Here is a HU NLH SNG hand history review for fellow 2p2'er Quimp. I think this review turned out very good. Feel free to leave any comments, questions or concerns

Standard check behind PF. Going for a check/call on the flop is fine. You have the best hand sometimes and have a decent draw but certainly don't want a big pot. Leading the turn is fine trying to go for 2 streets of value. When your opponent raises though it can rarely be a bluff. There are no draws that he can have and if he really wanted to bluff he might have bet the flop. His raise is usually indicative of the A or K high flush. I'm pretty surprised he was doing this with the Q high. I fold on the turn but if you do call on the turn, I'd certainly fold on the river even though we have good odds to call given that we have no reads yet. Now that we saw showdown keep in mind what he limped and that he can slowplay.

Fine.

Standard. That's a big raise by him though.

Fine.

Standard.

Solid play on this one.

The board doesn't hit much so I probably put out a bet of 30 here regardless of my hand and expect a lot of folds. You do have some showdown value so a check/call isn't bad one street folding to further action. Check/fold isn't that bad either though given you do just have bottom pair and we don't know his barreling tendency.

Fine. Against some players I may check K high down sometimes but only if they really don't go after pots once you start checking (ie really passive). His checkraise was pretty big.

Another dry board you can try to put out a bet on the flop or turn to try to steal. Funny, he checks the flop and then bombs the turn 2x pot... maybe another slowplay.

Not that I don't like limping sometimes, but you are pretty deep and he isn't 3 betting us yet. I know Cog Dissonance loves to limp a lot but I am not sure his reasons besides maybe trying to keep the pot small for a longer match and bigger edge vs fish. Good flop stab.

Yay AA. BOO he folds and to such a small raise.

I guess you can keep limping and it isn't that bad. I just don't do it until we get much shorter stack sizes. Checking K high down is fine but it's hard to call a bet anywhere. You have so much fold equity on that dry of a board that I probably just bet it even though a smart player might assume you don't have an ace after limping. Kinda weird that he didn't raise our limp with KT. This is pretty useful when we really want to limp later and think he won't attack them much. He also seems to like to check high card hands down.

He bombs again with a big PF raise. Your RR size is technically fine especially since you really want a call out of him but I might make it bigger given that is range is probably pretty strong. You got to see his reaction to smallish 3 bets in case you wanted to semi bluff with one later. Good flop sizing too as there is no need to bomb the flop on such a dry board and it sets up a good turn shove.

Standard.

Fine.

Fine.

I've seen you stab in position trying to steal with little showdown value. I am not sure why you don't do that out of position. J62 just doesn't hit much so I'd donk out 20-30.

Fine though he doesn't see to attack limps so maybe limp these crap hands and stab the flop with a minbet if he checks. This could be exploitable vs a better player but you won't run into one that often in a $5 match.

Fine. I am not really sure if his overbets mean a slowplay or taking advantage of the fact that you shouldn't have much and he wants to ensure a fold.

Bottom pair can be a tricky hand to play sometimes. You can hardly get called by worse or fold out better. I'd really just CB most boards vs this opponent though regardless of my hand as he isn't that aggressive.

Standard to raise his limp and sizing is fine. We just flopped a great hand and would like to get all in by the river if we can. I'd bet the flop slighly bigger, like 100 to be able to bet the turn much bigger and shove the river. The river check is pretty bad. The board is scary now and our opponent probably doesn't have an air hand that he needs to and would bluff with. We have to bet ourself. If the board had run off better I would be shoving the river but since it is so scary I might bet trying to get a crying call.
For those mathematically inclined, the formula for determining bet sizing if you want to use the same bet size for the flop/turn/river to get all in on the river is:
BetSizeAsPercentOfPot = ( (2*SmallerStackSize/PotSize)^(1/3) - 1 ) / 2

Standard PFR. Flop check is fine. I could go either way on the turn bet. We likely have the best hand but really won't get called by worse yet he should fold the turn a whole lot.

Fine. Middle pair with a strong kicker is certainly worth trying to get a value bet or two in.

PFR is fine. Flop bet can go either way. We see he doesn't mind checking down yet the board won't hit him all that often. Turn check is certainly good and river fold is good since not much can be bluffing besides 67 or an oop float.

