Stop playing that game. Since they are a bunch of old guys they probably have no problem colluding and soft playing against a young buck like yourself.

If I got that feeling from them I def wouldn't play in the game. Whenever I'm actually in the game the core group of old guys have already left anyways.

I end up tanking and folding assuming I'm at best only good for half the pot. Villain shows me 25 and mucks his other 2 cards. He asks if I had A2 or something along those lines so I may have been good for the low still.

The softest games in a casino at a given time are very rarely NLHE. So props to you CQ. I bet that game is softer than 80% of the NLHE games at your local casino

Thanks cake. It's def softer but certainly not optimal for me to spend my time in that game. Sometimes a 5/5 500-2500 game will run here but I haven't tried jumping into that game.


I'm finally making the transition into deeper 5/10 NL games and I must say for the first time in probably a couple years I find myself in spots I'm uncomfortable being in. The stakes themselves don't bother me as I'm used to smaller 5/10 games but I don't have much experience playing 200+ bbs deep with 8 other guys 200+ bbs deep. I'd love to be able to find smaller deep games that I can get more reps in at but there's nothing like that ever running. Once in a blue moon I'll see some uncapped 2/5 games but in my area I only see those every few months. Anyone know of solid deep play resources outside of just going through MS/HSNL?

Please help with my deep stack play.
regular home game .25c/.50c where most players buy in for $100. i have ~ $250 and villain has me covered.

I am bb with KQ. 4 limpers to me, i raise to $4, one caller.

pot: $9.50

flop Q 5 2. i bet $7, villain makes it $15 (usually means he has some part of the board and is feeling me out), i call

pot: $39.50

turn 3. i check, villain bets $25 (i'm pretty sure mhig, but i am hesitant to raise because he's likely to shove), what's my best play/how should i have played differently?

My general thoughts on a flop mini raise like this is that it's very difficult to tell exactly the strength of their hand at this point. I think villains do it for many different reasons:
- they have a monster and are desperate to massage calls out of you will small raises.
- they are seeing where they are at.
- they are trying to price their draw for the turn

I think they pretty much play face up on the turn however. If they were seeing where they were at, they typically check or bet real small for a cheap showdown. If they bet bigger, I think you have to put them on a value range and fold (usually). You have the Kc here, so calling might be an option.

As for your thought process on the turn, I'm a little baffled. There seems to be a disconnection. If your hand is likely good on this turn, there is no way he is likely to shove. The only way he is likely to shove is if you hand isn't good.

Also, thinking your hand is good is not a valid reason for raising. His calling range is what is important for deciding to raise here (unless you are bluffing).

I would probably fold turn because I think we are behind too often once he bets 50bb on the turn. Our flush draw isn't clean, and we are out of position so it's tougher to get paid if we hit.

I'm never raising here, I just can't construct a range that I want to shove and see him call with. QxJc? QxTc?

If hero has a read that villain is just trying to figure out where he's at then once we flat flop I'm not folding the turn and rarely folding the river. I think we're v often still good given that read and our equity just increased a little when we're not. If V likes to do stuff like minraise his draws on the flop so he can see free rivers then we can shut down on the turn (since hes v unlikely to barrel the turn unimproved) but we'd need to have seen him take such a line previously.

Re-raising villain doesn't accomplish much after we see the flop.

CQ, how do people that raise flops to find out were they are at play turn and rivers? They rarely try to get stacks in imo.

If they raise flop, bet turn biggish and bet river, they are not finding out where they are at.

Given this particular flop I feel that villain has several worse Qxs in his range that villain can think is good here. He's likely doesn't have AQ in his range given the preflop action and there's only 2 other combos of Qx that beat us. I def think he has more Qx combos than QJc/QTc given this is some rando micro home game. If he bets 2/3rd turn and river maybe we can fold but I doubt he does that without the very top of his range. I'd expect river to go c/c a large part of the time.

thanks for the input, guys. one of the reasons i posted this was because this villain tends to play a lot of big pots. i called the turn, he bet another $40 on the river when an 8 off suit came and i called again. unfortunately he hit 2pr on the river.

2/5 game.

Hero: ~900
Villain: ~1100

Villain is about 50, looks like a semi-reg. Hes clearly active and somewhat competent, and while I recognize him, i can't recall any specific history between us.

Villain (bb) raised hero once after hero raised SB and cbet a J22ss flop 3 way. Hero folded.

Within the last couple of hands villain has doubled up by raising pre, cbetting a T53 flop, X turn, and calling a jam on a 3 river vs BB who had 53. Villain had TT.

Hero has AA.

Hero opens from mp to $20. Villain. Flats.

Flop (~$45): K 9 6

Hero cbets $30. Villain flats.

