Hey all, have a few hands I wanna ask about that I find kinda tricky. This is a $460 mtt in ny with a very solid structure. 40 min levels and 30k starting stack with all the levels starting at 100-100 so we have a ton of time to find spots.

H1- ok so maybe I start hand with 38k at 200/400 with a bba of 400. This really lag older guy limps 2 to my left. I have Q8ss in cutoff and make it 1600 to iso and exploit post as this guy is calling almost all hands he limps (this may be a bad spot to take). He has prolly 25-30k. Ok so bb (tight older guy) calls and limper calls. Flop is K83 with two spades. Goes x, limper bets 400, I think about raising or calling and I decide to call. Bb calls. Turn is a blank. Goes x, limper bets 1200, I call, bb raises to 4800 which is almost never light. Limper calls and I sigh call considering I can win a huge pot. River is a spade. Goes xx very quickly. I elect to bet something like 17-20k into 21k pot targeting a cry call and they fold. Hmm is my sizing on river just lol bad?(I assume less) I like to go for the gusto and get max value. I felt bb might have a very very strong hand he canÂ’t fold so IÂ’m like letÂ’s just go for max value. IÂ’m prolly supposed to raise flop but felt like it could get bad if I get raised off my equity on flop. Odd hand- prolly poorly played by me honestly. Would love to hear thoughts. Isoing Q8ss also is prolly meh against a guy that is never folding his open limp.

H2- I have 99 in the sb with say 40k stack at 400bb level. Utg opens to 1k and utg+1 calls behinds (both snug old men). I would say utg can have great hand here often. Mp raises to 4k on maybe 24k stack. He seems competent mid age player. IÂ’m in sb with 99. Do I ever flat here? I canÂ’t really set mine and itÂ’s going to be tough post and ep guys can pop it if they have a real hand. I elected to fold bc I never think mp is super light per se. Is this just easy? I would have flopped a set and gotten a double per post action but I think the preflop play is perfectly fine. I feel IÂ’m biting 4k a lot when I flip poorly here / get blown off if utg 4! Which is going to be a super strong range. Guy behind can easily have JJ as folks donÂ’t 3! These hands enough from ep.

H3- more lol river sizing. I have A7hh and 80k stack at 1600 level. Mp limps, IÂ’m cu and make it 5k. Bb calls and limper calls. Flop is two hearts- K2x . Goes xx, I elect to x behind to not get blown off and hide strength of my hand per se (prolly stupid). Turn blank. Guy leads 12.5k from bb, mp calls. I elect to call bc I win massive pot if I smash a heart. River is a heart3. Goes super quick xx. Against I got mane 37.5k into 40k and they fold. I didnÂ’t have stack sizes but bother players had over 40k on river. They both fold. Any thoughts on better sizing to get a call here? Maybe 10-20k? I felt K may sigh call or 2p or set type hands but no idea what villians had. I felt turn lead of 12.5k into 2 players was super strong but clearly not.

H4- I move to a new table with 37k. See 3 hands- guy has huge chip stack and seems to be aggro mawg but hard to say bc IÂ’ve never seen him before. Ok utg limps at 1200 level, utg+ 2 (mawg guy) makes it 5.6k. IÂ’m sb and have AQss and 30ish bbs. I elect to pile thinking utg+2 can just be Isoing a weak limp. Is this too much? I felt 3bet folding is very bad and just give the rip in a spot where I think we can pick up 8bbs when iso is light.

Haha the limp folds, the old guy says should I call this hand and hmmms and haaaas. IÂ’m like wow this guy might just have a mid pair. He takes 15bb cones and calls. He shows KK lmao and we just bunk QQx on flop hehehehhehehehe. I found it frustrating he doesnÂ’t snap call there bc it seems like a slow roll kinda. Guy ended up complaining after hand for a while which was annoying.

H5- IÂ’ll just post pre action and comment later on what I did. Ok so I have 180k at 3k bb level/ final level of day so I feel we can kinda exploit people being passive here. Ok ep opens to 6k on 200k stack (competent mawg who can be lighter), one to his right calls. I have JQhh on the button. Stacks behind in blinds have solid stacks for jams as they are short. What do you do here? I ended up 3! To 25k. I can say result later but I feel this is a good play bc we can fold to a 4! And I liked the way hand plays post if we get a call. I feel flatting is weak and kills our equity per se if we gotta see a flop 4 ways. Blinds both being shorter make a jam potential and we donÂ’t call off 15-20bb with this hand.

From my table also, nobody is 4! Light here and people are going to play super snug in last level of day bc they think making day 2 is some achievement while not Going for the bbs is ok. I just feel this spot plays so well as a 3! Even though the hand can play well if we get lucky and see a flop multi-way and bink something sick.


