Bellagio 20, straddle is solid regular, beats the 40 game regularly. He is drunk and mixing it up, playing way more hands than usual. So;

9 handed, straddle, two folds, I 3! W/khks sb calls bb calls straddle calls.

Flop t73 all diamonds

Check, check, check I bet, sb calls, bb calls, straddle 2bet I 3! Sb & bb fold, straddle 4bets, I call

Turn (Td7D3d)5s he bet I call

River (t735)kc he bet I call


Im not 100% about the three rags but its a small gutter that makes the turn. Should I be folding this more often? I'm guessing I can find a turn fold but I feel I beat enough in this bloated pot to continue..... Is a river raise good here? I'm assuming if I call turn and improve there is an argument for it, I just hate losing three bets here to a flush when I have sd value......

First post in strat, please be gentle, thanks in advance.

I do not see the point of raising the river -- his hand is pretty polarized b/w bluffs and flushes/str8-s, so he is not paying you off, unless he flopped a set which is unlikely. Doubt he put that much action w/2 pair. He has less than 5% chance to be dealt 2 diamonds, so call down.

Given this description of villain, I would expect him to be playing both made hands and draws aggressively, including two pair hands. His cold call rather than raise preflop could reduce the possibility of some of big diamond (AK, AQ) and suited connector (KQ, QJ, KJ, maybe even 89) combos which he might be tempted to raise with, as well as pocket 10s and maybe even pocket 7s depending on how aggressive/crazy the booze has made him.

Definitely don't fold on the turn, he could be going nuts on this flop with the Ad or a big diamond and a pair. Unless he has a baby flush and is protecting it against a 4th diamond, there would be no reason for him to go nuts on the flop and drive out the other players. I agree with a call rather than a raise on the river. although I think you are ahead of a good portion of his range, I don't think he can pay you off with much of it and getting 3! is a disaster.

I wish people would stop saying things like "protecting against a 4th diamond." That is not at all what he is doing and short of ripping the deck out of the dealer's hands, there is no way to "protect" against a diamond coming. If you are making bet or raises for any other reason than having the equity to do so then ysap.

I agree w/pohuist.[1] We must call down, and there is no point in raising the river.

[1] I guess ISAP.

what do you mean "no point on raisng the river"? You beat everything but a floped flush. There is a ton of hands that he 4 bets for value on the flop and now we beat most of them. Raise!!!!~

solid reg straddling and playing too many hands? he can have picture diamond + T or even a 7 and be messing around. he might even 4b T7 on the flop putting you (correctly) on most likely an overpair after you 3b. i agree call the turn but you have to raise this river. given the description, you're even getting the 2:1 you need to raise/call the 3b based on his range.

Is this a spot to raise/fold?

no

I pretty much never 3 bet the flop oop here.

He's in position, and I think it's great to 3-bet the flop here. We need to charge the SB & BB with two cold and try to get HU with villain. Our chances of winning the pot improve dramatically if that happens, since SB & BB will have many more outs vs. us. They'll fold medium and small diamonds, and any pair that has 5 outs against us.

id rather call the flop and raise/fold a non diamond turn

Mitch, I know you are a really good player who crushes online six max where many players play well and think about stuff like hand ranges and equity against those ranges, but in live 20 almost everyone sucks and "protecting against a 4th diamond" is how most players holding a small flush would both think about and play that hand. We are trying to help OP figure out what villain might be holding, not advising him on how to play that hand, and I don't know why the phrasing bothered you so much and it was taken so literally. I obviously just meant that villain would be raising to charge a steeper price for any diamond draws out there and to ideally fold out any larger diamonds, especially if he can get OP to 3!

Do you disagree that villain would be jamming here with a small flush, but perhaps waiting for the turn with the nut or 2nd nut? I think he might also be pumping the pot with a nut or 2nd nut draw. I'm making these suggestions not under the context of how to play that spot correctly, but how I see most villains in live 20 play that spot with those cards.

Also, since the betting and raising you do can change the equity you have in a hand by influencing other's actions, you can't just make the statement you made at the end (although I know what you meant by it). Good players bet and raise for deception, as well as to bluff.

Here are the two rules to remember when arguing with MitchL:

(1) MitchL is almost always right.

(2) MitchL is wrong so infrequently that you lose essentially no EV by assuming he is in fact always right.

I don't doubt that. Like I said, its pretty obvious he's a great poker player. The point of coming here (at least for me) is to learn and get better at poker by participating in these conversations. So I really was just asking....semantics aside about calling it "protecting,"......is there really something off about my thought process that villain would play those types of hands that way?

I see what you are saying. Yes you are probably right about villain's thought process.

Pretty much my thought process, seemed like a disaster when he 4bet the flop, but I can't justify a fold for one bet on flop after putting in three (is that ever correct?), or the turn for one bet, just felt lost....

Do people generally post results here? Or is it irrelevant?

Any line that has us folding here is really bad imo. The guy has a 100% decapitated pf range, and he's drunk. OP, folding in this spot because the guy 4b the flop is gross. A good (non-drunk) player will 4b plenty of worse hands than kings. Even when you're beat, he has 2p a good amount which you have outs against.

Folding is insane. Raise/calling the river is fine.