$100 NLHE 6-max: Play it any different

Villian Stats (VPIP/PFR/AF): 28/22/4.1

Villain is a pretty aggressive lagtard, and he lost a pot a couple of hands ago and didn't reload. So wasn't sure what was going on there. I only had ~70 hands on him at the time.

Obviously I can 3-bet if I want pre-flop. I thought he'd made bigger mistakes post flop. I want to keep his bluffing range in and once he checks the turn, I was 50/50 on betting or allow him to turn some hands/air into bluffs. Obviously he has to know he's beat if he has a 1 pair hand that doesn't include Ax. It seemed pretty close. I didn't want him to check behind AT, etc... of course.

Hand Converted by Ace Poker Drills Poker Training Software

NL Holdem $1(BB)
HERO ($192.35)
BB ($84.16)
UTG ($53.05)
HJ ($24.5)
CO ($123.6)
BTN ($61.85)

Dealt to Hero A:heart: Q:heart:

UTG Folds , HJ Folds , CO Folds , BTN Raises To $4 , HERO Calls $3.5 , BB Folds

Flop ($7.5) 5:diamond: A:spade: 4:club:
HERO Checks , BTN Bets $1 , HERO Raises To $8 , BTN Raises To $19 , HERO Calls $11

Turn ($46.5) 5:diamond: A:spade: 4:club: 6:spade:
HERO Checks , BTN Checks

River ($46.5) 5:diamond: A:spade: 4:club: 6:spade: J:club:
HERO Checks , BTN Bets $38.85 (all-in), HERO Calls $38.85

Shouldn't the pot be $9 when you go to the flop?

Yes, it should be 8.5.

Does his bluff range on the river EVER include an A? I think its pretty thin, even for a lagtard.

Not saying its the wrong call, but I don't think AQ is any different than a KQ here, maybe a little but the equity runs pretty close.

That being said. I think the call is fine. If he has the flush draw, he probably bets it on the turn. The flush card comes and it looks scary, he thinks you should fold an A. Call is probably fine most of the time.

No, probably not... he'd take that to showdown most likely, but he's capable of turning other pairs into bluffs.

This line looks optimal as he should be shoving river too often - you need to be ahead only 31% of the time to break even.

His minibet and almost minraise on the flop look incredibly strong, I would think he has either AA (maybe smaller sets but AA would be favored here) or air.

John A said:

No, probably not... he'd take that to showdown most likely, but he's capable of turning other pairs into bluffs.

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It makes sense he would turn other pairs into bluffs. I just don't know what pairs he has here. Pocket pairs, maybe 6's. I mean, I guess that he could have all cards on the board in his range, but its more likely he doesn't.

When I see big bets like that, I have found they tend to either be the nuts or nothing. While it could be a pair, I think it is more likely nothing than a pair. Which leaves high card running pretty close to top pair. Not the same equity, but very close.

Yeah, lower pairs are in his range, but not many and not often - I think.

Any indication that his 4x opening means something? Assuming it's not his usual size, I'd guess it supports his flop play being either very strong or pretty weak.

I lean toward calling his shove, partly because if he is strong, he might have weak-led the turn to give you better odds to call when he shoves the river.

Yeah, his flop play is super polarized. This was actually my thought process in real time while I was playing the hand.

Pre-flop: This guy seems to play bad post flop, I don't want him to go away with that stack size, I'll just call and under rep my hand.

Flop: His min bet re-raise is super polarized to really strong hand or just donking around. I think he knows I think it will be perceived as strong, so I'll look him up since there's a little less than a pot sized bet left. No need stacking off, just keep his bluffing range in. I'll stay looking weak and see what develops.

Turn: He checks behind. He must have been donking around and then turned some equity he now wants to realize. Maybe small pair and flush or straight draw. I'll c/c any river.

River: Wait... maybe he just played AT or Ax goofy, maybe I should just bet. Na, stick with the plan.

My question was mainly on the river, but after I posted I think this is the most ideal line considering my read. The other argument can be just fold on the flop, but needed to trust my read in this case. I was concerned he'd check behind Ax, but after looking at it more, definitely better to let him donk off the rest.

Villain had: 5c3c - not that it matters too much.

Perhaps your looking too much into villain.

Perhaps he's just kept his stack down and considered it lost, but willing to muck around and do random plays to really keep opponents guessing.

Or it could be as simple as just cause I felt like playing like this! and play proper once reloaded. I've often gotten short stacks back up... hell I turned 20 into 1000 the same night doing random wacky plays which put ppl on tilt.

aren't you attributing him a pretty strong thought process given he isn't even fully stacked?

that's pretty much what I meant to say

Kinda a gross hand.

My one comment is you say you don't want to 3-bet because you want to keep his bluffs in. But often, especially if you've been pounding on him earlier, he's not going to fold them to a 3-bet in position. Also, preflop is one of the only times you know your range is ahead of his, and so you force him to play a bigger pot with his weaker range. Plus, it's going to be harder to force him to make big mistakes postflop when we're out of position. A call here is fine against a TAG whose skill you respect, but against a guy who min-bets and does spazzy things post, I think you just want to get the money in early.

c9h13no3 said:

Kinda a gross hand.

My one comment is you say you don't want to 3-bet because you want to keep his bluffs in. But often, especially if you've been pounding on him earlier, he's not going to fold them to a 3-bet in position. Also, preflop is one of the only times you know your range is ahead of his, and so you force him to play a bigger pot with his weaker range. Plus, it's going to be harder to force him to make big mistakes postflop when we're out of position. A call here is fine against a TAG whose skill you respect, but against a guy who min-bets and does spazzy things post, I think you just want to get the money in early.

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I think that is some solid advice. I hadn't really considered the preflop play in that manner, but it makes sense to raise. The more money is in the pot in comparison to stacks, the less position matters. So you may as well hinder is positional advantage by forcing mistakes on him when you can.