I posted this on my iPhone so let me know if anything doesnÂ’t make sense. I know a lot of hands but just stuff for conversation on spots. I feel I need to stop going so big on value bets on river. I feel this is a leak in my game as shown in 2 hands.

Don't mind the play here. Think you do go smaller on the two flushes on the river IP vs two Vs. Probably 1/4-1/3 pot and get that crying call.

Bet river IN POSITION for 25-33% pot?
No, dont do that.
Ever.

I don't know, we are multiway here and the flush comes in hands with action on all streets. Both players check the flush card, they are not going to call anything of size, so we really need to squeeze whatever value we can here. It's purely exploitive, as in most live MTTs the small bet is the only one that will get any calls here. (Maybe you get a set to call bigger bet, but that will get more folds and -- while I don't have the data -- will not end up gaining as much value.

I mean, if you like playing a fairly LAG style, I think it’s mostly fine.

I personally wouldn’t be raising pre with Q8s knowing the limper likely calls. Sure it worked out here but I think it’s bad most of the time. So many hands you’re way behind against and not much you’re way ahead of.

I think 3! shoving AQss for 30bb in SB might be folding out some value but the sizing does feel a little awkward. You’re likely not getting called by anything you’re significantly ahead of. AT/AJ probably doesn’t call and you’re flipping vs all the under pairs.

Sounds like a good structure. I wish the local card rooms around here brought back the $4-600 buy in 30-40min blind level games. Everything is a $135-220 buy in with 20min levels.

I agree that it’s a little optimistic on my end. The player I did it to would donk lead when he made hands which mad playing against him easy and he was almost never folding junkier hands to an iso. I felt he was sticky post if he hit something though so maybe a bad player to target bc he would prolly require a cbet and turn bet to fold lower made hands.

I ended up finishing just out of final table 2 tables today sadly. 1st was like 63k so a nice payout if won. I’ll post some hands shortly I had today I found interesting.

More hands from day 2 today- donÂ’t remember all facts bc I didnÂ’t take notes but I feel I can explain situation well.

Hmm ok we are itm. For these.

H1- I have 35dd from bb. I wanna say average stack in room is 40 and I have 30. Card dead and trying to find spots. A reg that is older guy limps bb against me (he has seen me before- not sure what he thinks). He limps maybe 30bb stack, I have 35dd. I raise bb bc I think he’s going to overfold this spot (‘might trap a bit) to 3.5bb. He flats and we see flop of A410? He checks and I bet 1/3rd pot and he piles. are you ok with raising this hand. It may have been 35o. I don’t think it’s great but i think his complete range is all the trash and meh hands and I think he doesn’t have much Ax. I think we gotta stab flop if we raise pre. It may have been 35o bc normally I would check back suited bc it plays a tad better. I just think this is a good spot to raise pre and cbet and get villian to fold a lot. He seems kinda Reggy but not like a good reg- just an old white guy from my typecasting.

H2- this one is odd. I wanna say I had 15bb and was carddead. We just got to new table after breaking to final 27. Ok good live reg to my right opens to 45k at 20k level (heÂ’s young so we know he can be light). Say heÂ’s 6 from bb IÂ’m to his direct left and have AA. I decide to just call and hope to induce a squeeze from a tighter left side. It goes all folds and we see flop of 872. He quickly checks. I bet maybe like 1.5bb and he rips. I snap and he shows QKo lol and we hold. Is this a pile pre or is my play kinda ok? I think itÂ’s iffy. I feel 15bb is a little too much to jam against someone capable of opening wide and maybe try to induce some spew from blinds. Prolly bad to call and let sb and bb come along which will happen too often in live poker mtts.

H3- same villian as hand 2. IÂ’ve 3bet him 2 times after this and he prolly thinks IÂ’m good slightly laggy bc IÂ’m a younger 34 year old guy that looks 20s. Say I have 40bb at 25k level. He raises to 55k from one to my right, IÂ’m cutoff with JQhh and I elect to 3 bet ton 165k. I wanna say I started hand with 1-1.1mill. He thinks and 3bets to 400k or so and I just sigh fold. Are you ok 3bet folding this hand? I think itÂ’s close. I think itÂ’s good against someone capable of opening light. If it was an old white guy or mawg, I prolly flat but this player I felt was good to attack? Is this ok. Everyone else folded including blinds when I 3! Obv. I just feel JQhh plays so well either as call but especially as a 3!fold kinda.

