on the flop was considering B80 went with the small sizing and called off to the jam. is calling off to wide???


PokerStars - 250/500 Ante 70 NL (8 max) - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: 80.53 BB
BTN: 43.35 BB
SB: 142.85 BB
Hero (BB): 60.67 BB
UTG: 44.85 BB
UTG+1: 17.2 BB
MP: 30.91 BB

7 players post ante of 0.14 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.48 BB) Hero has Q A

fold, fold, fold, CO raises to 2 BB, fold, fold, Hero raises to 9.5 BB, CO calls 7.5 BB

Flop: (20.48 BB, 2 players) J 7 T
Hero bets 6.5 BB, CO raises to 70.89 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 44.53 BB and is all-in

Turn: (122.54 BB, 2 players) 4

River: (122.54 BB, 2 players) 5

I would have raised pre-flop to 7.5 - 8 bb's, I think 9.5 bb's is too much. It just increases the pot size and we are playing OOP. I actually sometimes just call with AQo in the BB vs 1 player because our range stays wide and if we miss completely it is less of a loss. And if we hit it is usually going to be a decent win.

On the flop I would fold to the shove because we block straights and flushes and really we missed. I might actually check call (assuming the bet is smallish) and see if we improve.

I feel like this kind of overbet is often some kind of draw but even if so, we're not that far ahead equity wise. We don't even have a pair so the draws will have some additional outs against us. There are two more problems: it's a PKO, so people are less likely to make this kind of play as a bluff. Second, we block the nut flush draw, making FDs much less likely, especially in a 3 bet pot. Also, every once in a while it is just two pair or a set getting protective on a draw heavy board. So easy fold IMO.

Agree with Rick that a smaller 3 bet will accomplish the same amount and not bloat the pot OOP. I also think this flop smashes the 3 bet caller's range so much that we can reasonably check-call, potentially avoiding the insanity that happened.

I probably 3-bet a little smaller but bigger than Rick. 8-9BB, I think. You do still want to set a price that's going to get folds, although it's going to be tough to get folds in a PKO. Hell, given the PKO nature and how people will gamble, jamming probably isn't the worst decision. (There are probably better, but I think "fold" and "raise small" are the worst.)

Re: the bolded, villain covers us, so I think that makes them more likely to shove a draw here so they get the bounty if they get there. But I think the rest is pretty accurate. Villain can have a draw a lot of the time, but the As works against us here in that regard, and it's certainly possible villain just actually hit this flop. You do have three outs to the nuts and maybe your pair outs are good too, though!

Good point nath, I got the stack sizes reversed. It's close - with a different ace I might be tempted to call.

I like this strategy by Mr Rick. Especially if you are able to play heads up. Calling OOP against 1 player keeps the range wide. A raise imo is decreasing the villain's range as well. Can check/call on the flop if drawing. Could even check-raise with a pair and a draw if you are ok with a re-raise all in like this and you going for it.

Yeah, I was reminded of Mr. Rick's post last night in an online tournament when I had AQo, a player opened, I had a read that he was strong but 3 bet anyway and convinced myself into calling off a 25 BB 4 bet. He had QQ which held. Calling might have been better since we minimize our losses and stand to win a big pot if we flop an A or Q and have someone dominated.