$1.50 NLHE STT Deep Stacked: Could I have gotten away from this?

Villian Stats (VPIP/PFR/AF): 37/8/1.2


Some background info, this opponent likes to play any two cards is not super aggressive post flop but he is capable of bluffing.



Pre Flop: Hero(UTG) with [Qc,Qs]
Hero(UTG) raises 400, (BTN) folds, (SB) folds, Villain (BB) calls 200


Flop: (5h,9h,7h) (2 players)
Villain(BB) checks, Hero(LP) bets 400, Villain(BB) calls 400

I put him on a flush draw,possibly pair of nines with a decent kicker.

Turn: Qd (2 players)

My set hits I want to charge him as much as possible to draw, but with the other players at the table being short stacked I don't want to over commit myself. I decide to bet over 1/2 the pot. Villain shoves I tank for awhile before I call.

Villain(BB) checks, Hero(LP) bets 890, Villain(BB) raises 3567, Hero(LP) calls 2677


River: (Ad)



Final:
Villain(BB) shows [Kh,4h] (King High Flush)
Hero(UTG) shows [Qc,Qs] ( Set of Queens)
Villain(BB) wins 8914

I look at this as a cooler situation, but I would like some more insight. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Cooler! There ain't much you could have done, any and every play would have cost you the same.

Although, I would have liked to check the turn (for pot control). All sort of flush, straight in there. That being said, I think he would have jammed the river, and you would still have to pay him off.

Btw, what was your stack size?

Pre-flop - I prefer a slightly bigger raise (say 2.5BB) but probably didn't affect the outcome as villain is likely to defend pretty wide.

Flop - unfortunately this hits the villain defending range pretty hard and is obviously straight and flushy. Villain is always going to check to the pe-flo aggressor so you don't get any new information and the call could be a made hand or a draw.

Turn - couple of routes you could have taken here. A check back for pot control would, as Avickter has said, most likely led to a villain river jam which you would have to call as it would look very bluffy. That being said, IMO, the turn c/r by the villain looks super strong and I would think he has it at this point and would reluctantly fold.

Sometimes you have to fold a good hand and it sucks!

Just a bit more. Just don't see the villain bluffing in this spot so we assume he has either the flush (more likely) or the straight then on the river hero is drawing to 10 cards (final Q and 9 opportunities to pair the board). This puts hero at about 19% to win the hand.

Don't see this as a cooler - hero has to find a fold here.

Min raising before the flop has positive but negative aspects also.

Positive is that it is easy to get out missing the flop as the pot is smaller as usual.

Positive is the possibility of hitting a set on the flop with a lot of callers

Positive is if a J or a T appears as someone could think top pair + top kicker is enough to win the pot

Negative is that you didn't gain good information about the opponents hand range as the blinds get good odds to call with nearly any 2 cards.

Negative is that you didn't protect your hand enough to make it correct to stay in the pot if the flop isn't good for you.

Negative is that you you are oop.

Therfor seeing the flop the negative aspects are overwhelming and you should fall in a check call modus.

Not seeing an overcard on further str8s you can call some small bets of course.

Playing that way your opponents may trying a bluff so that you can even generate some small value.

I was in the chip lead slightly covering the villain. The call left me with 3-4 BBs, this is what leaves me wondering if I could have gotten away from it. If I was at average stack I wouldn't even question this call. But if I folded I would've still been in second well over average stack with 4 players left, 3 spots pay. The 2 players not involved in the hand were super nitty and I was effortlessly stealing blinds from them all game.

PBG789 said:

Pre-flop - I prefer a slightly bigger raise (say 2.5BB) but probably didn't affect the outcome as villain is likely to defend pretty wide.

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I see your point the only thing is at these stakes I have been payed off a lot by top pair decent kicker. Maybe that is being results oriented?

cooler

and lol at the thought of folding this in a $1.50 game, this is the reason you do not post results in the OP....

WiZZiM said:

cooler

and lol at the thought of folding this in a $1.50 game, this is the reason you do not post results in the OP....

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Idk the table dynamic/stack sizes made it more of a decision. It was either call and bust if I was wrong or chop the hand up as a loss and have a high chance of cashing.

this is really the only thing that i read tbh "villian likes to play ATC and is capable of bluffing". this is at the top of our range, and if we consider folding this, we are playing way too tight and in general losing a ton of value.

this is really just fish stacking 101. bet big and get it in with good hands and let them make mistakes, simple as that. people have a funny way of making spots like this complicated because the result wasn't very good. Now if he shows just one pair here and you win, you would not have posted this hand and you would immediately assume that the play is fine.... But because he actually managed to hit a hand and we lose out to him in showdown, suddenly we question our play which must have been a very easy decision in game...

SO keep it very simple here, don't overthink things, we have a hand, he is a fish, lets extract as much value as possible and simply forget the times that he has a better hand to beat us. do that and i guarantee it will work out well for you in the long run as making money in these lower stakes is about extracting as much value from fish as possible when you have a hand.

ouch. that one hurts. i think his check call and then check shove was really shady. I would've tanked to the very end. This is tough and even if he's bluffing, you have to fold.