H4- same villian. He limps sb. I have 56dd. I consider raising but just bump back bc I think he can trap against me especially knowing IÂ’m agg. We see flop of A37 two diamonds. He x quick and I check back to get a little deceptive and not let him x raise me if he somehow is trapping. We see 6 on turn. He bets 50k, I make it 150k. He folds. Ok? Should I just bet flop and barrel (I assume maybe yes). Wanna say this was 30k level and 75k in pot. I wanna say I had 30bb and he had 70-80 to start hand. Found the spot hard bc if he x raises flop, I gotta either pile or fold but idk. 56 with a flush draw and a 4 to make a straight is a lot of equity. I didnÂ’t want to get blown off it on flop when he knows I have almost no Ax obv bc IÂ’m always raising it.


Tourny went meh. Had 200k and 10bb with 27 left. Got a new table. Got it up to 1.2mill- took some spicy 3 bets with solid hands and had to fold a few times to 4!s etc. ended up min opening kk at 30k level with 790k. Bb defends and we get it in on flops of 10-9-3 when he has 3-6 and he rivers me lol. Then I jammed 11bb over the good aggro player when he opened mp and I rip A9o and he calls with A10 and we hit the showers. I might take a break sadly from live mtts for a year to two as I had a rough wsop this summer and have cashed in maybe 2/40 tournies IÂ’ve played this year. I got a little too aggro with brm this summer and played many $1500s and didnÂ’t cash in anything sigh. I might take a year-2 off and just focus on study when I come back or play a really light live mtt schedule. IÂ’ve had a rough year after doing well in the live game the prior 2 years in vegas/ and ac winning a wsop circuit ring right when Covid was starting.

My summer at wsop- IÂ’ll never forget this hand. I got AA in against AQ at aria in a smaller $400 preflop somewhat semi close to money bubble for heaps- AA against AQ and the board ran out a straight on river for his aq. IÂ’ve had arough live year not putting a ton of volume in but maybe 35-40 tournies. I love poker but I just get so frustrated when I go deep and see mouthbreathers with heaps of chips doing stupid things like opening too large when the stacks are avg 30-40 bbs etc and a min raise effectively achieves same thing / tourny variance just crushed my self esteem as IÂ’ve studied a lot and people just do odd things and run well. Not complaining here but just need a break from the game and work on the bankroll and other life aspects and maybe start studying more before I get back into tourny play. No question I do some stupid things and play a little too laggy with the 3! Side of mtt game but IÂ’ve found it very effective when the cards work to my favor/ folksnfold way too often live if they donÂ’t have it pre late in live mtts.

Probably would just limp behind pre, especially if players yet to act are stationy and inelastic and we're going to end up in a lot of multi-way spots in a bloated pot. Best to keep the pot small with hands like these (small pairs, middling suited cards, etc.).

Hand is fine as played. Assuming there was a Ks on the board, we could sometimes take a hand this strong (effectively the second nuts) and bet small-ish on river trying to induce a bluff, but perhaps not against the villains as described. Going for max value versus sets and worse flushes is never wrong and you're going to want to use that sizing when you bluff as well.

Easy fold here. We should never have 3-bet calls in this spot, and I'm probably folding TT and maybe even JJ here against the described villains.

I like 20-33% on flop, we definitely have hands that want to bet for some level of protection and value and we certainly want to have high-equity bluffs in that range as well. With nut flush draw we don't necessarily have to worry about being "blown off our hand" because if we do get raised we're certainly not going anywhere.

Again, with the nuts on the river I don't mind really big sizing in theory, but like with the Q8 hand you can put this hand into a small bet sizing to try to induce bluffs or light calls against certain players.

Because of the sizing I think we have to jam rather than 3-bet, although if we did 3-bet it would be to call off against the player as described. Play is fine.

Probably a pretty neutral spot where you can go either way. I would tend to flat here against most live villains in a $400 tournament (JT plays pretty well multi-way, we are up against an EP open and call which indicates a strong range) unless we were pretty confident EP was getting out of line and the caller was likely capped.

Very good info. Thanks. I agree the Q8ss hand is a little iffy and maybe not a great spot to iso. I tend to hate limping behind or limping when it opens up folks behind to iso slightly larger than normal over more than 1 limp but in live game- folks tend to passive out and just limp behind if they don’t have a very high in range hand which is common.

I guess I just wonder if I’m really goofing in two flush spots by not going smaller on river. I feel it’s probably a leak in my game and wasting out a bit on run good when i don’t size down to get the river cry call (basically not building a big stack when positive variance is on my side). I tend to like to go for max value or take a shot at max value even if it looks unlikely I will get called.

I tend to like to size up in spots to make it look bluffy and hope for a crying call but probably
Not worth it in these type of spots where villians don’t have clearly nuttier hands. Probably best to go smaller on river and find that call or try to induce a spewy river bluff.

If you find that villains are maybe calling half-pot bets on river but not full pot, then start betting half pot. You will see lineups at lower stakes where players have a very specific threshold of how much of their stack they want to risk on a light call. In some cases, you can even exploitatively bet really big with your bluffs and somewhat smaller with your value hands. A lot of that is just paying attention at the table and seeing how players react.

