This is the third time I am posting this so I am copying over replies to the first two. The first one wasn't converted for easy viewing and the second one I forgot to uncheck hide results. Please place all comments on this one.

Here is the first half of this review. I'll post the other half in a day or two. I am giving my advice/thoughts on hands. Don't just take my word for it though. Think about what you might do. I am sure others will disagree in some spots so please voice your opinion for discussion.

Note that Villain is limping some though we don't quite know what range yet. Checking behind K2o is pretty standard. I'd assume his limping range is weak/low cards and raise my KJ type hands until I know more. The flop is unlikely to have hit either player so you can try to fight for pots like this with either a lead or a check raise. Being passive on the first dry flop isn't bad though.

At these deep stack sizes, 3x big blind raises are standard for many players. Personally, I use minraises since I am lazy and some even limp a lot (Cog Dissonance comes to mind). There are many preflop strategies that can work. As for your preflop range, for a while I toyed around with 100% button range. I've setteled with about 85% for now just to show my opponent I can fold some hands and not force him to play back a ton. Postflop play will certainly affect how profitably you can open some of the junkier hands.

For me this is a standard fold facing a 3x raise size. If it was a minraise you can think about calling but if your postflop play isn't up to par yet, stick with a tight range out of position.

Standard

Obviously AK is a great hand to reraise with and I like the sizing when this deep. It looks like he might be kind of sticky preflop as he called our very first reraise. A bet of 300 into 400 might be slightly big. I'd usually go about 250. Low stakes players are usually going to play fit or fold postflop in reraised pots. Given that he folds you can assume he didn't call your reraise with 56/67/78/89 and probably had something like QJ though I wouldn't discount total trash like Q5s yet.

I like the fold. It's possible Villain is playing tit for tat give you just reraised him but either way don't make it a habit of calling reraises with 56s unless you have a good plan postflop that doesn't entirely count on hitting a pair or flush draw.

Standard

Standard

I like the check behind preflop. Sure 33 is ahead of his range but unless you expect a lot of folds preflop, it's not a hand I try to build pots with out of position. Our opponent probably doesn't hit much of KJ9 given that he limped but you can try to check it down. His river bet is very suspicious as he probably bets a K or J earlier in the hand. The only thing he is really repping is a 9 and I'm not sure he bets pot on the river with it. You obviously can't call after getting counterfeit but you can think about a checkraise. Yes, you wouldn't be repping much either but it's a $20 game, he probably won't notice. I am not saying you played the hand poorly. I am just trying to open your eyes to options and ranges given actions.

I'd probably open 46o and stick to throwing away hands like T2o and 83o. If he was 3 betting you a ton then the fold would be fine.

Interesting that Villain didn't take a shot at this on the turn with T high and a straight draw. Trying to check down bottom pair like you did is fine unless you think your opponent will try to barrel you off often. You can either bet the flop to try to take it down or check/call one street and then give up.

Good

Standard

Preflop raise is fine. Flop bet is fine, usually between 60 and 80 is good in position. His checkraise is small enough that you can call. On the turn he checks, he is possibly giving up or going for a turn check raise or realized he overplayed his hand and is now pot controlling. You have some decent showdown value now and a good draw still so checking behind is good. On the river with trips obviously a bet is in order but because he checked to us a 2nd time he really won't have much. I'd bet smaller looking for a crying call or a spaz bluff raise. I think a bet of something like 200 would be better.

First hand Villain folded on his button? Must have been pure crap

Yah you can fold 63o np.

Yay another Villain fold preflop.

Played fine. Notice his checkraise sizing is different than before. Might not mean anything but it could.

Standard

Fine

Weeee he folded another button.

Open this until he starts to 3b a lot.

I think this is a spot that can easily go either way. I fold here often as do many others yet I know of plenty of good players who routinely call in this spot. To each his own. If you think you can get to showdown often with ace high then calling would be fine or if it was A3s or A8o instead.

Fine

Fine

I don't like the flop check. I know he has been check raising some and you are scared of facing one but I think you can profitably call if he does check raise. He has already shown he can checkraise and give up. You have a good hand with middle pair and can get called by draws/ace high/over+gutter etc and you might not like that many turn cards if he comes firing out. Value bet the flop. Given that you checked the flop, the turn bet is good. I might even think about betting the river as well something small.