Bet! Damn he folds again. See a pattern? When we bet a dry flop he folds!

Some showdown value so checking down is alright. I probably would have picked a more standard line of raising preflop and betting the flop.

Fine.

Fine.

Looks fine. Wowza bad that Villain checked behind top pair on the flop... especially given that you really don't stab that much.

Good.

He has called many of our preflop raises after he limps even when he has a **** hand (eg 95o in hand 21). He also plays very fit or fold postflop so you could probably PFR and then bet the flop profitably with two napkins. I still don't usually raise small suited cards out of position. Maybe I should rethink that some.

PF is good. Flop is good as it shouldn't hit much. Check back on the turn is good as we have slight showdown value and won't get called by worse. River fold is good as no draws missed unless he floated oop.

Blinds just went up. Good PFR after he limps. Flop bet is good as he shouldn't have an ace and can call with a 7 or 5 or maybe a draw. On the turn I still think he have the best hand usually unless he had K7 or something. But he certainly will fold a 7 or 5 to a bet now. I also don't think he will bet any worse hands if we check but we do give him a free shot to improve albeit usually just 6 or 8 outs meaning we will still have the best hand usually on the river. I probably try to check it down at this point though he folds so often to a turn bet. I'm torn. I'd like to hear any thoughts others have though.

Fine.

Yay!

I usually just bet the flop and then give up especially vs this slowplaying nit bot. Has this guy bluffed every or thinly value bet? (minus the first hand which isn't that thin) Hell he even checked down 5 high with a gutter and a 1 card flush draw (hand 17). Against most players calling the river is standard after checking it down but vs this Villain I think it is a fold.

I don't think I'd bet quite that big.

PF is fine. I bet a bit smaller on the flop, like 75-100.

Fine.

Hmm. Why did you change your PF raise size from 75 to 90?

Deeeeeeez nuts.

Fine.

Good.

Fine.

Maybe bet the flop or turn. River bet could go either way too. Wtf, he limped A6s?

I am still not sure your rhyme or reason for limping. I guess opponent won't know either lol. Against some players river call would be fine but not this guy. If you are going to check down a hand like K high vs a non bluffing nit bot, you shouldn't be calling bets later in the hand.

Still no need to bet quite that big.

Fine.

He is so tight you should be stabbing more often especially with 7 high and a gutter.

Fine.

Villain just raised huge, 5 blinds. I doubt that he does that with a big pair especially given that he likes to slowplay. He could certainly call your shove with worse hands like AK or a smaller pair though he probably folds most smaller pairs. It's also difficult to 3 bet smaller than a shove given how big his open size was. We have such a huge edge postflop on this guy that I'm not sure I want to chance such a big flip confrontation or him having TT/JJ. I might just call the open and then donk some flops. He is not going to put us to any "tests" without having us beat hard. There are so many juicy blinds out there though that a shove is plus EV.

PF is fine. Bet the flop. Given that he calls the turn, do not bet the river except if you wanna bet like 30 chips to get him to fold a missed draw.

If you are going to check, it should be to fold unless he minbets like he does. In fact a 9 puts a 4 straight out there so I am not sure I'd even call a minbet. I'd rather donk minbet.

Fine. Maybe I minbet the flop but after you turn a pair try to check it down and obviously don't call when Villain bets river.

Easy fold.

Good.

We have a 1 card OE straight draw and an over card. I'd rather bet the flop like 40 and then bet the turn and river after I spike. Check/calling for a 1 card draw kinda sucks being oop and the draw hitting making the board look so scary.

Good.

Good.

Why are you limping an ace? No need to be tricky. Checking it down is fine. Oops he hit one of his 6 outs.

Raising his limp is good. I'd make the flop bet slightly bigger, like 125. The minbet attempt on the turn to draw cheap is kind of funny but it might have caused him to spazz raise for protection. Fold is fine after he raises.

Damn. After 60+ hands this is what it comes down to? You need to have 47.4% equity to break even here. I actually don't think you have that much. He really isn't going to shove anything worse than AK. He might shove AK and a bunch of pairs giving you around 45% EV. This might sound silly, but I fold.

Easy call given the odds.

