$5 NLHE 6-max: KK MP Deep Stack x Recreational in the UTG

Hi again Cardschat community, hope everyone is fine. I played this hand the way I played because I have information that the UTG player is the type that never folds TT+ AQs, AKs, etc. So, when it opens from UTG, I make a 3bet preflop and he calls out of position.
The Flop was very decent so I make a C-bet for value because Hero has Pocket Kings plus Back Door to 2nd Nut Flush, and Villain in the UTG calls.
Now, the Turn is a harmless 2, and I elect to put all the chips in the middle? Why? Because the guy is a recreational player, and likely to pay me with a wide range, missing draws even being deep stacked.
The general population here thinks is it wrong to play so unbalanced like that? I would dare to say that you are right, however, when we KNOW that we are facing Fishes for sure, I see no reason at all to balance anything, to do any GTO moves. Maybe I'm being a little bit radical, let me know your ideas, please, it is very helpful to improve my game.

Link to the hand using Cardschat Hand Converter: https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/524mfyRg3

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

good game and good luck at the tables always!

To say the least it is an interesting line that you took.

You are putting $8 in a pot of $2 and I can't believe that you are ever doing that with a bluff.
Any thinking opponent wouldn't call unless they are at the top of their range.
Which means you are usually drawing slim when they call, or you win very little of what you risk when they fold.

You did mention that the villain is a recreational player which likes to call a lot, which is an important factor to this hand.
Playing a GTO style vs that type of player wouldn't let you extract the maximum value that you can get out of them.
But it is very important to play in terms of ranges and not specific hands.
The way you played, you narrowed your range very much into AA, KK with a heart.

An overbet at 110% of the pot can get you better results long term.
You aren't as easily exploitable, because you can add some bluffs and semi-bluffs as well.

In preflop you must increase more. Minimum X3 = 0.45. Against a recreational player you could increase this ratio to X4 or X5. Many times you will receive calls with weaker hands and create an efficient long-term exploitation structure, from early hand developments. In the flop I think the size of cbet you chose is correct. You clearly have all the strength to defend your rank. The 3bet lines are paid comfortably by having a position and a sufficiently good hand and with favorable equity. (But not the best possible).
Now on the turn your bet is very disproportionate in my opinion. The reason is that by choosing a size of almost 6 times the size of the boat, you are automatically removing from the rank v, all the average hands of value and all the bluffs and semi bluffs that could seek to see the 5th street at a more accessible price.
Then after your big bet, you are isolating yourself many times with very narrow ranges, which will often beat you, because they will not depend on your rank and will generally protect you by making a call. Think that up to a set of 2 beat you right now. That is, you should better protect your hand and bet a smaller amount on these types of places. I understand that you wanted to get the maximum value. But even if you face a recreational player, this type of movement will not help you in the long term. (Given that you didn't have the best possible hand).
I think the recommendation of to make bet on the turn os very good. And also is good size to get calls that could be better exploited, in these favorable textures.
Greetings.

Seems a little reckless, but vs a known calling station I don't see any real problem other than high variance.

Given that you are 165 Bb deep and have a read that villain is fishy, you need to 3B bigger. I would have made it 3.8x his opening likely. I would then almost pot the flop. Then I would bet near pot because any Ace/Queen high flush draw plus other made hands will call. I would do the same on the turn and then jam the river.

As already stated by others, while your line might be ok vs a fish given the hand he had, I do not think it is the most profitable against his range. Even a fish should know that he needs to fold a flush draw. But you do want him to call with that.

Aballinamion said:

The general population here thinks is it wrong to play so unbalanced like that? I would dare to say that you are right, however, when we KNOW that we are facing Fishes for sure, I see no reason at all to balance anything, to do any GTO moves. Maybe I'm being a little bit radical, let me know your ideas, please, it is very helpful to improve my game.

Link to the hand using Cardschat Hand Converter: https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/524mfyRg3

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

good game and good luck at the tables always!

Click to expand...

LMAO. That call.... insane well, you got max value, this hand probably dounbled youre winrate for the session. Is it good vs the population? I dont think so. But make a big big mark around that guy. sickest spew fish ive seen in a while. You will probably find 1-2 guys in the pool that will call you with that hand, at most. Im not even sure hes suposed to call a set here from a theorethical point of view, you 3.5x overbt shove turn...

Also id 3bet larger. I see were youre going with the 2.5x size ip but especially vs fish always size it up.

I agree with others. Prefer a larger 3 bet pre. Flop is good. I see what you're trying to do but turn is still just too much IMO. Your bet is 4.4x pot (since V is effective at $7.53 and pot is $1.71). Even many fish can figure out they need to fold in this spot in a 3 bet pot. I'm ok with an overbet but not 4.4x. A 2x overbet sets up an easy river jam. Once we get more than half his stack in he wont be folding much even if a scare card hits the river. If we were afraid he would overfold the river that would be the only reason I could think of to size up more than that. But this guy doesn't have a fold button so I don't think it's worth the risk to jam 4.4x pot. I prob max my overbet around $3 on the turn which is even smaller (~1.75x pot). Glad it worked for you here though.

Overbetting for value can be a great line against fish, but its typically something, you want to do, when you have the nuts. In this particular case I think, you got pretty lucky, that he had exactly QQ. This might be the only worse hand, he call you with. Also if he is such a calling station, why did you make your 3-bet so small? If he is calling this massive overbet with QQ and no draw, he is also calling a larger 3-bet.

grateful

Hello there, good morning everybody and thanks a ton for your replies, very good.
You are right when you say that I should have made a bigger 3bet size preflop, but there was a reason for it at the moment which I cannot remember.
I like to play crazy lines versus very passive players because it polarizes my range and make the recreational players guessing.
I also follow the Nathan 'blackrain79' Williams strategy to beat the micro stakes. This strategy does not ever play GTO versus Passive/Recreational players. For a long time I tried to play GTO at the micros and lost tons of value. Because some players are barely in the Level 2 of thinking (Meta-game). So, they are looking at their hole cards and making decisions.
I shoved the Turn because I thought he could pay me right off the bat with worse hands. Flush Draws, Straight Draws, AK, AQ, AJ. I never believe the guy could have Pocket A's because if it had it, it would be 4betting preflop.
Anyways, because of the variance I agree with the general ideia that, if decide to play totally unbalanced against a recreational player, I should be making a smaller bet in the Turn to stack the opponent in the River, because of the variance. Very good observation.
Thanks again everybody! It is a great opportunity to be here at CardsChat community learning with all of you.

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

Already a lot of feedback received onto the topic, so I will just stress onto the fullness of the hand represented with all the info and reply! Well done :top:

Hey guys, I know this is an old thread but I just published my review for this hand on YouTube:


Thanks again for sending me this hand Carlos (OP)! I hope my analysis is helpful for you, and anyone else who sees this.