Nice hand
PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: 98.3 BB
Hero (SB): 107.1 BB
BB: 148.1 BB
UTG: 107.7 BB
MP: 177.8 BB
CO: 128.6 BB (VP 21/ PR 15/ 3B 7, FCB 56, 277 Hands)
Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB
Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q
♠ A
♠
fold,
fold,
CO raises to 4 BB,
fold,
Hero raises to 14 BB,
fold,
CO calls 10 BB
Flop: (29 BB, 2 players) Q
♣ 4
♣ A
♦
Hero checks,
CO checks
Turn: (29 BB, 2 players) 2
♥
Hero bets 14 BB,
CO calls 14 BB
River: (57 BB, 2 players) 9
♦
Hero bets 40 BB,
CO calls 40 BB,
Still adjusting to online dynamics. At 2NL and 5NL it's so easy to overbet and get calls from worse. I'm finding at 10NL Vs are finding more correct river folds. As a result I've been less aggressive with sizing. Not sure where the sweet spot is here. I think I like 2/3 pot turn and 3/4 or full pot river here but in the moment playing 3 tables at a time I sized down for value. Thoughts?
Hi there c0rnBr34d, how you doing? Happy 2020 for you, family and friends! Let it come full of joy, health and prosperity. Thank you very much for posting your hand.
Respect always and GG and GL at the tables!
About the hand, I love your 3bet Preflop, because it seems you had information in the Villain that it doesn't fold very much to 3bets, it will call something like 44% of times Anyways, most of times we are never calling from the SB.
The I way I play cash game is very simple: 99% of times from the SB I am either 3betting or folding, because although SB is a very good position for stealing Preflop, SB is the worst position ever postflop. Our
equity will realize very bad, and many times, even with stronger hands we would be beat by IP's range.
In the given scenario we are in the top of our range with ATs+ and many medium strong pairs such as 77+. Knowing that Villain will call almost 50% of times it is a very profitable 3bet with a very strong value hand.
CO is not likely to be in the top of its range, because it could be 4betting here, knowing that when SB 3bets, most of times, is a very strong range (or bluffs, sometimes SB is polarized).
Flop Scenario:
Flop: (29 BB, 2 players) Q♣ 4♣ A
♦
Hero checks,
CO checks
This is a flop that we can go by betting or checking, I believe both lines are close, but I would elect to C-bet here to extract value from worse aces, queens, worse two pair, flush draws and straight draws, so is very drawie flop, where I don't love giving my opponent a free card in the turn and a very cheap river for
bluffing me.
I would make something between 1/3 Pot to 1/2 Pot (because it is a 3bet pot and we are out of position).
Villain seems a normal Tight Player of the field, not weak, not strong, average regular of 10 NLHE and under. I saw that it has 56% fold to 3bet, but the sample of hands it is not good enough for taking conclusions.
Villain's VPIP is 21, so I would say it likes to call a little. Given all of that, I would be C-betting here more than checking to Villain, to extract value from Ax, Qx, A4, two clubs, KT, KJ, some 88, 99, TT, JJ, QQ that Villain decided to call and would hardly be folding here, for all of these reasons IMO, it is a value bet.
Turn approach:
Turn: (29 BB, 2 players) 2
♥
Hero bets 14 BB,
CO calls 14 BB
Unfortunately, CO checked behind and we got a 2h in the turn. This card is mostly harmless to our range and now we make a decent bet and get called. What CO is calling here? A recreational would be calling two clubs,
sometimes any two clubs (flush-chasers, flush bluffers), not the Kx and Ax club combos only, KJ and KT having a club would never fold here, any Ax that a recreational sees as a value hand in a 3bet pot, lol, now A2, A4 which are behind and some low and medium pocket pairs.
Once in lifetime this guy will have a set of 22 or 44, but many players are just raising right on the spot these strong sets because it needs protection versus flush+straight draw.
I like our bet here, it is a value bet because we are still ahead of CO 3bet calling range.
River nine
River is a 9d, IMO a brick because it doesn't complete anything relevant that could be beating our range, and that's awesome and it is good because it completes, maybe some weaker Two Pair such as A9 or Q9, which are dominated by our range and would never fold to a bet river.
To tell the truth, many regulars here are snap calling with AK, sometimes AJ or even raising because now SB has a lot of missed draws in its range.
SB's missed draws of clubs, and missed straights could be bluffing this river trying to make a weaker player to fold better hands such as Top Pair or even Two Pair depending on the bet size.
Like I said before, almost never CO will appear in this river with a set of 4's, 2's or 9's, but it will happen from time to time, such as some crazy player that decided to slow play a set of Q's or A's. If it happens not problem, just put a note on the player and move on.
IMO your sizing is fine. If you have information that villain might pay you in this river with AK, bet 100% pot, because, as I said before, SB has more bluffs than values in its range right now so it is more easy for the Villain in the CO to call, even a larger price.
Regards;
Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa