5NL9max ignition

Hero stack 5.30
Villain stack 8.48 43/12 (73 hands)

Hero UTG+1 delt 33

F, Hero .10, EP C, F, Villain .30, Fx4, Hero C, EP C

FLOP 3 8 T pot 0.97
Hero X, EP X, Villain .50, Hero C, EP F
TURN 7 pot 1.97
Hero X, Villain 1.00, Hero 2.50, Villain (time bank tank) C
RIVER J pot 6.97
Hero X, Villain AI 5.18, Hero AI C 2.00



Do you like a 2x open EP?
I didn't raise the flop because I wanted EP to come along. Smart or Dumb?
Do you prefer a larger XR OTT?
Should I XF the river? 9.00 pot, 2.00 call

Thank you for any response!!!

I prefer 3x'ing flop, but some people prefer 2x-2.2x in order to be less assailable by 3bets. Letting EP come along is good, you'll occasionally get sucked out on but waiting until the turn is generally worthwhile. I would've 3x'ed the xr. Smaller xr's 1) make you look like you're afraid the villain will fold (to better players) and 2) allow the villain to get cheaper draws. You're getting 2:9 on the river, so you're pretty much stuck with a call.

It is true that certain players like to make min. xr's and I think they are a good tool if used well, but I do not like that 2.5ish sizing. It is more of a tell to good players and I think a minimum xr is better if you're really trying to keep the action. A 3x xr is better at defining your opponent's hand, pushing your opponent out (or making him pay for a card.) 2.5x falls right in that area where it isn't good at either.

3x the turn c/r is really bad. That leaves us with less than 20% pot on the river in case villain calls. Without additional reads, the turn is either a c/c or a c/rai.

I'd always raise the flop and try to get it in there at NL5. Half the deck on the turn sucks because villain either got there or is scared that we got there.

I don't think it is "really bad." 20% vs 42% on the river isn't going to matter much. In fact, 20% will induce calls that he wouldn't have otherwise received.

Half the deck isn't bad on the turn. One-gap hands aren't all that frightening. Even if they were, half the deck still wouldn't be bad.

Might be even worse than the size he picked. For >6:1, we'd almost have to call it off on every card, just in case villain misclicked. That's not what we want. OTOH, villain knows that we won't fold the river, so we don't even get the chance to pick off bluffs from busted draws.

If we get it in on the turn, villain is getting a little worse than 2:1 and we give him the chance to make a significant mistake with his draws. If he's getting 3:1 or even better than that, his mistake will be way smaller. And if we're giving him 3:1 or better and call it off on the river anyway, he won't make a mistake at all by calling on the turn.

The river is going to be underbluffed by the villain anyway and the villain is going to be forced to fold with 3:16. The villain is forced to call the river with more hands.

You're giving him a chance to fold larger river bets and save money.

A 3x c/r is pretty much a delayed shove. It produces more calls than a shove but loses a bit of value when the villain decides to fold despite the great price (3:16) he's getting.

He actually will make mistakes on the turn at 3:1 simply because he's getting 3:1.

I do have to admit though I wouldn't have suggested the 3x sizing if I had known his stack size. I'm not used to be in a such an awkward position on the turn.

So forget my 3x comment, I just hate when people use phrases like "really bad" when something might be a mistake but not a mistake of epic proportions.

I don't play 33 UTG, but the minraise means you can call the 3-bet at that price, as stacks are deep enough to set-mine. Always check-raise the flop and try and get all in ASAP. You're asking someone to suck out when you just call multiway. Your hand strength isn't going to get any better relatively (unless you make quads), so you need to get a lot of money in before the board is too scary for overpairs to pay you off, or before villain makes some kind of straight/flush/bigger set.

Oh, madlex basically said the same thing in post #3. Nothing good comes out of slowplaying sets on boards like this. You should definitely be all in by the turn. If you check-jam the turn, you could even announce "I have a set" and there's nothing villain can do about it. He either calls without the right odds, or he folds and you prevent him realizing any of his equity.

Thank you all so much for your help!