The match was mostly played well. I'd just like to see you take a few more shots here and there at pots given that he doesn't play back much and is so tight.

I'll admit to having skimmed again, but there must be some over the top ridiculous evidence for you to fold AK to a shove over an openraise 50bb deep, the kind you basically can't get in 1 games worth of hands. That pretty much has to be bad advice.

We open to 2.5 bb and he shoves 48. Tell me what type of hands a nit bot will do that with. Run some equity calcs and then tell me that with the huge edge we have against him it is worth it to take those odds.

Though I have to admit in game I probably would have just called cause it's AK and AK is da nuts.

It's a 5, you simply can't have these kind of ironclad reads that people won't do dumb **** from one game. We're at least 55% here and it's silly to pass that up.

1: pretty std call on turn. At these stakes some ppl overplay low 1card flushes and you'll also see some total air bluffraising. River is a puke fold, I think it's too often a sucker bet
7: I'd lead or c/c. c/f to a minbet is bad even tho we have the bottomest pair coz it's a really dry board and he has only overs here a ****ton.
9: lead flop or lead turn. Checking twice on such a dry board is pretty bad
12: Bet river, he almost never has anything worth calling here and we'll catch a nice read if he tries to bluffcatch w that KT. Also I don't like limping here, villain doesn't really seem like that much of a station or an aggro type of player either
13: 3bet bigger altho I don't mind making it 10bb vs a 4x at these stax. As played I'd make it smaller on flop tho, like 160-220, hoping to induce a call or a raise
15: I think you're missing a lot of spots to lead out in a limped pot. A lot of players at these stakes are going to fold a wide range to these leads, but since you never tried it, you'll never know :\
17,19: Again, stab. Playing flop in limped pots is one of the crucial points in your game at low stakes coz it's a situation that arises often, unlike some weird hero call on river that happens once every 50 games
20: tbh I like a check on the flop. He c/r'ed us once already so we know it's in his arsenal and he might be check/raising draws that we beat. I don't really mind a cbet but if we had a BDFD I'd def like a check much more
21: looks fine, but damn bet river. I'd make it something like 390 to appear weak but b/c >>>>>> CRAI vs a typical low stakes villain
22: I'd bet flop for value (I could be wrong tho, I suck at getting gameflow reads from written HHs). As played cbh turn, you aren't really getting called by much worse and you aren't folding out better either.
29: c/f turn. After that KKKQJT9 vs 95 hand I don't think we're getting him off any one pair hands there
30: yucky sizing. I'd make it 1/2-2/3 pot, weighted toward the smaller sizing

I might do more later but this is pretty exhausting

edit: 62: uber mega std call, how can you even think about folding AK here? ffs he could have AQ-AT and we're blocking AA/KK and flipping vs QQ- anyway. I don't think there is a player at $5s where I could have a read strong enough to ever fold AK pre

WTF at ever folding AK pre?

Awful advice, esp at these stakes

yeah hand 7 u said u dont know his barrelling tendancies so tehrefore surely thats a reasosn to call early and find out exactly what they are

hand 8 u aint picked up on hero's bet sizing tell/difference

hand 31 - maybe u shud rethink that some

hand 33, def value bet the turn he is capble of calling off with worse for sure see hand 21 for example why

hand 51; lol at flatting pf

+1

Thanks for the review ajloeffl and the other folks for the replies. Even if there's some disparity between the comments on some hands, I look at the HH from a global perspective and everyone seems to agree on the most obvious stuff (like not trying to C/R on K9KTJ and donking more in general). There are spots where you said the board was dry when at first I thought they were "semi-wet". I'll be looking into fixing those.

Mr Wray, great comment about #7, def agree from that perspective. Not sure I understand what you mean by "hand 8 u aint picked up on hero's bet sizing tell/difference". My cbet size is almost always a function of the board texture. I'd bet the same whether I have air, a pair or a set.


lol @ me donking 50 into 60 (I never do that). I kept using that sizing for a bit since I had already done it and the flopped straight will get called a ton.


Any comments on limping Kx with the intention of checking it down? It struck me as a good idea but the more I do it, the more I think it sucks.

