Villain has been very active at FT opening nearly every hand HJ+ when folded to him but seems to play weak post flop. I have seen him fire every flop/ turn but hasn't really gotten much action. He's been able to fold when c/r however. He has had a massive chip lead from two tables down(5x avg. at least). In this spot I really had no idea how to proceed to maximize value given effective stacks:





[converted_hand][hand_history](3,500/7,000 blinds, 700 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 3 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite. View Hand #22160461

SB: 497,924 (71.1 bb)
Hero (BB): 577,318 (82.5 bb)
BTN: 174,758 (25 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J 8
BTN folds, SB raises to 21,000, Hero calls 14,000

Flop: (44,100) K J 8 (2 players)
SB bets 22,000, Hero calls 22,000...I knew he would continue on any turn so I think raising in position here is terrible.

Turn: (88,100) 5 (2 players)
SB bets 43,500, Hero calls 43,500......Very strongly considered raising here but I just sensed he was really weak given board texture and betting size.

River: (175,100) A (2 players)
SB bets 112,000, Hero calls 112,000...Can't really raise here because we never get value from worse, but obv never folding.



Thoughts on all streets appreciated. My line seems so weak but I just don't know what we raise/ get it in against that we're super happy about given stacks.

Well vs this guy - if your read is correct - i would be calling his raises with 100% of my playing range as I am assuming he's raising 70%-90% of hands... and then I would raise most flops... I would really like to have a 2p hand in my raising range and this flop is wet enough that I feel I would strongly like to balance here with strong hands as well as air and draws. Plus if he has a King your 2p is vulnerable. If I am going to be calling a lot pre vs him bvb (and othrwise) and waiting to out play him post I like this most. Also as you alluded to icm is a factor - and if you cr he's likely only going to continue strongly because of the weak stack. I think rather than get him this one time my overall strategy would be to chip away at him since hitting a hand is rather difficult short handed.

First of all, why do you consider him a fish/weak post flop. He seems to have been succesfully using his chiplead, picking up small pots and backing down when someone shows strenght. Generally correct play I think.

Now, if he backs down to when (check-)raised you/other players SHOULD sometimes have been check-raising with air. This needs to be balanced with stronger hands so you definately want to raise here. I think slowplaying bottom 2 pair on this flop is absolutely losing play, he's never going to fold a K here, might even reraise if you raised his cbet often enough

This looks fine, not sure we do well enough his range to get it in otf given icm. (and possible edge).

Worrying about balance against weaker players is not a productive way to occupy your mental energy. They won't notice. If hero knows villain will fire air on the turn if we just call, but will mostly fold if we raise, we usually make a lot more money if we just call; the turn bet will be quite big, after all. I do not, however, like flatcalling the turn as well, since the board is getting pretty scary and there are a lot of awkward rivers we can see. Ending the hand at that point is a fine result, and so is getting a call from lower equity draws or top pair hands.

I´m def raising ott, pretty much for the same reasons as above ^

I agree with Kamikaze, weak players do not know anything about balancing ranges and what not, villian will stack off with his Kx here. Raise turn, call river.

Raise turn. There are some really shaitty rivers and we get ourselved in very uncomfortable situation if villain bombs some bad rivers. We are ahead here a lot and villain can def call with worse. As played river is a trivial call.

I agree that "balance" and "gto" are a leak vs weak competition but my thoughts are that we are short handed, we are very likely to get it HU vs this guy and he's not exactly "weak" - he's very laggy pre and he might or might not be "weak" post, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's paying attention to how we play. Even the dumbest players pay attention when we get very short handed and up in the money and at the very least at the final table. So in this situation I'm tempted to start a balanced gto strat vs this player. is that still bad?

Obv if he's a weak passive drooler especially 3w I'm still going for value town and thowing balance gto out the window.

I was partly going by the OP, which described villain as 'weak' (at least postflop). But I think in most cases, you just don't show down enough hands (unless you play with the same player day after day) for your opponent in an MTT to know if you're balanced or not. So I think if you're consciously taking certain lines only to preserve balance, even though those lines aren't winning you the max number of chips, you're usually making at least a small error, at least at lower stakes and against all but the best competition.

Yeah I guess if I'm going to say he's weak postflop I should state why:

Hand 1: he raises SB, I 3b big with AQhh

Flop: 910K, he checks I fire 1/2 pot he calls.

turn and river blank blank and he shows 44 to take it down.

Hand 2: MP opens for 2x, he calls in SB

Flop: 684

He c/c a bet.

Turn: 6

action goes check check.

River: 9

Action goes check check. His 76o off is good.

Also opened 2x UTG/ called shove from a shorty w/ 14bbs with K8, 7 handed


In game reads it was clear to me that he was just a fish running sick good.

Raise OTT, flop raise isn't too bad either considering draws and how often they CBet.

Def raise the turn.

I still want to raise the flop. it's BvB when we're playing 3-handed. People still gonna lose their minds in these types of spots.

i really dont like a flop raise here because i think villain is gonna fold too much

i like the line you took because you got a good amount of value while also losing the minimum the times that he shows up with better (obv not often but it can happen with the A completing some OE'ers and better 2pairs)

or am i just having a case of monsters under the bed here and im leaving a ton of value on the table?