Online 3-handed game $3.75/7.5 equivalent blinds.


V1 = The most nitty player I've ever played. $375 starting stack.


V2 = The most aggressive player I've ever played. Usually players higher stakes but slumming with us. V2 is very aggressive but not an idiot. Uses his image to his advantage a lot. $750 starting stack

H: $750 starting stack


Me: A Q J 9 on button. V1 in SB. V2 in BB.

I pot to $26.25
V1 folds
V2 calls

Pot $56.25

Flop Q98

V2 checks
H bets $16
V check-raises to $82.50

V does this a lot when I bet small. Given the J blocker, I don't think he has JT.

H calls

Pot $221

Turn 3

V1 bets $175

Still not convinced he has TJ here, plus I have the flush draw outs in addition to hitting the straight (which might not be good if I hit), or a boat.

H calls

Pot $571

River J

This card definitely sucks because if he's been semi-bluffing, he got there.

V bets $285

This half pot sizing really seems like he got his straight and trying to get value. But this guy is absolutely capable of 3-barrel bluffs and this is a perfect bluff card. That being said, what bluffs can he arrive with at the river here? He has a lot of semi-bluffs that now got here. I would expect a full shove if he had KT to get value from any ten that got there. So his straights that would have gotten there are QT, JT, 9T, 8T, and I block every one of those except 8T. He didn't 3-bet pre, which he does a lot, so I don't think he's got too big of a hand with a lot of connectors that would have gotten him 2 pair that turned into a straight.

V has only $181 behind so I'll never be able to bluff him off of a set, so I have bluff-catcher value only.

H ?

Overthinking this here or just a very obvious fold? Am I ever good 25% of the time here?

V2 a is aggressive player who's not an idiot and slumming from the higher stakes says a lot in itself.

He didn't 3 bet pre, so AAxx seems unlikely and you'd think an aggressive player would have done his best to get it all in, if he had it. You get check raised on the flop and call. He doesn't slow down, betting around 80% of the turn and you call again. You'd didn't reraise him, so probably realizes that you don't have the straight either. When you call the turn, you're invested.

On the river, I really think this is a fold. It's a huge pot and he's making a 1/2 pot bet, which has to be an attractive amount for a call. Outside of a 3 barrel bluff, there's not much you can beat - Q8? 98? If he's semi bluffing the straight, yes, he probably got there. Through my amateur eyes, I expect that he had a set 8s?

If villain is very agressive his check-raise range may include semi-bluffs such as:

Kkt, kkj, jjx, ttx, t7xx, 765

Even if you think villain is bluffing, turn raise is an option.



Normally folding river as played.

I'm not raising turn with the straight since he will keep barreling a lot.

Turn raise -> I didn't want to scare him out when I had a damn good hand that could withstand a lot of rivers, and could minimize losses when he actually has it.

I know this is a fold all day, but somehow decided to call. I'd like to think I misclicked it since it's so bad of a call. The Jack on the end giving me top 2 where he could have had Q9 on flop and now I improved made me think he could be trying to block bet enough of the time, or be completely full of it.

V2 shows Q565

Wow! Nice call! If it was a misclick, so be it. I guess we have to assume that it was your destiny to win that pot. Congrats!

The added benefit is that you've likely earned a lot more respect from V2, in addition to him realizing that you won't be pushed over.

He seems to have realized that he can bet into me with monsters and I will call

Definitely a lucky call there, he's kicked my ass since then.

I would almost always fold that river, but I wouldn't have bet quarter pot on the flop. NH inducing the bluff.

Agreed, I would rather bet 50-60 % of pot. Actually, I think a check is also fine here, keeping the pot smaller but having decent bluffcatching potential. I would love to see a bdfd to bet this hand.

+1

The backdoor flush draw and double backdoor flush draws, although mentioned on this sub-forum, don't get nearly enough love when it comes to flop components to trigger a bet.

There are 4 jacks in the deck.

We only play with 1 J in our deck.