Both are ok. Don't fold now obv

actually that short as long as you don't fold there's no wrong answer i think. if you guys are really deep then it becomes interesting

I don't like raising flop on Hand 1. Getting it in vs. a cold flop 3-bet range is probably really bad. if villain is competent he may not be shoving a naked straight here so we're looking at better draws a ton. (we're prob better off getting it in vs. the nuts/no redraw)

Hand 2 seems fine-ish

1st hand plays a lot easier playing it your way and it's a pretty complicated spot so he probably makes a lot of mistakes and we avoid making mistakes on the turn which will often be very tough for us to play

second hand is standard, you can't ever check back flop here, i'd probably bet only like 80% pot on flop

my default play in hand one would probably be just to call but i don't know if it's right

either could be fine sometimes

I'd like shoving hand 1 better if he bet higher

Anyone going to be at parx for big stax?

As a prime member, they have a ton of ebooks you can borrow, but I think only 1 at a time.

Do you ever raise there as a bluff?

The extent of my bluffing is cbetting flops i miss. So, no.

What / when is this.

I am contemplating giving live a real shot. Sounds like a tourney; I hate the time commitment but tournies are so soft.

thanks- did not know that.

That's a leak then. If you are only ever raising big made hands here then villain will own you with correct folds. Once in the next couple times you play, bluff raise him on a board that doesn't hit his tight range but is coordinated. He can't have it both ways, if he never pays you off bluff him some.

it's already underway:

https://www.parxcasino.com/bigstax

Bigger, raise 54hh on the flop pk lease.

aye aye aye

bet, raise, flat, fold - so many decisions. poker is hard.

OK, here's one of my biggest weaknesses. The fear of doing something wrong.

When I'm passive I feel like I'm reacting to something and that something I feel pretty confident I have a read on most of the time.

But raising, betting, and bluffing sort of paralyze me. I constantly second-guess my decisions. If don't raise or I bet smaller maybe they don't fold and I get more on the next street. If they call I feel like I didn't bet enough. If someone calls my bluff then I second guess any future bluffs.

Probably need a shrink or something.

I think you are just scared of losing.

54s is a terrible hand to call here preflop because it performs horribly HU and you don't even know why you're calling. If you want to call suited cards then there are far far better ones to call with than this; if you are flatting 54s HU vs. MP PFR then you are calling WAY too often.

You aren't even considering the range of the PFR and that's a serious problem. If the PFR has a tight range you are running into too many strong hands and you will be unable to play your equity aggressively (no one has ever made money in Texas Hold'em by trying to get $1-$2 players to fold over pairs).

For example, you could probably flat 22 here instead of 54 and it will play much easier. First, because you'll rarely get squeezed and when you hit, you almost always have the best hand. So even though you are folding the flop the vast majority of the time, when you don't fold you're printing money.

When you flat 54s, you are burning money because you're either folding the best hand too often or paying off too often.

If he's opening much wider, it's more justifiable but you still don't flop well that often. When you do flop well, especially this well, you really need to pile as much money as possible in on the flop before your equity gets cut in half -- you're a favorite over 2 black Aces and you have the dummy end of the straight draw that will make the board really scary. Also, you have no SDV so exercising fold equity is paramount (this hand plays better against someone opening 30% than 22 does, but you need to push it when you flop big draws).

I think you missed the fact that you have no initiative in the hand, which means that you're the one making the mistake and not him. If you have initiative and are the PFR, then you are able to barrel and make him f*** up by folding when he's not supposed to. Granted, you generally won't be making that mistake, but it's quite possible that you would have the best hand if you flop a 5, but it's going to be hard to continue with it for 3 streets.

2nd hand i prob 4bet pre and obv call off on flop

This isn't 2012, initiative isn't a real concept

Initiative reflects the type of hands that each player is expected to have in their ranges.

Don't see any reason to 4 bet that plo hand pre. OK I see like one reason but doesn't seem great.

Calling in position with a hand that's easy to play seems good

why 4 bet the 2nd hand when you can call and play perfect poker?

to clarify this, Bigger, playing 22 against a very strong, tight range is profitable because you have implied odds when you hit your set.

Playing 22 against wide range is not profitable because you're folding the best hand too often.

Playing 54s against tight range isn't great because you're running into a brick wall when you play your equity aggressively. It's easier to flop an 8- or 9-out draw or play a flopped small pair aggressively against a weaker range.

It's not like I'm a limp/calling machine. I'm just trying to mix things up a little. I don't always play 45s. But your point of "you don't even know why your are calling" is valid.

I've been sooooo card dead the last few sessions that I believe my image is a rock. Last session I got AT once, AA once, and JJ once. That was the extent of my "playable" hands. I just feel like a call like this every once in a while isn't horrible.

And back to the raise. My opponents just fold every time I raise now which I think goes back to image.

But "you need to push it when you flop big draws" is a great point. Something I haven't been doing.

FWIW, I don't think I'm playing horrible. I'm consistently winning, just not very much.