Second round of hands would really be helped if you had the positions accurate, some of them don't include them at all and others are confusing.

The 6d5d BvB hand knowing stacks would be really important. I would probably bet the flop because I'd be fine piling over a c/r, but the stacks matter for that.

The QhJh 3-bet could go either way. In part it depends on often you think he's 4-betting light.

The 56dd hand, I think I had roughly 35-40 bb and he had 80-100 bb. Avg stack was prolly 35bb at the time. I felt he could have some odd Ax limp/ traps but probably weight toward more trash complete hands. Flop- just trying to be tricky. I think I get more value not
Barreling if I hit a flush and my hand is deceptively made. Not sure it’s the ideal line but didn’t feel comfortable getting in many bbs with 12 outs + sometimes where I’m dominated if villian has better diamonds.


QJhh was tough bc I felt he thought I was 3 betting light even though I 3! Him once with JJ (he folded) and again where I folded to a 4! I believe. QJhh hand, I prolly had 38-40bb to start hand and he had 80+. Looking back, I prolly should call as my table wasn’t attacking this spot where a squeeze would be nice. Villian had a massive stack so he could leverage his chips without feeling too bad if I say 5! Ripped an he had trash (could fold and not worry too much about what it did to his stack). When he 4! To sizing he did, I take it as he had a really strong hand 10-10+, AQ+. I felt he would have shown a bluff to irritate me and just didn’t see a light 4! But it may have been. It was a younger kid prolly in his 20s so prolly capable of 4! Me light in spot. If I knew he was capable of being light in the spot, I would prolly rip but just didn’t feel too confident he would 4! Light in the spot with 2 tables left. I still think I probably should have peeled his open and played in position but idk it’s a tough call. If he flats, we play a nice pot in position (even though probably rare at stack depth).

Idk what he 4! There that is light. I wanna say I started hand with 950k-1mill and he had probably 3-4mill?. I don’t see a spot where you fold to a 5! Rip when you take 165k to 350-400k. I don’t remember his sizing but it felt like he was never ever folding to a rip and I just feel QJhh is doing really bad against his range even if some of it is weaker (which I don’t think it is). I would feel pukeyif he had a hand like A5cc and got me to fold in a spot where if I jam, he might fold?

D1 H1: I would probably have bet 9500 on the river. Like a sale. People don't realize its 10,000 they think its less and they may go for it. But if you had been bluffing and had gotten caught earlier your sizing is good. I would just limp on the BTN pre-flop because we will have position and Q8s is not terrible multi-way.

D1 H2: I fold pre. Probably fold with TT as well.

D1 H3: Because there is a K on the flop I would cbet. Against 2 players I probably size it at around 33% Pot.

D1 H4: Sizing pre is fine. There is no 3-bet sizing that wouldn't be pot committing.

D1 H5: I don't 3-bet with QJs. I prefer calling on the BTN and I have no problem playing it 5 ways. By 3-betting we are always going to have to call short stack shoves and they will always shove with AK/AQ/AA/KK/QQ/JJ some of which we don't block.

D2 H1: I just check back pre flop. Too many GTO types are limping with intent to raise. What's interesting is that you get to call the flop bet by SB with a gutter (if he bets).

D2 H2: I will 3-bet shove all hands I am raising with <20bb's with exception if I am BB with hands like this (AA). If opening is 2.5x or more I will 3-bet shove up to 25 bb's.

D2 H3: I don't typically 3-bet with QJs because I like to see how it goes in position.

D2 H4: I will usually bet this flop. I'm OK with calling a c/r because my bet will typically be about 1 bb to 1.5 bb. As played your raise was awesome and not something I ever do. I would have just called.

Where's this at JK?

Turning stone in upstate ny. The structure was very very good. $100k mtt and they hit 287k for the prize pool which is really solid for a $460 mtt.

You gonna be there in March for WSOPC?

If you think he thinks you're 3-betting light then you don't want to 3-bet a hand like this. 3-bet bluff a blocker hand like A5o or K6s if you want to bluff, but just call with a hand like this that plays well postflop and doesn't block AA/KK/AK.

Reviewing the 6d5d hand:

I don't see why you think you'd have to fold to a check-raise on the flop blind vs. blind. I certainly wouldn't; you don't have to 3-bet jam either, but you have a ton of equity and can and should easily continue.

I don't think it makes a lot of sense to get tricky with a hand that can't win at showdown without getting there and when villain's shown no strength that would indicate he would pay you off if you got there. You can fold out the hands that bricked but will beat you at showdown, and you have enough equity to keep barreling if he calls the flop. I'd just bet the flop. (You also don't say what the blind levels are in that hand, so I don't know how many BB a 50k bet is.)