$2 NLHE 6-max: How to play 2 pair on wet board?

[d4d5c4e6]

Villian Stats (VPIP/PFR/AF): 30/4/6

pokerstars - $0.02 Ante $0.01 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players

Hero (CO): $3.54 (177 bb)
BTN: $1.03 (51.5 bb)
SB: $2.10 (105 bb)
BB: $6.76 (338 bb)
UTG: $1.60 (80 bb)

5 players post ante of $0.01, SB posts $0.01, BB posts $0.02, UTG posts $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.10) Hero has
UTG checks, Hero raises to $0.06, BTN calls $0.06, SB calls $0.05, fold, UTG calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.31, 4 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.24, BTN calls $0.24, 2 folds

Turn: ($0.79, 2 players)
Hero bets $0.76, BTN calls $0.72 and is all-in

River: ($2.23, 2 players)

Results: $2.23 pot ($0.08 rake)
Final Board:

Hero shows : (Two Pair, Aces and Sixes)
(Pre 63%, Flop 70%, Turn 9%)

BTN shows : (Straight, Six High)
(Pre 37%, Flop 30%, Turn 91%)

BTN wins $2.15

I bet pretty big (4/5 pot) on the flop so I thought straight and flush draws would have folded and hoped to get calls from top pair with a good kicker... but it turned out he had 45 and just hit his straight.

 

[KKillerss]

With caution I guess. Flush and straight already possibly made by the turn.
I know sometimes if you show weakness you might plea for a bluff, but those hands seems to appear too often.

 

[fundiver199]

Can see that this is your first post, so welcome to the forum

Preflop
Someone has posted in this hand, and for that reason you already need to add an extra 1BB to your standard open raise size. In top of that this is also an ante game, and the ante is very large adding another 2,5BB to the pot. So while I am by no means an expert in ante games, I would guess, that a standard open in this game needs to be to around 5BB, and with the poster that would then be 6BB. If you go any smaller than that, you give people way to good odds to see a flop with speculative hands, and you invite a ton of multiway action.

I will also say, that if you want to practice with or specialise in online cash game, then probably avoid these tables with antes. PokerStars only have a few of them running, so you cant really get volume playing only ante games, and the vast majority of online cash games play without antes. Its even worse, if you multitable and have 3 standard tables running and then one with antes, because you might miss the ante and make a preflop sizing mistake, like you did here.

Flop
Great flop obviously and I like the big chunky C-bet. Lets go for max value and potentially try to stack someone, who cant fold top pair.

Turn
Pretty narly turn card, since it complete straight- and flushdraws. If the opponent had a full stack, then I would definitely consider checking here for pot control and to see, what he does when checked to. It would then be a check-call on the turn and make a decision on the river, unless I fill up.

However this guy only started with half a stack, and there is less than a pot sized bet left behind. So I would also get it in now. It can feel "stupid" to jam into a hand, that just got there, but him showing us a straight or flush does not mean, the jam was wrong. It just mean, we ran into the top of his range.

The real questions are, if he will call with worse, and if jamming is more profitable than checking. And I think, the answers are clearly "yes" to both of that. You are playing against a fish at 2NL, the lowest possible stakes online, and he only started the hand with a dollar. He is not going to fold top pair, even though the turn card is scary for him as well. He will convince himself, you are bluffing, and call you down. And he will also call with a bunch of draws like K6 with K of diamonds, 64 for the gutterball and so on and so forth.

Whereas if you check to him, he is just going to check behind with all the hands, you beat, and if he puts out a big bet, you probably even have to fold. Which sure this time that would have saved you some money, but you also miss out on value all those times, you are still ahead, and he is willing to call it off with worse. And if you are going to check-call, because you feel, your hand is to good to fold, then you basically just give him a free card to draw out on you, when you are still ahead.

Conclusion
The only mistake in this hand is the preflop sizing. If you go larger, maybe 54o actually goes away, and thats a great result. Or if he still call, the SPR is lower, and there is so little chips left behind on the turn, that getting it in is just completely automatic.

 

[fundiver199]

I bet pretty big (4/5 pot) on the flop so I thought straight and flush draws would have folded

Just as a quick addition you can not expect people to fold a flushdraw or an OESD on the flop for a sizing like this, and it would not even be good poker, if they did. So the goal on the flop is not to get those hands out and avoid getting drawn out on. The goal is to get them to call and get value.

Maybe BTN made a slightly bad call here, since there was also a flushdraw on board, and he had two other players left to act behind him. But this is totally expected, when you are playing against a fish at 2NL. And this is exactly why, you can have a high winrate. You will get drawn out on more often, but you will also win a ton of money, when your hand hold, because people make all these loose calls.