Yay!

Fine

Fine. Blinds change and so does his raise size.

Standard

Fine

I like that you switched to minraises. Some make the cut off at slightly shorter stack sizes but like I said, I miraise from the get go.

Preflop is fine. I'd either bet the flop or turn though. You can get called high cards/overs/straight draws/flush draws and Villain does like to check back draws at least sometimes.

He might have picked up the pace with his 3 bets since you have been folding to them or he picked up some good hands. Hard to tell still. Fold is fine.

Standard

We haven't seen any of his hands that he has checkraised the flop yet. He could be doing it with trips or good draws or air or overs/gutter. You don't have much so a fold is reasonable. He seems to be trying to run you over though.

Good

I am all for cb'ing a lot vs most players but this flop hits way too many hands and given his proclivity to checkraise, I'd just check back the flop and give up.

Fine

He really is 3 betting you quite often now. You have a few tactical options at your disposal. 4 bet bluffing, tightening your button range, and widening your 3 bet calling range (and playing back at some flops). I'd probably snap out a 4 bet here to 380 and see how he reacts. I mean folding is fine but you have to plan a way to combat his weak 3 betting range.

Preflop is fine but bet the flop. You should try to get 3 streets of value out of top pair and your hand isn't good enough to checkraise the flop.

Preflop and flop are fine. I don't like the turn bet. The board didn't change (no scare cards) and Villain will likely call a turn bet with whatever he called the flop with (maybe folding only something like ace high). I think the best option is just calling his small river donk. If he is using it as a block bet he likely won't call a raise.

I think fine. 77+ i'd be raising his limps though.

Fine

You certainly missed a river bet here. You can definitely get called by worse. He really won't have a Q here that often so you are good unless he rivered a flush and he will raise and tell you that if he did.

Fine though maybe fold a few more of these trashy hands to strengthen up your button opening range to be able to play back more often after you open.

Fine

Hmm, you cb'd an 89T flop but not A86. I guess you do have the gutter now that you don't want to get checkraised off of. I probably still cb here though. Gutters aren't for checking and trying to hit. They are for bluffing with... unless you think you can go for a delayed cb often.

This opponent is looking pretty competant so far. He is mixing up his aggression in different spots preflop and postflop.

I am not sure what you are doing on the flop. You have Q high and no draw. I really doubt our opponent has an ace here after limping. Go ahead and check raise if you want to contest the pot. You need to start throwing some aggression his way and seeing how he reacts.

Fine

Fine

Bet the flop. Not many 3/4's in his range I'm sure and if he checkraises his range is pretty bluff heavy. Look to call and play some poker on the turn and river or 3 bet him right away on the flop. I'm not sure about the turn call, kinda iffy and I don't usually get in that spot often to have to think about it. I would actually have loved to see you bet the flop and then barrel the turn. Given that you called the turn, I'd certainly bet the river. He won't be checking a J all that often since not many draws missed for him to bluff catch. Try to think about his ranges for taking actions.

I like calling a minraise with JT. Nearing 20bb OOP though, you can think about utilizing the reshove with some hands. Given how aggressive he is preflop you could probably shove any two cards profitably the first go around.

Good

Bet the turn and then river for value.

Interesting move. I guess you thought he might CR the flop often forcing you to fold so you turned the tables on him! Small probe bets are often a sign of weakness and your small raise got the job well done.

You certainly are going to be playing A8s. At 26bb it's close as to whether reshove or just call. At 20bb I'd just go ahead and shove as he can certainly call with some worse hands. His raise size does jump out as being a bit bigger than normal. I know we end up seeing his hand and it's just garbage but often people will raise slightly larger here hoping you reshove. Calling preflop and checking it down is fine unless you want to try to barrel both the turn and river as a bluff. Interestingly he again chooses to check a draw behind.

