PokerStars - $0.02 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 261 BB (VPIP: 29.52, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 106)
MP+1: 135 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 13.33, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 15)
Hero (CO): 100 BB
BTN: 100 BB (VPIP: 7.80, PFR: 5.67, 3Bet Preflop: 2.90, Hands: 429)
SB: 39 BB (VPIP: 26.19, PFR: 9.52, 3Bet Preflop: 2.13, Hands: 128)
BB: 105.5 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 10.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 60)
UTG: 100 BB (VPIP: 14.75, PFR: 11.48, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 61)
UTG+1: 145 BB (VPIP: 53.19, PFR: 27.66, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 48)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T T

UTG raises to 4 BB, fold, MP calls 4 BB, fold, Hero raises to 11.5 BB, fold, fold, fold, UTG raises to 32 BB, fold, Hero calls 20.5 BB

Flop: (69.5 BB, 2 players) 8 4 9
UTG bets 33.5 BB, Hero calls 33.5 BB

Turn: (136.5 BB, 2 players) 3
UTG bets 34.5 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 34.5 BB and is all-in

River: (205.5 BB, 2 players) A

UTG shows K K (One Pair, Kings)

Hero shows T T (One Pair, Tens)

UTG wins 198.5 BB


* * *

I really don't know how to play them...

I thought it was OK to 3bet because they are premium hands. Then at 4bets I thought about folding but maybe my opponent had pocket pairs OK AK so I thought my implied odds were OK to call.

Then it went south...

It isn't that you don't know how to play TT it's that you don't know understand the basics of poker*. Start there.

Your line is awful, 3betting a tight UTG opener 8 handed with TT is bad. Calling a 4bet from the same person when the SPR will be so low post-flop is awful, calling two bets post-flop when his range is so much stronger than your hand in this spot is also awful.

edit - *After seeing your other threads in BQ this has only cemented my opinion. It isn't meant nastily either, very few people do know the basics of poker and this is especially dangerous if you have been playing a while and think that you do.

Fold Pre.
Fold to 4b
Fold turn.

You beat AK and lose to AA KK QQ JJ
hope that helps.

And it isn't clear that AK is going to get all in with just 2 over cards (some people will, but many others won't)

UTG is 14,75/11,48 over smallish but fairly reliable sample, enough to determine he is very unlikely to be a spazzmonkey. If 11,5% is his average raise percentage, UTG he is much tighter. If he opens like 8% that would be something like

77+, ATs+, KJs+, QJs, JTs, T9s, AQo+

Or any pair above 6s, a bunch of suited broadways and AQo+. TT is 52% to win against that range, which warrants a call given you have position and the blinds have put in money, and you actually have the implied odds you talk about. 3betting just forfeits those advantages. In general if you want to 3bet for value you need to be well ahead of his range. For example QQ would have 65% against that range which is almost a 2:1 favorite. Enough to get more money in.

By the way if you have no clue what hands to 3bet, which is obvious, just 3bet your very good hands. That means literally KK+ and AKs. If you get 4bet you shove, you'll have the right amount of bluffs (AKs) versus value and won't be exploited like this. It's a very tight range but it saves you money by not having stuff like this happen. As you learn you can play more hands as 3bets.

But the problem isn't that you don't know how to play TT, you haven't found the right reasons to make decisions period. That takes time but make sure that the reasons for your plays actually make sense.

Thanks... I was thinking I would get fold equity and might force the first raiser to fold .

Some people here say I should have folded, others called. I'd like to read arguments for a fold.

On the turn, I guess it is a big mistake, because he obviously had a good hand to call the 4bet.

But why folding pre-flop on button (best position) with a hand that can beat a big range? So far he raised but he could have raised, even EP, with ATs, AJs, AQs, AK, etc. Why a fold?

I thought I had good pot odds to call the 4bet. I add to put 20.5 BB to win overall 69.5BB, so that's less than 30% of the pot... So I thought even if he had a good hand, maybe he could also have AK and the odds were there...

But of course you are right that I'm not good at poker yet. That's why I'm here!

You're not OTB
Call would be a fair play, but we still have to worry about 3 other players acting behind us, either raising or calling along.
How do 10s do with 3-5 players on the flop?

I am not saying fold 100% of the time, but would be easier to lose 0bb instead of spazzing out your stack.


He literally has just AA and KK there.

He is not just EP..... he is UTG in a full ring game. NO WAY can you remotely give this guy a big range unless his numbers and your observations say otherwise. ((A 15/12 guy without a single 3B in 61 hands.....hmmmmmm))

How much of a favorite is TT vs. AK anyway?

You are right, I was CO.

I didn't call precisely because I didn't want a family pot. That's why I raised. You say I should simply fold TT on CO because the guy raised EP and he looks like he is a TAG? Isn't it too tight?

I now understand I did a big mistake calling that 4bet, but I don't see myself folding TT after a simple raise and IP!

Or maybe I am missing something?

Could have been AQ, AJs, etc.? Microstakes I've seen lot of raises like this EP. I frequently raise those hands EPs... but maybe I should'nt!

He's wrong, folding is absoluty out of the question. There is only the button that has position on you and having a family pot would be rare. Sure you are 3handed to the flop quite often but you also have a hugd edge on BB with TT.

I would call pre, 3bet is not good in that this is one of the few hand you can call with. Call 4 bet is bad.

If calling is the best option, how do I play it on the flop then? I hope to hit a set or I'm done (OK, maybe I can call if the board is all lower than T), since the raiser V$IP shows his range must be good?

I really have problems with mid-pairs like 99, TT, JJ.

I agree that folding is bad.
But, look at it that way - If we are always stacking off with a weak overpair there, I'd like to make the smaller mistake of folding preflop.

If flatted, hand would most likely play out like this:
Flat pre,
Pot = 13.5BB
UTG bets 7bb, mp folds we call
Turn = pot 27.5bb
UTG bets 13-18bb, we still call, but folding is also an option (depends on how tight V is)
River = pot @65bb
UTG checks we check back
UTG bets we fold.

What was your plan for the flop when the pot had 69.5 and your stack was 68?
What was your plan for the turn when the pot had 136.5 and your stack was 34.5?

He has AK, AQ in his range.

Against a typical player on this board, it likely goes b/c flop, b/c turn, x/x river or b/c flop b/f turn depending on sizing.

Funnily enough I was just in a 3-way pot with TT. I called pre in the BB vs UTG+MP and the flop was 984r just like the one in this hand. I check-folded my overpair like a boss. (One villain had flopped a set of 4s).
Don't play huge pots where you're unlikely to be winning.

As Didace said, the bets were so big... Basically, I called all the way... to all-in and a losing showdown...