$50 NLHE 6-max: Flat JJ in SB against probable steal attempt

$50 NL HE 6-max: Flat JJ in SB against probable steal attempt

Villian Stats (VPIP/PFR/AF): 17/14/8.3

Another hand I butchered (sigh...). Following the discussion of flatting strong-ish hands in the small blind against Villain's who will likely fold to a 3bet, I decided to flat here. 3bet is 6.4%, fold to 3bet is 70% over 1.7K hands. Steals at 25%, positionally aware.

I'm sorry to admit, though, that I feel lost in this situation OOP postflop - I'm used to 3betting pf and, if called, representing a strong hand and leading out and evaluating where I stand based on Villain's response. I took an extremely passive line here postflop, so I have no good feel for how strong her hand is, other than the fact that she fired 3 barrels.

I'm assuming I should have raised the flop or the turn and evaluated the response at that point? If I raised either, and she re-raised, would that mean a T, overcards, sd, or QQ+? Her range is pretty wide here - the 3 barrel says she's got something, but I'm not comfortable if I'm ahead of the range or not. I got very uncomfortable at the river and wasn't sure whether to call or shove.

So, instead of being a chickens**t passive dweeb, how should I be planning to play this hand postflop?

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HAND #1
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poker stars, $0.25/$0.50 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

BTN: $58 (116 bb)
Hero (SB): $70.80 (141.6 bb)
BB: $40.10 (80.2 bb)
UTG: $50 (100 bb)
MP: $82.50 (165 bb)
CO: $55.45 (111.9 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is SB with J J
3 folds, BTN raises to $2, Hero calls $1.75, BB folds

Flop: ($4.50) T 7 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $3.50, Hero calls $3.50

Turn: ($11.50) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $8.50, Hero calls $8.50

River: ($28.50) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $12.50, Hero ???

I would always 3-bet Jacks in the SB...don't really want to play JJ oop if I can avoid it. But as played I am check raising this flop...would give you a slightly better read on where you are in the hand. As agressive as the villian appears to be they could be doing this with any pair, over cards, AK, AQ or even any ace. Of course if you run like me lately it is AA, KK or QQ and you are wb on the hand.

This hand is like a textbook case for check calling all 3 streets to me. Your opponent has a wide range. He's uber-crazy aggressive. You're hand is miles ahead of his range and he shows up with air a ton here.

Call and expect to be good here a lot.

That is a really strange river bet, it could be just a blocking bet and you could put in a small raise and expect to get called by some ten or you could just call because it could just be him betting because he has air and knows that he has no showdown value but doesn't want to risk a lot of money on a bluff.

I think you played it fine though I definitely prefer a 3bet preflop since you're going to be out of position and playing out of position sucks.

Ya I call, he's betting like all 10's here plus all the air hands he has because our hand looks super under repped and guy is an aggrotard. Expect to be good a fair amount of time.

SeanyJ said:

That is a really strange river bet, it could be just a blocking bet and you could put in a small raise and expect to get called by some ten or you could just call because it could just be him betting because he has air and knows that he has no showdown value but doesn't want to risk a lot of money on a bluff.

Click to expand...

Thanks for putting that context around it - I was trying to figure out what that bet size meant. I would've actually been more comfortable with a 2/3 bet than this size, it was uncharacteristic for her - was worried she was trying to make it easy for me to call. Thanks also WV, I really couldn't see what a raise was going to do for me other than force me to fold to a re-raise, appreciate the validation.

She had ATo. Based on what I've seen her do before, that hand is not in her range for calling 3bets. So the good news is instead of getting her $2 preflop bet by 3betting, I got half a BI out of it.

I took this line in response to the discussion in switch's recent thread, that 3betting will sometimes be less value if Villain is likely to fold - was this a correct application of that idea? Sure was uncomfortable for me - as several of you pointed out, playing OOP sucks.

slycbnew said:

Thanks for putting that context around it - I was trying to figure out what that bet size meant. I would've actually been more comfortable with a 2/3 bet than this size, it was uncharacteristic for her - was worried she was trying to make it easy for me to call. Thanks also WV, I really couldn't see what a raise was going to do for me other than force me to fold to a re-raise, appreciate the validation.

She had ATo. Based on what I've seen her do before, that hand is not in her range for calling 3bets. So the good news is instead of getting her $2 preflop bet by 3betting, I got half a BI out of it.

I took this line in response to the discussion in switch's recent thread, that 3betting will sometimes be less value if Villain is likely to fold - was this a correct application of that idea? Sure was uncomfortable for me - as several of you pointed out, playing OOP sucks.

Click to expand...

Just a note that had you raised her bet I think you have to be willing to call any reraise all-in (she has 1/2 her stack in already). In fact had I decided to raise her river bet I would just shove.

I don't like reraising here specifically for 2 reasons, the first is that I get to see her cards and I can perhaps use the info to narrow her range more the next time we get into this situation when my holding might be weaker relative to the board. The second reason I don't like raising is that there are very few hands in her range that call that we beat (of course she just happens to have one of them).

I really like the way you played the hand.

3-betting jacks vs a button steal against a 17/14 should be a pretty serious option, done at least 60-70% of the time.

Flatting for minor deception here and there, fine. You shouldn't always be 3-betting.

As played you essentially need to check-raise flop or lead out on flop. You are taking an extremely passive approach to this hand which is pretty bad. You keep calling all the time. You essentially need to raise at some point. If that coordinated board scares you on flop you must check-raise river there.

As [passively] played, snap-call river.

i def wouldve 3bet here pre, and you played it really really passive imo. i wouldve check raised flop also.

since you played it so passively you really put yourself in a bad spot, because you have too much info, but i guess you just gotta call that river