Sorry about all the stupid extra posts to finally hopefully get this one right. Please read and respond!

quote from All_or_Nothing
quote from Freakg
quote from Mr. G
quote from dhcg86
quote from ConcreteDonkey
Checking back a hand like middle pair tends to really polarize your range to tp and air of which then you'll obviously have a lot of air. Opponents can then really try to take advantage of your weak range. I tend to bet middle pair when I think worse hands are going to call (draws, overs, worse mp/bp). Middle pair is actually quite a strong hand usually and you can extract 2 streets of value often and sometimes 3. You might want to check back middle pair if you think your opponent is going to fold when you bet but is likely to start bluffing the turn and river so you can snap off a lot of calling value.

On dry boards, some players just give up and some players like to fight back. If your opponent seems aggressive and is going to fight back, you can try things like 3 betting his checkraise or floating it. 3 betting can look bluffy though but it takes a lot of balls to 4 bet bluff you back. As for floating, it is tough unless you think your opponent is going to give up on the turn and check/fold when you bet half pot. If he is going to barrel the turn often then you want to just call his checkraises with your stronger hands rather than 3 betting them and possibly 3 betting your bluffs. There can be some leveling that goes into dry boards. It's hard to say what is best to do.

I am going to hold off on posting the second half at least until tomorrow night and maybe Saturday so that we can get some viewing/replies/discussions on this first half.

Good work ajloeffl,nice of you to this for free.

Some thoughts of my own

The J8 hand check turn even if it seems he floats a lot,but people love to float blackdoor flushes and you can get him off A/K high on river most of the time. I'd probably miniraise over that river donk.

It seems to me that you don't really pick the boards you cbet in terms of texture and how your opponents range hits that texture. And i wouldn't have adjusted to drastically tone down my cbetting against an opponent that c/r a lot,but the one time you called he gave up on turn.

Ok I will reread now and comment everything I agree/disagree with.

#1: c/f is fine. People don´t give lots of respect early anyway. With a K club and a kicker higher 4 we can flat to see if he is the stab / give-up guy. Check-raising an unknown here is awful. Imagine you checkraise to 80, the Turn comes a Js, the pot is 220. What are you gonna do? Bluff three barrels (maybe into nuts?), or check and opponent bets for 80. Basically you are lost then.

#5: 200 is a bit much, we don´t know a lot about villains 3x range and his 3bet-calling range. We don´t have any reads on him and play a big pot OOP. I prefer something like 160ish to keep dominated hands in and leave us room to manuever post. Completely agree with joeffls flop analysis though.

#9: I def. bet turn 1BB, we get value from some flushdraw, Qx and Tx. Most random player on 20s will check them behind on river unimproved as they have SD value and never think of converting into a bluff. As played I would overbet river for 120ish to fold out AX QX TX and all smaller 57ish hands and pocket pairs as we split vs them. Notice that a fullhouse or threepair is only a very small part of villains range, who doesn´t necessarily check down pairs as he already stabbed a flop.

#11: Turn is an easy valuebet. Villain will always call with 3x 4x anydiamond hands and also check back river unimproved. The result proves that everything I´m saying is right. He doesn´t stab his air, checked a draw behind and checked his pair on the river because of SD value and straightscare. Checking such hands because "villain doesn´t stab a lot" is a mistake imo and it should be pointed out.

#14: Flop I really prefer to cbet 60 instead of 80. I think we get everything to fold for 60 that we get to fold for 80. Checkraise is def. flattable, turncard is not the best as it improves some JX straightdraws and also gives T9 the nutstraight. River I def. disagree and bet more like 380ish. I don´t think villain is ever going to fold an Ace and everything else even a piece of wood knows it´s crushed now. Also I disagree with joeffl that a smallish bet might induce some spazz. This opponent is such a nit, fit fold guy so far that we can´t really expect sth like this. For like 80 we probably get a "perfect odds" call from 78 or sth, but if he decides to check down any ace (which is a major part of his checkraising range now), we loose value a lot.

#16: You can also raise here. Out of 6 raises villain flatted once, 3bet once and folded 4 times. I don´t expect him to defend too wide and except for the last hand he seems rather like fit/foldish guy. I prefer to raise a 3-6 than a 9-2.

#18: Again with 80 you waste 1BB on such a dry board. Maybe this guy just read a chapter about checkraising.

#34: Yes it´s really a mysterium what this donk is up to. First he plays like a passive limping nit, then he starts checkraising two flops in a row and now he is on a 3betting spree. Hard to tell where he´s at. Maybe some tilt / pro move mixture.

