$25 NLHE 6-max: KTs out of position against very short stack, was there a better post flop play?

$25 NLHE 6-max: KTs out of position against very short stack, was there a better post flop play?

Hello all!

this is my first post so i apologize if i make posting etiquette mistakes....be gentle but let me know so I can fix it in the future!

OK the specifics of a troubling hand

Hero has $46.56 is playing generally TAG but was caught 3 betting with garbage bluff earlier. to his left is arguably a new/not experienced player (VERY short stacked at $9.23 for a 25NL, figure a seasoned player would have reloaded his stack after 8 hands right?) other than that not much to go off of.

Hero UTG
Villain UTG+1

Preflop: (pot $.35)
Hero Has K ♥ T ♥

Hero Raises to $.63, UTG+1 calls $.63, fold, fold, fold, fold

Flop: (pot $1.61) J♠ T♠ J♦

Hero bets $1.47, UTG+1 calls $1.47

Turn: (pot $4.55, 2 players) 5♦

Hero Bets $4.55, UTG+1 raises all in to $7.22, Hero?


was there a better way to play this hand post flop?, I get that I got froggy with a 2.5 bet in early position with a marginal hand, but what is the play after the flop?

I'm (hopefully correctly) going to bet the pot on the flop most times since i made a pair on the paired board. But when he calls me on the flop, do i bet the turn as well just not so strong? or do I slow down completely? or should i just fold?

completely got stumped when he went all in, and I ended up calling just because it was so little over the top.

should I have taken his stack into account when making that pot sized bet on the turn?


thank you for your advice!!!

Hey man, firstly - welcome to the forum!

Right lets have a look, I'm assuming that this isn't a zoom or fast fold game? If so then I'd strongly suggest not sitting to the immediate right of the fish or short stack as he's gonna put you in some tough spots.l given that you're out of position. Anyway, the open is kinda loose but perfectly fine, although you have to take into account that villain might be flat calling a lot of his very strong hands here like AA KK etc hoping to be 3bet from behind and not wanting to push you off your hand preflop. I probably wouldn't open this in this spot personally, given the short stack.

Flop, I'm not sure what your intention is? He isn't going to fold anything at all here, other than a complete miss, in which case betting half pot would do the same job. And if your intention is to get to get his stack then you don't need to bet so big to get him all in by the river, by betting the pot you are narrowing his range to stronger hands, he can have some draws here I guess, but even those ones are going to be combo draws like KQs, AQs which have pretty decent equity against you.
Turn: You asked should you have taken his stack into account when making the turn bet. Simply put, you should really be looking at that preflop and adjusting your range accordingly. Anyway, the pot sized bet is worse than the flop bet because you've already established that he has a hand that he's probably going to go with given that he's already put over 20% of his stack in the middle and I think his range overall has you crushed, if he is a fish then there is the odd time that he spazzes out with gutshots and medium pocket pairs I guess because of the fact that you are playing it so aggressive but I don't think that's the case very often. however if he is a mass Short stacker then they generally play very tight preflop so I think his range has you in really bad shape here, probably 0% equity. Obviously you have to call now but you should definitely be checking here and probably folding to any aggression.

The bet on the flop made it difficult for you, if you check flop and he bets then you can call one street and evaluate the turn. If it goes check check then you can take a stab at the turn. This isn't a spot where you should be looking at getting 3 streets and stacking him imo. This is a spot where you can probably get one street of thin value against gutshots and hands like 66-99 and that's pretty much it.

Thanks for the welcome and big thanks for the quick and detailed analysis, already glad i joined!

that makes sooooo much sense. right, the first mistake (aside from seat selection haha) was betting that flop that big. i think i got too married to the *i have a good hand for this board* mentality, got too greedy and i didnt realize what HIS situation was. i was obviously the fish here . oh well, lesson learned.
again thanks a lot, that was awesome insight. i look forward to using and contributing!

(well maybe not contributing just yet, but soon!)

No problem! We've all been there!
Just out of curiosity, what did villain show up with?

Raise pre is too small and bets post are waaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy too big

Yeah, you sized your bets weird. On the turn, you leave him with a $2.75 behind when you make that bet, so you can't really fold...

Preflop, you know that's too lose.

With a stack to pot ratio of 5, you're stacking off here most of the time. Villain will show up with smaller pocket pairs, and straight draws often enough.

villain showed up with a KJ clubs. i was dead on the turn haha.