$25 NLHE Full Ring: C-Betting Into Calling Station works out badly

[sportsguy16]

Winning Poker, Hold'em No Limit - $0.10/$0.25 - 8 players
Replay this hand on Upswing Poker - https://upswingpoker.com/replayer/4q8ZVra

elfelix (UTG): $91.83 (367 bb)
mpmiller0906 (UTG+1): $2.42 (10 bb)
Taturade (MP): $37.09 (148 bb)
sportsguy16 (MP+1): $8.34 (33 bb)
caffeinegum (CO): $12.57 (50 bb)
murkyseas (BU): $40.24 (161 bb)
brianlech (SB): $43.94 (176 bb)
BullyDlott (BB): $16.52 (66 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.35) Hero (sportsguy16) is MP+1 with J♠ Q♦
3 players fold, sportsguy16 (MP+1) raises to $0.75, 3 players fold, BullyDlott (BB) calls $0.50

Flop: ($1.60) 7♥ 8♣ 4♥ (2 players)
BullyDlott (BB) checks, sportsguy16 (MP+1) bets $1.20, BullyDlott (BB) calls $1.20

Turn: ($4) 9♠ (2 players)
BullyDlott (BB) checks, sportsguy16 (MP+1) bets $3, BullyDlott (BB) calls $3

River: ($10) 5♣ (2 players)
BullyDlott (BB) checks, sportsguy16 (MP+1) checks

Total pot: $10 (Rake: $0.50)

Showdown:
sportsguy16 (MP+1) mucks J♠ Q♦ (high card, Queen)
(equity - Pre-Flop: 43%, Flop: 23%, Turn: 23%, River: 0%)

BullyDlott (BB) shows 9♦ A♣ (a pair of Nines)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 57%, Flop: 77%, Turn: 77%, River: 100%)

BullyDlott (BB) wins $9.50

 

[TheDude6622]

That's pretty tough. He does have a lot more calling range especially he is double your stack. You did have a good amount of equity on the turn with a gutter and two overs. Definitely a smart check on the river compared to shoving and praying for Bully to fold. Probably would have snap called.

 

[Gohaku94]

Just checkback flop if you don't know that he is folding to c-bets. If he checks the turn again at lesst you have a gutshot and can bet with some equity

 

[mrgupta]

I'm sorry, but I don't like the cbet on the flop. You don't have anything, only two overcards, you need too specific turns like 9 and T to maybe continue barrelling (to be honest, not sure if these are great cards to barrel, hands like 89-9T definitely do not fold there). It could be better if you had a backdoor flush draw perhaps, gives you more options to barrel the turn then. If the villain is a calling station, it just makes your cbet even worse, the easiest way you beat these players is by making bigger value bets.

With all that said, as played, I think it's a must bet on the river. It makes incredibly tough for him to call any 1 pair, perhaps even 2 pair hands as now there's a 4 straight on the board plus you can easily rep JT. I would go for a half pot bluff - but I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place, since I'm never cbetting this flop.

 

[puzzlefish]

Pre-flop you're repping a strong hand with your 3bet. Once you miss the flop, you have a decision to make whether you are going to try bluffing through it or play cautiously and let the hand go. Checking on the river is a mistake after aggressive betting on the previous streets. You've repped strength all the way so why stop now? Like the previous poster, I think you needed to bet river as played. I would probably jam. If he calls, then he calls and you know he is a calling station for sure.

If you knew already that he was a calling station, then you need to value bet when you actually hit the board and cut back on the cbets when you hold air.

 

[fundiver199]

I pretty much agree with everyone. If Villain was a TAG or NIT, then C-betting this flop is fine. We have Q high, and if we can get A high or K high to fold, that is great. Maybe no need to go quite so big, but that is kind of nit-picky. However if we already have him labeled as “calling station”, then I prefer to save my money and check back.

As for firing the third barrel on the river, because we only started the hand with 33BB and bet relatively large on the flop and turn, we only had around 1/3 pot sized bet left. And that is just not enough to put him to a serious decision. So as played I agree with checking back and giving up. We are actually kind of lucky, he did not check-raise all in on the turn and pushed us out of our equity.

Take-aways:

* Start with a full 100BB stack to get more playability
* Reduce bluffing against calling stations

 

[Sidetracked]

Barrelling off there seems like a really bad idea.

 

[MungBeans]

Fundiver already mentioned this but, I think you can c-bet smaller amounts and have basically the same result. 1/2 size or less is probably fine.

 

[sportsguy16]

Thanks for all the advice guys, some of the best hand analysis I've gotten on here so far!

 

[gustav197poker]

It is more generous if you hide the names of the players. That is valued more in this environment, and is appreciated.
You must play full battery in no limit. Otherwise you are using an incorrect strategy.
When I open in MP these with little balance in your pile, but if you do it with 100bb I will verify the turn.
Since you are leader in the Flop, I checking Turn and River.
In River was exposed, at that point they arrived several combos that defeat you.
Greetings.

 

[hackmeplz]

Surprised no one has mentioned this but preflop is too wide. You shouldn't be opening QJo in the hijack. Flop/turn are whatever without reads not terrible either way, although I think with your hand flop should be more of a check than bet. River agree with your check back he can have a good amount of straights and his range is just generally strong.

 

[fundiver199]

Surprised no one has mentioned this but preflop is too wide. You shouldn't be opening QJo in the hijack. Flop/turn are whatever without reads not terrible either way, although I think with your hand flop should be more of a check than bet. River agree with your check back he can have a good amount of straights and his range is just generally strong.

Its fine to not open QJo from HJ, but if you want to get involved a bit more, its also fine to open it. Its one of those, where its so close, that your decision will not have an impact on your long term results.

 

[Ianmacca99]

Preflop is loose and Youve continued barrelling what hands are you representing? An overpair most likely but you continued barrelling with no equity pick better bluff spots ones where you have draws + back door flushes etc so if called you can get there

 

[teh_colonel_saigon]

Wow, you've gotten some good feedback. I'll give my thoughts for what they're worth...

Preflop- perfectly fine

Flop- HE checks to you. Cbet here is marginal. If you know his fold to cbet percentage, you can just do it at a mathematically sensible price.

If he's gonna fold this flop, he'll certainly fold to a smaller bet than you've made. You don't want a call, so why don't you save yourself a little bit of money?

The other problem is that this flop hits his range more than yours. He's calling with all sorts of Ax, connectors, suited cards. So he's not going away so easy. This could be a check behind flop- you don't always have to C-bet! You'll make more $ in the long run if you are (somewhat) conservative on these flops... you'll get more credit the next time you c-bet for sure.

Turn you have a gutshot, and you're right that he can't be too strong all that often. I think a smaller bet would do the same job here as well.

Also note that villain called you down pretty light on flop... you have a loose aggressive image, so use that to your advantage when you do have a hand! (i.e. he might not be a calling station, he may have a read on you)