#36: I would probably not let this one go. Maybe this is spew, but if I am right, this guy checkraised 3/3 flops now and I would either flat and rep any heart (hoping that my 5h draw is live some of the time), overcard on turn, OR make a smallish raise to like 350, expecting him to fold trash. Sometimes you fold here and notice 10 hands later that villain was just on a heater, but I hate to get c/rd every flop and ran over.

#38: Don´t c-bet this board. As played overbet river for 480.

#43: Easy fold 4th pair no draw to his stab.

#45: A9o is good enough to attack his limp imo. I bet flop, turn and river mainly vs 7x 8x and 9x hands. I agree with joeffls that a river valuebet as played is the nuts. 70-80 would be fine imo.

#46: J4 is a fold pre vs a 50% 3betmaniac.

#52: Second time villain is stabbing after we check behind flop. Although stacksize sucks a bit, I would go for a raise here:

His range is 8x 4x 3x Jx, some pure draws (probably) and some bluffs. Also I don´t expect him to ever hold a strong J like KJ or QJ as he 3bets like a maniac. He can´t continue a lot on the turn when you make it 200. You can jam any 9 T Q K A river potsize.

#56: I prefer a fold pre. He defends and 3bets a lot, 39s is a ****hand. As played: After he folded a paired board already I don´t mind another cbet. Also he hasn´t folded pre anymore afair so his range can be xy here and we should give it a try. I don´t like the turnraise. I agree with joeffly that a minbet is a sign of weakness here. Notice though how he bet 1/3d of the pot with the second nutflush on the river.

#57: Not the first time he 2.5xes, the first time on 20/40 tho. I suppose he does this with some higher SCs, Pocketpairs, broadways and Ax. I prefer a reshove as A8s doesn´t play too well OOP and an Ace can be an actionkiller very often. + Our stack is not big enough to manuever with flushdraws / backdoor draws a lot + We don´t have many reads about his button play after a PF raise.

thanks everyone

Mr G, your comments are very helpful. I'm going to start varying my cbet size according to board texture, that's not something I thought of much before. And also pay more attention to what villain is cbetting rather than just the frequency. There were a lot of good reads you got that I missed. fwiw he was a $20 reg who had made over $2000 at those stakes, although you pointed out plenty of ways to exploit him.

I agree K high has some showdown value and we could call the flop bet but we don't know his barreling tendencies and check/calling on that board doesn't look too strong. Also most player won't float a flop CR on a paired board that often. You can just give up if he did. I would normally have just lead the flop though and was just pointing out options.

I hear this both ways from other good players. Some like to use 200 size and others smaller like 160-180. Maybe someone else can chime in more on this.

I agree a lead might be better. I didn't think about him checking back for a chop often.

Yep, turn is a good spot to value bet that I missed give the flop action.

Though I pointed out that he might have checkraised the flop and checked the turn for pot control. Do many players really checkraise an ace on the flop and then check both the turn and the river? It really looks more like he just gave up on the pot so a spaz/crying call is our best chance.

Vs an opponent that is checkraise happy, lowering cb size can be useful as well. I think 60 would be a good standard vs this guy rather than 80 now that he is checkraising so often.

I like the overbet idea. After us checking the turn, Villain should be betting the river if he hit his draw and it's not like we are being super aggro so he expects us to bluff a 4 straight big.

This thread has the converted hand history and shows the results. I know some of you were interested in the results which I left out by accident on the last thread. Please read and leave some more comments for discussion.

Thanks!

very nice HH review ajloeffl!

can you do one for one of my matches?
how much would it cost?

keep going.
nice stuff man

These ones that I post are free but I have a few people lined up depending on how many I can find time for. I am going out of town for a few days now so my next one will be near the end of next week. My "payment" is in getting some good comments either about my comments or about stuff that I missed or debatable lines. Oh, and I hope maybe that spamz0r sees them and gets an itch to do some more

put me in line, mine doesnt have to be anytime soon, jus whenever u a chance PM me.

tx for doing these, theyre rly helpful.

mr. g itt can't wait to get some time to read over this ****

The second half of the review is at:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/58...rt-2-a-847924/