Hi all,

Curious about any feedback on these 3 hands from earlier today.

First hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.16 BB (8 handed)

UTG ($37.93)
UTG+1 ($17.47)
MP1 ($16)
MP2 ($23.97)
CO ($19.33)
Button ($41.50)
SB ($18.52)
Hero (BB) ($16)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, A
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.48, 5 folds, Hero calls $0.32

Flop: ($1.04) 10, 9, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $0.64, Hero calls $0.64

Turn: ($2.32) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 bets $1.60, Hero raises to $5, 1 fold

Total pot: $5.52 | Rake: $0.25

Villain here is a very solid but also very ABC player. Multitables 8 at a time. In retrospect, not sure my raise here on the turn was wise. I think he's quite strong, especially when he fires a second barrel. He is definitely capable of doing so with a good draw, but as I have the A I was probably already ahead of most of his range. I don't think I've ever seen him bluff the river. On the other hand, like most ABC players V folds too often, and I thought the 6 wasn't a terrible card to semi-bluff with.

Second hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.16 BB (6 handed)

Button ($36.53)
SB ($20.58)
BB ($20.17)
UTG ($39.90)
MP ($24.06)
Hero (CO) ($17.78)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A, A
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.48, 1 fold, SB raises to $1.44, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.96

Flop: ($3.04) 7, 4, 2 (2 players)
SB bets $1.12, Hero raises to $4, SB calls $2.88

Turn: ($11.04) 7 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($11.04) J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $11.04 | Rake: $0.50

Results:

V here is a weaker but by no means incompetent player. Tight 3betting range. I'm wondering if I could have safely bet again on the turn.

Third hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.16 BB (7 handed)

CO ($16)
Button ($16.59)
SB ($16.75)
BB ($38.13)
UTG ($17.45)
MP1 ($20.74)
Hero (MP2) ($22.43)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with J, J
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.48, 1 fold, Button calls $0.48, 2 folds

Flop: ($1.20) J, 5, 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.75, Button calls $0.75

Turn: ($2.70) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.58, 1 fold

Total pot: $2.70 | Rake: $0.12

Button is a decent player. The turn card was pretty bad for me, especially because the T figures into a lot of his range and I'm OOP. Running a conservative range in Equilab of TTx, AJs, QTs, KQ, AT, AJo gave me only 55% equity.

Thanks in advance.

In the first hand, against a solid utg+1 opening range, you probably don't want to flat your small and medium suited A's. It will be hard to realize your equity out of position, and bluff raising flops or turns against such a strong range will be difficult.
Maybe flat call A9s+.

On the turn if you lead in to the raiser I think you risk less to achieve the same result. If villain does stick around you are building a good sized pot for the river if your draw comes in. But, if villain is known to cbet and double barrel freqently, then waiting for the second barrel to bluff/raise is definitely the correct play.

The second hand, need to 4bet pre if villain is only 3betting with a small strong value range.
I think you can definitely continue betting on the turn. The 7 is unlikely to have helped villain. Most of his range is big pairs and big A's. After villain calls your flop raise you definitely need to keep pounding here, especially on the river.

In the third hand I think my sizing on the turn would have been a little smaller, around 2/3-3/4 pot. It is a coordinated wet board so you def don't want to be betting cheap, but by betting close to pot you are going to run off too many hands that you have great equity against.

Great feedback, thanks. I think you've pointed out a big weakness in the first hand, calling too wide there. Villain double barrels often enough, but I've never seen it as a pure bluff, and rarely with just TP. Leading out is a great option, one I rarely consider (except on very wet boards like the 3rd one, if necessary). For the second hand, I rarely flat a 3bet with AA pre but once in a while will do it with position just to mix things up.

Hand one

Pot 72 32

Utg has raised 4bb from utg, good sizing for the stronger ep opening range since it’s largely a value position.

I kind of hate the call oop. I’d prefer a 3B with A6♠️ with the ace blocker but I’d like a fold overall. I’m more inclined to give action with baby pairs in these spots due to their extra playability post. Probably not against a solid utg range mind.

As played on the flop the calls ok. If we plan on semi bluffing now might be a good spot where it costs us less. I’d average outs to 10.5 since our ace isn’t always live. So callings never too bad. The pots a decent size and we only need to make another 60c ish out of the hand if we hit to break even on the chase.

We pick up equity on the turn. We can be fairly confident that we have 14 outs if we’re behind and V still has unpaired hands in their range.

I don’t mind the bet as a light bluff but the sizing seems too large. Do you think we achieve any less folds with $4-$4-50? I’m not sure we do.

Hand 2

4B pre if V is a tight 3B. The turns a good card, if V is tight and weaker we need to take advantage.

The 7’s a great turn card. Any overpairs V has, and their range is skewed to overpairs after the flop call will likely call again. I think this hand was butchered in the end. The pot simply wasn’t big enough.

The third hand.

That turn card is gross. Horrible! The bets fine but since we can probably still get value but the bets too big, especially after the flop bet which 66%? Do you often bet a larger % on scare cards?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Baby suited aces in hand one not baby pairs 🤦*♂️


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, Gabe.

1st hand: Although I'll do it from time to time, I don't like 3betting light OOP vs an EP open-raiser, especially if I feel he's challenging. At the time I felt a raise on the flop would be transparent, but that might be either 1) not true or 2) because we've played a lot together. Online it's hard to tell who's actually paying attention because you don't get the visual feedback or talk, but good players I usually give the benefit of the doubt.

2nd hand: I find that the good players who know me fold a lot to my 3bets. My range isn't nitty but probably not as loose as some of the better players. So I don't mind flatting pre with AA or KK if it's HU or even 3 way and I have position and try and use postflop skills to squeeze a bit more value (accepting the occasional mess-up or cooler). When V called the raise I put him on possible sets. But I agree after he checked on the river a bet was in order.

3rd hand: I like to bet big on cards I think V is tempted to call on a draw (micros), which I thought was a lot of his range. But maybe you're right, I should think these spots through better.