About 26 left from 125 with 15 paid. I been at this table all day with the LAG villain. Played with him many times throughout the years. Hes been crushing small stakes for years. Older guy maybe 65-70.

8-handed for the moment. I have about 140k at BB 4k. IÂ’ve been quite active and aggro opening a lot of pots and 3betting. The field is super soft.

I open UTG with A7hh to 8k
Passive fish calls in the middle of about 80k.
Villain calls on the button covering with about 175k.

Flop As8c8h (pot 34k)

I check call 12k from V and MP folds.

Turn Qh (58k)

I check call 26k.

River Jh (110k)

Hero?

I got about 95k left and just rivered the nut flush. OTF villain can have all kinds of crap as he is known to stab a lot when checked to. Now on the turn when he bets I give him a little more credit. He tends to respect me and slow down in these spots with airballs. He knows im dangerous and makes comments about it occasionally. That said he will barrel off with air often. I’ve seen it many times (not necessarily on this day).

I felt like he had 8x but Ax is still possible or random stuff like KT, JT and lower flush draws. He flats pre in position with all kinds of junk so hands like 85, 86, 87, 98 etc are all in range.

Thanks.

The way you played this it looks like you have Ax but not AQ+. With those hands you would most likely bet the flop. Given description of Villain he has like Ax/8x/KQ/KJ/KT/QJ/QT/JT or a PP. Given your turn call I think he doesn't bet the river unless he has 8x/AJ or improved to a straight. Thing is I think Villain will call a shove by you with those hands. Villain will also call a shove with any Ax because the Q plays and you really can't have AK.

So I would jam the river, though it makes it look like you have AJ...

I like the way you played it because Villain will try to steal a lot and whatever A he has its a chop.

I think I might check/call again.

Sure, he will check back a few hands that he would pay off with, but I think that with a pair and 3 hearts on board, your bet would fold out a slew of A-X type hands, and even some worse flushes would bail. He might try to steal or semi-bluff with some of those hands if you give him a chance.

The downside is that you pay off full houses, but if you donk-bet he is cashing those anyway. It seems more likely that he would try to steal the pot than it does that he would pay off your donk with worse.

previous re-posted for some reason. go figure

Would love more feedback on this one.

Really interesting hand and difficult spot imo.

I don't think it's tremendously likely he has an ace; two are out and given his description he'd likely three bet the stronger ones (and maybe even the weaker ones). The button call feels like suited connectors or a low pair and obviously playing a low pair this way doesn't make sense. So let's give him credit for the 8...87, 98, T8, and sadly the occasional J8 and Q8.

My first instinct is to check call and have some money to crawl to the bubble if he somehow has a boat. This also lets him keep blasting off if he does have a bluff. I do think an aggressive player will feel obliged to go for a third street with the 8 even now that the board has gotten weird. It doesn't make tremendous sense for you to have a straight or flush and he will be hoping you will hero call with an ace (which you might have if you didn't hit your flush.)

I was tempted to just ship it on the river but I like doing that better when the board is dry and it makes no sense. What are you repping here that loses to an 8? Pretty much nothing. If he knows you're dangerous and is scared of you, he might find a fold.

I definitely think check raising is worst as it looks super strong and allows him to find a bet fold even with massive pot odds. He basically only calls when he has you beat.

So yeah, check call a big bet? Very weird spot tho. Would like to hear from some other posters though as this is a tricky one.

So like what if we don’t make a flush?

UTG PFR checks A high board and lag on button stabs and barrels turn…

Arnt we check calling because we think we have the best hand a lot?

I’m check raising river because I expect this line to be air way more than value.

I like this. I think if we jam river- we give him ability to fold hands we beat and only get the value when he has a boat. I think a lot of folks will go crazy and rip 8x here on river to get max value so I think checking river is good. If is the q type of player that is going to be nitty and check back solid showdown hands- I’m prolly betting river: I might go all in but i also might make a teaser bet to make sure i get max value. Something like 1/4th to 1/2 pot so they cry call.

I think I like check bc I’m almost never leading river without the goods on a flop I x called 2 streets. If they have a pure bluff also- let them hang themselves. We bet river even small or rip- we take away bluffs going crazy and spewing the river.

Isnt this an easy check? If you shove he only calls with hands hes gonna shove himself if you check. So if you check he can bluff aswell. Escpecially against an aggressive opponent I like the check. Only if I think he is so weak and passive that he can check an 8 on the river would I go all in.

You’ve distilled it down nicely here. In thinking through this hand (post play) I got too caught up in missing value. I think he’s going to bet more often than check behind (especially since I’m giving him a lot of 8x).

I ended up open shoving and got snap called to see the dreaded J8dd. Had me wondering if he calls other 8x that didn’t boat up. I’ve seen him make hero calls on the river plenty of times. Still, I think I agree with the general consensus that checking it again is best.

I think if you push on the river he would fold a lot of hands that he would call with in a cash game. Because its a tournament he probably would fold even small flushes. A shove by you on the river looks a lot like Jj. He would probably rule out AQ,AK because AQ would lead out on the flop and turn and AK would have bet out on flop and turn.

I think checking is the best play. If he has the eight he is likely to bet it for value. Based on his sizing he would likely bet something like 45-50k. Which allows you to call but still be in the tournament. If he does bet that amount no way youre going all in there unless you actually have JJ or QQ.

I think he calls 8x when you rip river. I think ripping river isn’t a huge mistake but it folds out all bluffs and solid showdown hands. He prolly checks back a lot though also.

I think check river is best bc even low amount of bluffs might go for it. Some folks will never have bluffs going 3 streets though.

Id defo check. Betting gets him to fold out potential bluffs and looks super strong regardless. Is blocking for 1bb ever in the question to get him to spaz thinking you’re capped to Ax when you take this line? Defo something to consider. But yeah, id check to make V think you’re Ax heavy and attempt to get him to blast with the bottom end of range. Sucks when he has the A though and just checks with showdown. He may still blast to get you off a chop though? Considering all of the above, i think checking yields the highest EV.

Flop probably wants to mix some small bets with our top pair + backdoor draw hands, but multi-way checking is likely better.

River seems close and it really depends on how wide we think villain is capable of calling a donk jam here. If villain is finding hero calls here with a lot of AQ/AJ-type hands, then it's probably a donk jam because there's too much value you leave on the table from those hands plus trips and straights and worse flushes. If villain is folding appropriately, then check becomes better provided villain doesn't chicken out and fail to jam the hands we want him to jam, like 8x.

Think I check river, villain probably still mainly bets 8x , can have bluffs,
Lead river hard for us to bluff, do you really turn Ahx into a bluff ?

Yeah, the lack of bluff candidates here is problematic and in theory we probably do very little leading. So if you lead, it's an exploit and it's because

a.) you think villain will call too wide
b.) villain won't bet 8x themselves for value.

man donk bluffing AhJx is so sexy. You will get folds from an eight.

you do have bluff candidates but you're perceived to never pull the trigger there and anyone who isn't in lala land is gonna fold with alacrity

would start folding OTT without the flush draw though this one looks like a better catcher than AT or AJ.