This is the 3rd game we've played. Game 1 was very under control, where I was able to relentlessly value bet thin on the river very small (1/3 pot etc). Getting called by Q high, 4th pair, etc. Very stationy in game 1.

Game 2. He cbet 200 into 120 with top pair T kicker. I have Top 9 kicker so I shoved and thats that.

Game 3. He has increased his aggression. Opening buttons to 5-8x at 10/20. Here on river he insta c/r's me.


Poker Stars $220+$10 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

TonyCon (BB): t1560 M = 52
Hero (BTN/SB): t1440 M = 48

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 A
Hero raises to t60, TonyCon calls t40

Flop: (t120) 6 9 K (2 players)
TonyCon checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t120) A (2 players)
TonyCon bets t40, Hero raises to t160, TonyCon calls t120

River: (t440) 4 (2 players)
TonyCon checks, Hero bets t390, TonyCon raises to t1340 all in, Hero ??

I have some ideas as to how I could have played it better, but I've also discussed with a couple high stake regs who have opposing ideas with my turn play. I don't want to comment on these yet as I don't want to sway the responses.

curious as to the reasoning behind your river bet size if you werent prepared to b/f

edit: not saying we should b/f here against an opponent who has ramped up aggression, but obviously you were surprised by his shove, so...

You raised 4x when the flush card came on the turn and your opponent check raised you all in on the river. You are only good here if your opponent is a complete moron imo so I fold.

my thought process here would be zomg 2pr he's going to snap with Kx/Ax/etc then he ships and i frown and fold then he shows Kx4d and i grab a bottle of jack and call it a day

Way ahead of you haha, any thoughts on the turn raise michelle tanner?

really weird hand, i think i call tho.. if hes being spazzy theres a good chance we're getting 3bet on the turn with his flushes id imagine. though i dunno, donks love to slowplay. i dunno how many two prs he has because we have the blocker to the 4 and this villain seems like hed get 2 pr in as early as he could. i like a smaller river bet but i guess you gotta call though its an easy fold vs a better opponent though i doubt we get this river situation vs a better opponent. i dont hate the turn c/raise in conjunction with a smaller river bet i guess.

i think its close.. actually id be more inclined to raise the turn if this was in match 1 and just flat in match 3.

In situations like this, first I like to try to figure out if Villain could even be bluffing at all. What hands could he call the turn raise with and then need to bluff with? possibly 9xQd or QJd or similar. I don't think that range of hands is very big and the fact that you bet so big on the river, you are repping a pretty strong hand, so it would be even less likely for him to bluff. Thus I think his range here is highly skewed towards value hands. Would he do this for value with less than a flush? Most opponents would not so my guess is that he had a reasonably high flush on the turn and decided not to 3 bet so that you could value bet thin again (you likely just have a pair of aces at most here as you would likely bet a flush draw on the flop and most pairs so shouldn't have 2 pair or better) or continue your possible bluff. His small bet size on the turn also could be the classic "please raise me" bet with a strong hand.

I raise turn for slightly less, to ~t140, to extract more calls out of weaker hands.

+1 to this as played.

Is there any thought that by raising the turn here I leave myself in a vulnerable river spot; I push out hands that I beat, while not being sure where I stand on the river?

My original plan was to raise turn since I perceived him as weak, and trying to block. River was going to be a check or small vbet, most likely check here. But when I bink 2 pair, I find it too strong not to vbet.

It depends on raise sizing and villain's calling range, but generally I'd expect a reasonable chance to charge most pairs and combo draws.

If we know for certain that villain is blocking with a marginal hand which we are ahead of, raising small is the best response.

I would call especially when it seems like villain is maniacish.I think he might 3bet flushes on turn a good portion of the time,plus combined with the weak lead i'd be inclined to consider his range much more towards non flush hands,non Ace also too. On the river i think he c/r all 2 pairs and the 4c4d+some high diamond air that he block bet on the turn,and flushes ofc but i don't think they're that much of his range to make this a fold.

Your bet sizing is ok if he was still stationy.Also i would definitely raise the turn he is calling with a lot worse stuff there.

dont think i have ever folded 2 pair in my life, not about to start

i fold unless hes capable of making elaborate bluffs.

i fold unless he is a maniac and pick a better spot. what is he repping here when the 4 comes ? you could have a v strong hand and he is stil c/r river. so he doesn't seem to care of the board possibilities you could have. he has the flush most of the time here i think . i know v well this kind of players, they are tricky and trappy

Pretty gross.

Firstly on the turn i think ur raise definately has merit against this type of opponent because your going to get a ton of value out of naked FD's.

You should def bet a little smaller on the river though given that you do want to get called by a lot of his Kx/9x hands as well in this spot. I guess the whole point of a value bet is maximising profit long term and i think the most ev is in trying to get them hands to call because there's actually a significantly smaller range of hands that call a bigger bet that we beat here.

As played, i think its probably a fold because river c/r is just so often the nuts. In saying that, in game, i never ever fold, haha.

depending how wide he defends pre, i cbet flop decent enough amount
as played i think river is a fold though your sizing is weird tbh

Heh, I thought the same thing. Pretty sure in game I call because "omg, 2 pair"...but yeah, after he calls your turn c/r, a river shove looks super strong even for a guy who's been aggro. A fold on the river is probably better...

plus the description at the top of the OP, and raising 5x/8x earlier,

looks like a pretty fishy player to me, in my exp bad players play worse if you play them in several matches in a row... sharkscope is about the same aswell.

for what its worth

Thanks for the discussion, I ended up folding the river, which I think was the right play in this particular match, but something still leaves a sour taste in my mouth about how I played it.

i call turn most of the time depending on how gud, bad villain is. river is a fold without solid reads

lol. So true. I can't fold 2 pair...

i think the only thing you are beating with calling on the river is a bluff. I think my biggest issue with the way you played the hand was the you 4x him on turn and i might have just called and called river as well...or if i made the same play on turn and he called i would have checked or bet far less then u did on the river.

Well said.

if hes gud, like really gud id call, but never take this line, just to clarify.