1/3

Villain opens for 16 in EP. Hero is the only caller in BB.

Flop is KJ9. Hero checks. Villain bets 25. Hero calls.

Turn is 3. Hero checks. Villain asks "How much should I bet to get you off your hand"? Hero is non-responsive. Villain bets 70.

How strong does villain seem? If hero check-raises all-in (for what looks like somewhere between 200 and 250 total - hero covers villain), will villain fold?

(Hero's hand intentionally not mentioned because I want you to focus on villain's hand)

Sounds Like KdTd all day. If I'm ahead of that, it's a call all day. To me it sounds like he has the King with a decent kicker and a draw to the 2nd nut. He's trying to get you off of the nut flush draw or something like KQ, with the scare of the slopped straight on board.

If it was me, I'm calling then shoving the river on a blank no flush no 4-card straight.

I don't think we even need to know the villain's hand as the emphasis should be on the question and not the hand.

My response if asked that question would be either a) "how much do you have in front of you?" or b) "you don't have enough."

Never faced the speech that begins with "how much to get you off your hand?"

But a speech it is nonetheless.

Weird speech or cliche speech screams "monster" most of the time.

My only opinion would be that this talking from the villain makes very strong hands unlikely. That's just true of talking in general from a bettor before the river; players with the nuts, when the pot isn't yet that big, generally don't like to talk when betting because they don't want to accidentally scare you away.

At the same time, it's kind of a goading statement, which will often be a strong hand. I wouldn't be surprised to see him show up with all kinds of strong but not super-strong hands, like AA, AK, KQ, and sets. The main hand his talking makes unlikely is QT, but that's unlikely already from his early-position raise and his large turn bet-sizing. While sets are possible and I wouldn't be surprised to see them, I think they're relatively unlikely with this behavior, and I think AA and AK are much more likely.

The big factor in this hand is the board texture; because there are so many draws possible, it's easily imaginable he wouldn't mind discouraging action (which I consider his talking to be) with many strong hands, including sets. (Whereas if he had a set and there were no flush draws out, I think it's likely he'd be more cagey and silent and the talking would be more useful in making sets less likely on the turn.)

So long story short: I think the talking in this specific situation on this specific board mostly just makes QT very unlikely, with sets also less likely than they would be otherwise but still possible due to draw-heavy board. I think he'll usually have AA, AK, or KQ here.

1) When a player asks that question, he is almost never to strong, especially if you didn't communicate with him prior, in that case you can be sure that he isn't that strong. He doesn't have info on you and will be scared that will throw you off the hand like apokerplayer said.

2) In this situation in which we presume that you didn't communicate with him to much prior to this hand, I see him have weak kings with redraws or a flush,straight draw and wants to scare you off the hand.

So, anyways, I check-shoved the turn. Villain insta-called with KK for top set. Luckily, I had QT and the river was a blank.

Given the flop KK is exactly the kind of hand that would want to push you off your hand- so he was being entirely truthful with you. That might be worth filing away for later use.

I play with a young lad that likes to talk about his hands a lot. I have noticed he is far more likely to tell you the truth than lie about his hands- that makes some decisions far easier than they might otherwise have been!

Ha, nice. Did his verbal play a role at all in your decision to shove? Did you read him as being pretty strong with that statement? Or did it not play any role?

I had decided on the flop that I was going to try to get him to put me on a draw by check-calling the flop with the intention of check-raising the turn. His verbal plus his bet-sizing made me believe that my plan was working and I shouldn't deviate from it. I read him as believing he had the best hand, so I figured the bottom of his range was probably AK or KQ.

My acting included a quick call on the flop as if raising didn't even enter my mind.