Turn: 5

Hero bets $80. Villain raises to $215.

Hero tanks and eventually calls. I think his range is AK/KQ/KJ/KT/99/66/87. He probably rarely has air vs me as I feel like I have a decent image and have shown the ability to make hero calls.

River: 5x

Hero checks, villain bets $375.

Hero?

I feel like villain may check back his mid strength Ks, maybe even KQ vs me. This should limit his range to AK/99/66/87/sometimes KQ.

If we're calling turn I'm calling just about all rivers so wp IMO. I think your thought process throughout the hand is what's really important. How'd you come to the conclusion to call turn vs give up? What about the river?

Given history I'd fold turn. As played I sigh call river.

I snap fold turn. I don't agree with your turn range. KQ, KJ, and KT are very unlikely imo.

Yeah it's probably a little wide. I think this villain is calling me pre with KQ and maybe KJ/KTs. Thinking more about it though there's like no way he's raising KJ/KT on the turn.

Forgot to mention it but I recognize villain because he plays the deep 5/10 game often. He was called over to the table by other older rec guys and after he sat down he complained how 2/5 shouldn't be ran unless it's 200bb deep (you can only BI for 100bb in this game).

If this was some rando 2/5 nit I think my decision is a little more clear cut but vs this guy I found it hard to find a fold button.

Yea. I wouldn't try to give them too much credit until they've shown they really deserve it.

He would have to be recognizing you as a solid player here and think you can fold a hand like AA/AK here because the only part of your perceived range that hits that flop really hard is KK and 99, maybe 66.

If I was going to put more hands in his range, I would put hands like 98ss and 67ss type hands before KJ/KT.

If he is going to try and bluff you off an AK type hand here though, he really should be raising turn and barrelling. So, I really think your decision is the turn.

Agreed. In spots like these if I'm calling the turn I'm almost always calling the next street unless something really gross happens, which I did here.

While villain doesn't have much personal history with me he should know that I'm a capable reg just from recognizing me, if not for the table talk going on at the table to me/about me. That said I don't know if that means he thinks he can make me fold AA/AK in a spot like this. He might not be thinking that deeply about hands, he might not think I actually have a hand or he might not even think I'm capable of folding such a hand. I def. believe villain is capable of doing this with a non-nut hand but given the image I think I have in his eyes, I don't know if he is more or less likely to get a little frisky.

i never thought about giving up the turn as this guy can over value TPWK. my main dilemma was whether or not i should raise. the river, i didn't give too much thought other than "well, i called the turn...". but in hindsight i don't think he bets strong again on the river with anything i beat, so if i had thought about it i might have been able to fold.

I think raising is valuetowning yourself. Unless he's particularly spewy he won't call with hands that you beat.

I wouldn't have folded the river without more info but if you think villain does shut down on the river with his more marginal holdings then folding river would be best. That's villain specific though.

5/10. Villain has a little over 2k, hero covers.

Villain is a reg in this game. I recognize him but have no prior history. He probably recognizes me from being in the room a lot but I don't play this game often. From what I've seen he has a solid/semi-aggro image amongst regs in this game. History between us in this session is limited to a handful of pre flop raises + flop cbets which have won the pot between the two of us. Saw him open 62ss utg+1 6-7 handed and shut down post flop (he either gave up on the flop or cbet flop and shut down on the turn) on a 2xxxx board. Deuces held. He probably has the highest preflop raise % and flop cbet % at the table, I may be 2nd/3rd highest.


Straddled pot.

Hero raises UTG with AQo from the SB to $70. Folds to villain who thinks and flats. BTN (straddler) also flats.

Flop: Q 7 T

I cbet $125. Villain makes it $325 pretty quickly. BB folds.

How are we proceeding?

that raise looks likes it's priced for value, but QQ or TT probly 3bet pf. that leaves 77, QT, AQ, KQ. if he's on a draw KJ or hearts. i'd probly 3bet/fold, value bet any blank turn if he calls flop.

Against a competent villain, 200bb deep oop I just fold unless we have the Ah. Our equity against his air isn't that great, and I think oop we can make much bigger mistakes later in the hand.

We are just guessing the rest of the way. We don't know if he's going to raise bet bet his big draws, just raise and take a free card, raise bet give up, etc. There are no turns that help us short of when he has T7 exactly.

QQ and TT probably 3bet versus and Utg raise versus a straddle 200bb deep? Big assumption.

Agree with everything Devin has said.

This guy is probably not raising a hand for value that is <TPTK. So that leaves bluffs, huge draws, and stuff that smokes us.

Did you have Ah?

i guess i see too many live players slowplay their monsters so much that i never give them credit when they raise the flop in this situation, esp. reg vs. reg