100BB effective, 6-max online

I'm new to NLHE and thought I would get some practice. Any comments and serious thoughts would be appreciated.


UTG Limps, Hero limps with Ah 2h (<--- Should I iso an UTG limp or should I encourage multiway action?), MP min raises, BTN cold calls, SB folds, Villain cold calls, UTG calls, Hero calls.


Flop: Qd 5h 4h

Checked to hero, hero bets $3.50

MP min raises

folds around to

Villain in BB cold calls.

Hero calls <--- Should I just ship it in here?

Turn: Qd 5h 4h 8h (completing the flush, giving hero the Ace hi flush)

BB checks, Hero bets half pot <---- Thoughts on sizing? Was this a good bet into the person that raised me?

MP calls

Villain in BB calls.

river: Qd 5h 4h 8h 5s

Villain goes all in.

Hero calls <---- Is this ever a lower flush, naked trips, some poorly played bluff?


Thank you

Pre: Iso wouldn't be bad but if there are weaker players behind, this hand plays pretty well MW with a deep spr. You want to be IP but you can't have everything everytime!
Flop you could just play in flow and let PFR stab and get a call from other player(s) and then put in the X/R. I personally don't have a dobk bet range 99% of the time. You're relative position is awesome for a X/R
As played, I might put in a 3bet on the flop sometimes and might just call some other time. Both are fine IMO depending on how much FE you expect from Vs.
Again , on the turn I wouldn't bet but as you have donking range and you are playing this strategy, bet closer to 70ish% pot. You are leaving value...
On the river, there aren't much of bluffs in his range but there could definitely be worst value hands because you're not blocking any Kh,Qh,Jh,Th.. So there are at least 6 combos of big to medium flushes that might take this line.
I'm not sure about thrips thou...

Not sure why we're donking so much. I'd raise PF but calling's probably okay. c/c or c/r flop depending on action, c/r turn as played.

OP, you seem much better at PLO.

+1, but pre you should be raising or folding here. I'd prefer a fold, but it depends on table.

I had missed this comment when I first posted:

My apologies.

We should be iso'ing preflop. At some passive tables you could certainly limp but that's much less of a thing in NLHE. As you can see by the responses above, NLHE players respect the aggressor on the previous street and just check a bunch. I don't mind the bet ott too much because it's 3-ways and it's not fun if someone has a set/2p/straight or a hand like KhQx or Qhxx because those are hands that will call and not always hands that will bet into two players. If this was HU, I'd certainly always check ott. River's impossible to comment on without knowing what odds you're getting. Please to be putting actual dollar amounts in the future to make this less confusing. I know you know how...

My thoughts on the hand: I lead into the preflop raiser b/c I flopped a hand with very high flop equity and there was no guarantee that the preflop raiser would bet my hand for me.

I wanted lots of money going into the middle right now while we have an equity advantage. I think the only reason why I wouldn't bet in this spot was for balance (if I lead here, then when I check my range is very weak and transparent.). Maybe check raising here is the best play by default.

After MP min raises my lead into him, I put him on a Queen or some hand with weak showdown value that he is trying to pot control to get to showdown cheaply and regain control of the hand. BB cold call is what gets me to slow down.

I was going to bet 3bet get it in vs MP, but with BB cold calling, I thought of a different line--I was going to call and invite BB in the pot. I put BB on a draw after his cold call and thought, more the merrier with nut flush draw 3 ways...

Maybe instead of jamming I should re-raise small. Cons--this reduces the little fold equity I have vs MP, however this invites BB to call with his wider ranger <--- Thoughts on re-raising small to invite other players in?

Turn: I lead again because I don't want to check raise and blow everyone out of the pot and don't want this turn checking through, which I believe will happen a lot 3 ways. (Again, this is unbalanced, and kills my checking range, but I thought it was most profitable...).

No offence but you shouldn't be playing nl50 if you're overlimping hands UTG +1. Hold'em is all about initiative unlike plo

thanks for the reply.

everything you said makes sense, i bet half pot on the turn to make sure single hearts call the turn. this left me with a psb for the river if both villains call.

Yep, really hard to comment on the river without bet/pot size on turn/river. I would iso pre without any other table conditions given. From the way the post-flop action goes I'd guess it's a soft table so limping probably can't be that bad.

There's less incentive to donk these hands in NLH because we're less concerned about pot size than pot-limit games (you can always overbet) and just bet/jamming big equity hands. Free cards are nice. You never have strong Qx here after pre, and we'd likely want to check/raise our sets quite a lot.

I don't mind the turn bet. This gets checked through a lot and one of the villains is likely to have something like a big heart that peels, or even a straight. Villain shouldn't ever have boats on the river imo since all those hands should be raising flop, but people are bad and they sometimes will. Enough spew turns up though depending on pot odds.

Thanks. I'm guessing river is close, and to stop donking, more check raising. Leading turn could go either way, and probably more +EV vs. typical weak opponents.

Thanks. I understand that one should start from the lowest stakes possible and move up from there.

But there is a simple reason why I start at NL50.

It's the smallest stakes that offer the minimum amount of feeling anything.

If I lose at NL10, I won't feel anything. I only start to feel anything at NL50, so that helps psychologically and helps with reinforcing certain behavior.

Pain is a good teacher.