$50NL 6-max: Regs who 3-bet light get no respect!

How's my line, does I got dat fold equiteee?

Villain is a 16/15/25%(4.5) over 122 hands.
Fold to flop c-bet = 100% (1 of 1, regular pot)
WTSD = 17% (3/18)
3-bet = 11% (7% from SB, 29% from BB)


UTG: $39.46 (78.9 bb)
MP: $141.92 (283.8 bb)
CO: $36.28 (72.6 bb)
Hero (BTN): $63.90 (127.8 bb)
SB: $226.97 (453.9 bb)
BB: $23.75 (47.5 bb)

Pre-Flop: Hero is BTN with 9♥ 9♦
3 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, SB raises to $6.25, BB folds, Hero calls $4.50

Flop: ($13) A♠ 6♦ K♠ (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($13) 8♦ (2 players)
SB bets $8, Hero raises to $24!

Hmmmm...FPS

He never folds any A here and probably calls at least the raise with KQ/KJ/even JJ/QQ. I agree it doesn't matter what you're repping against random fish, but this is a reg. wtf are you repping? When people take really strange lines it's usually nuts or air. This guy knows he 3-bets a ton and knows people get frustrated. He knows you're calling super-light there (although on that note AA/KK are probably in your range, but there are just so few combos of those hands) and that you're going to make a move. In fact I think he jams a lot of draws and if he doesn't have the draw he can put you on a draw and I wouldn't be shocked to see him call even a river bet after this with QQ, MAYBE even JJ. It's just a 3-bet pot and you started with a wide range and your bluff can only represent sets and AK, all extremely rare. He's going to rightfully look you up with lots of aces and maybe some kings like KJ/KQ even if he doesn't have the balls to look you up with JJ. He's 3-betting 11% (or 8% from SB but small enough sample that's probably not super-significant) and the flop basically smacked his range. I guess if you have some kind of read that the check is weakness, but if he has AQ/AJ there's really no point for him to bet, especially if you have an aggro image.

C9's rules of bluffing teh pplz (which may or may not be any good):

1) Is his range wide?
2) Are stack-off hands in his range?
3) Is the board "one of those boards" where people will call down super light?
4) Does their poker client come equipt with a fold button?

I think these are the main points to consider when bluffing these 1st level "What's my hand" type thinkers who aren't good enough to put you on a range. Also notice that "does my line make sense" is not one of those considerations. People suck at hand reading, and it is SOOOO RARE for someone to go "oh, he played the hand like X, I'm going to call with 2nd pair". They just don't do it unless you've been SOOO AGGRESSIVE and abusing the jesus out of them. This guy just won't realize that JJ is the same exact thing as AQ in this spot. But this is the first hand I'd even messed with this guy.

1) Obviously, yes, his range is hella wide. He 3-bets 11%, and I pretty much induced this turn bet by checking back the flop.

2) I also think once he checks back the flop the amount of stack off hands in his range decrease dramatically. You guys keep saying "Oh, he's going to slowplay you cuz you're aggressive." No, this is 50$NL, regs do not adjust. They play their game. They *might* adjust preflop if you start 4-betting their 3-bets & shit, but mostly they have rules in their head about how to play poker and they follow them. Thus, I think AQ+, KK+ becomes 95% not in his range after he checks the flop, leaving AJ, random suited aces as the only hands in his range that can get through a turn raise. I think his range is heavily weighted towards pocket pairs lower than a K, and KQ. Plus some A2s, AJs hands thrown in.

So yeah Zach, "He knows you're calling super-light there". You make statements like this ALL THE TIME in my hand analysis threads, and I think you project a level of skill on most villains that they just don't have, especially at this level.

3) No. This board is not 22QQ5.

4) Yes, he's a TAG, he knows how to fold.

Add in the fact that if he reads hands at all, he'd probably expect me to bet the flop if I had air, and he can easily rationalize "okay, he just trapped me with AK/AA/KK/AQ on the turn." Thus, I expected to get a lot of laydowns here. Plus, my line gets another bet from him, whereas betting the flop doesn't .

I don't mind this play. If he calls down hes gonna note you on it and you can abuse him next time.

sidenote it wouldn't suprise me if he had 1010

I don't think He'll be calling Kx type hands on the turn. You fold out pretty much all his non ace holdings (with the exception of fl dr's which are probably unlikely). Whether I like it or not is another matter .

Crappy board to bluff imo, with two flush draws out there. He won't fold an Ace, he won't fold a flush draw, and if he's any good he shouldn't fold a King too often either.

If you had:
-> a strong Ace or better, you would almost always bet the flop
-> a weak Ace or Kx, you would almost never raise the turn

Basically, you're repping 86, 88*, a flush draw or a bluff. If he has anything, he's supposed to call you down or 3-bet your turn raise.

*and with those two hands I assume you'd make a bigger raise considering how draw-heavy the board is.

FWIW, I wouldn't bet the flop with any AQ or better holding since his range is so weak, but I highly doubt he knows that or would assume that. Plus doesn't my line kinda scream "lol, trapt you!" And if someone is 3-betting a lot, then wouldn't they fear getting trapped?

Chris & Zach I think both make the same mistake in assuming that what I'm repping matters. At 50NL, with all the bluffs I've pulled off, its REALLY rare that opponents will be able to correctly put you on a range. I don't even think they know what that is. They look at their cards, and they just say to themselves "is my opponent strong, or weak?" If their opp. is acting strong, they fold weak hands.

Hahaha, well C9, Chris and Zach all have really valid points so I'm not sure who I side with.

My main wondering is...C9 do you have respect for anyone who you play? I have to laugh cause everytime I see you commenting on someone else's line, its talking about how much of a dipshit they are and how they can't think...just out of curiosity have you ever sat at a table and thought, hmmmm this guy might be pretty good?

If his range is that weak, you're not often raising AQ on the turn either. Well maybe, but I doubt overall that you're playing AQ or anything strong in this way very often.

I just don't see how you can rep anything credible here. If you think he's so weak, then rep AQ on the flop and turn and see if you can force out QQ/JJ/KQ/etc.

i'd much rather start by just betting the flop since you can rep more hands that way (including AQ, AJ). strictly repping huge hands, as you seem to be doing on the turn, is only really worth it if you think he'll fold a lot of hands at the upper end of his range. this line is polarized and weird enough that i don't think you can count too strongly on that. and you're c9 so i wouldn't be surprised if you don't have the tightest most respected image at this point

Note to self: Do not attempt to fold out middle pair in a Cards Chat game.

And yeah, I do give some guys respect. There are some decent, well balanced TAGs running around 50NL. However, I make it a habit not to play with them

Interestingly enough, villain snap-folded. Usually I just bet the flop, but I thought you know, I prolly wouldn't bet the flop with an AQ/AK/AA/KK hand, so I figured I'd try this line.

You definitely get called wider if you bet the flop, because he'd expect you to fire about 100% of your range there. Raising the turn represents a much stronger hand.

How do you play QsJ/Ts or QdJ/Td here? What if you have KQ?

Also, do you make this play with TT or JJ?

I like this play with 99 a lot more than most of these hands.