Thanks again ajloeffl.

quimp, with hand 8 i was referring to your sizing.. it's nothing major but i think one c-bet was t70, another was t75.. i would keep it the same size as standard unless you've got a good reason to deviate. I wasn't referring to your hand strength - just the actual amount, same with pre flop raises, one time u went (at t30/t15 level) t80 open, one was t75 and another t90 in the space of a few hands (not sure if that's 100% accurate - just from memory). Just keep it the same. I know at the $5s, some players will just all ATC so you can literally increase your bet size in accordance to ur hand strength to get more value but standard just keep it consistant.

Your Q about limping K-rag and checking it down.

I think you're asking a lot to be able to check down freq and have the best hand most of the time. It's pretty weak. It's not aggressive enough. You want to be aggressive in position, so if you are going to limp, i'd at least c-bet a decent % to keep the pressure on Villain, but personally id just raise pre as standard in any case (there's obv a lot of factors in that but tl;dr already)

Good point. *drops it from arsenal*

True about my bet sizing. I think it's OK to vary based on texture but maybe I'm over doing it by changing by increments of 5 at 10/20. 60/70/80 should be enough; or maybe a standard of 75. I'll have to think about that one.

The open to t80 is a rare case... My std is t75 at 15/30 but on the 1st hand of a new level, villain has no idea about my raise size so I made it 80 with a value hand. (is this too weird?)

The raise to t90 is just for testing the waters à la Cog Dis (as was the turn min donk with the nut FD with AT).

Just be aware that if you are betting various sizes what effect this has on your opponents reactions.

GL (",)

Yep I agree now. I sometimes get in this mode where I give opponents wayyyy too much credit lol It comes from my 10 max nit botting set mining days.

I'm still not quite sold on this one. What do we learn if we call and then he bets the turn and we fold? but maybe it's good because it's so cheap to try to see if he just bets then gives up?

If a guy is limping a lot and then mostly only continuing when he hits a piece you like to raise anything reasonable and then cb most boards?

I think this is great actually. I neglected to remember how stationy he was when he hit a **** pair on a scary board and we can certainly get called by worse than an 8 still even with both an A and K on board.

I think turn can go either way given we don't know anything about this player yet really.

I think given how cheap it is to try to get some barreling info I like the c/c more now rather than c/f.

Std

I agree that we should not be limping unless we have a good reason to. And oops, missed the 4 straight. A bet to try to get him off a pair is a good idea and we'd see how much of a station he is on scary boards if he does call.

Making the flop bet a little smaller seems good.

Common issue with a lot of guys... they don't lead out much if ever and don't steal enough.

Good to point out having a back door flush draw gives us some good turn barreling spots as many cards now give us more equity to turn our bottom pair into a bluff.

Hugely horrible check on the river unless against an aggmonkey.

Against an aggressive player, I don't think betting the flop for value would be good because they will check-raise their gutters and draws here. Against a stationy player like this though, a bet to get a call out of an OE or gutter seems good.

I actually misread this hand. I thought villain checked the flop. Given that we bet the flop and have very little equity vs a station, a check/fold on the turn is best.

I think Quimp mentioned he tries to make his sizing based on board texture which isn't a bad idea. We are still deep and I don't see a problem betting 3/4 the pot sometimes. I usually stick to 1/2 or slightly more myself though.

No kidding lol. Do you have some time to comment on the rest though please

Yes, I already agreed I was a tard making that suggestion.

wanna be spamz0r in the op imo

Our hand could improve, so this deep (no idea how deep aint looked back at the hand) we have good implied odds to spike 2pair and get paid if he does have something, a lot of players will give up on the turn or even check 2nd pair down so we learn a lot by getting to showdown and seeing their limping range, c-bet/stab range imo, if it's only t20 or 1bb then it's something we want to find out early on if poss

i dont want my opponent to be limping all his trash hands, i also dont want him to limp call thinking he can put us on a narrow range. Like A-x. If we raise with this kind of hand we can rep those Axx kind of boards and take them down and when we do connect with a SD or FD or random 2 pair etc it's hard for villain to put us on the hand we actually have

You definitely have me sold now on both. Thanks for the great responses to my thread and clearing up some of my issues!

What are some of your thoughts on bottom pair in position rather than oop?