this really meh spot. The only time this hand is easy to play post is when we get clean low run outs or maybe 1 high card which obv isn’t common / the times we flop sets (so rare). I just hate folding spots like this bc I know personally I’m hammering 3bets from the button with most Broadway/ etc hands - yes for the lols 99 isn’t doing great even against a hand such as K-10 suited etc. Next time in a spot like this- I will put 99 in the muck and just sigh cry inside haha.

H3- yes this guy never got out of line really all day. He did a lot of goofy things like flat raises in position with what I assume were mediocre hands (also open limped from lp etc). I saw him flat in position a ton in spots I didn’t think were proper so I tag the guy as a rec player just playing his cards. 0% chance he x raises J9/jk like I said or even some random 2 card combo with no equity just to test me as the opener. Also he seemed like type of player that would x raise a Qx type hand 0% of the time (even though I don’t think someone ever wants to do that with Qx type hands anyways on this board texture).

Again- I need to be more aware here and just find the fold with such shallow stacks.

H4 yes I was a mp opener. Is it a mistake with my bet sizing at all? Should I always be setting up a turn shove here? I cbet 15k into 55k and then bet 60k into 85k. The villian Hollywood tanked for 30-40 seconds and shoved (maybe this should have made his hand obv). It was kinda frustrating bc I’m always calling when I commit such a big portion of my stack but the villian doesn’t understand this obviously. I had maybe 85k behind on turn. Is it goofy to bet 60k with 85k behind? It felt odd having such little behind.


H2/h3: I think I give live players too much credit for doing crazy things with very weak holdings. Idk I guess I just gotta play tighter in spots like this and not call the x raise. It looks obvious in retrospect…. Just wish I could think like this in game sometimes.