$5 NLHE 6-max: Was my action correct?

Timmah120

Timmah120

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Total posts
283
Awards
1
Chips
0
Wish I could post the actual details, but Bovada won't let me export or copy/paste, so here it is. This was the last hand of my session (I already told myself I was going to stop before the cards were dealt). I was having a great session and had some information on the villain...he liked to shove with marginal holdings and wasn't paying any attention to what I was doing (frequently calling me down when I clearly had the best hand throughout the game). I was ~$7.00 up in a 2 cent/5 cent game for the session. I kind of knew I had what was most likely the best hand on the flop. I put him on a pair. This action was soul crushing after such a great game.

So, here goes:

I'm UTG+1, villain is on the button. I'm holding A10 of spades. I raise to 15 cents, dealer calls, and the big blind calls. I admit this is a bit of a stretch playing this hand, but I consider myself disciplined enough to fold if I don't connect well.

To the flop: 10 hearts, A diamonds, 2 diamonds.

Big blind bets 45 cents. I hit hard with top two pair and want to get some money in the pot to take odds away from diamond draws (this is my thinking anyways). I raise to $1.50. Dealer shoves all-in for $8.66. Big blind folds. I think for a bit...this guys has been known to do this on draws and top/middle pairs. A small chance he might have trips. I make the call, and the dealer turns over A hearts and K spades for top pair/top kicker. If I'm thinking about this right, he has only three outs at this point: kings (and A won't help him...it'd give me a boat).

Turn comes: J hearts. Now I'm a bit nervous because he picked up the queens now for a total of 7 outs.

River comes: K diamonds.

He makes top two pair and takes all my profits for the session and then some. Ugh.

Question: should I have folded to his shove, given my (correct or not) reads on the player and his style? Did I play this hand okay and just got really unlucky? Should the villain have shoved?

Also, any advice on how to handle these situations from a mental standpoint? I understand it will happen to me, but my goodness, so hard to deal with...
 
A

axel142

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Total posts
101
Awards
1
Chips
0
He plays his top pair/top kicker aggressive to use your fold%, and protecting his hand for the flush. your call are (in my opinion) stretch but not bad, the problem is that have a lot of hands that are above your double par in this spot, aa, 10 10, 22, any 2 cards of diamonds, maybe this call make you lose a little more than win. but if you do that based on your info about the villain i think it was good.
 
C

cs_rlewis

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
May 3, 2017
Total posts
244
Chips
0
You did the right play. You got your money in way ahead and then the cards didn't fall your waý.
And plus you said this guy can do this with draws and middle pairs - you are totally smashing his range and should make a fist pump call with top two.
This is variance.
 
F

fundiver199

Legend
Loyaler
Joined
Jun 3, 2019
Total posts
13,268
Awards
1
Chips
262
There is no way, I am ever folding top two on the flop, when no flush or straight is possible. You block AA and TT, and these hands would likely also have 3-bet, so you realistically only lose to 22. And even against that hand you have 4 outs to make a better full house.

And no BTN did not play his hand correctly. He should have 3-bet his AK before the flop. And after the flop facing a pot sized donk bet and a large raise in front of him, he should probably just hate life and fold. TPTK is not in great shape against that kind of crazy action, and there is lot of chips left behind, so he should be concerned about protecting his stack.

Going all in for 180 BB with just TPTK is a massive overplay, and unfortunately he got rewarded for his bad play by sucking out on you this time. This will happen from time to time but is really not something to worry about. Hands like this is what, a bankroll is for. Ideally I recommend to have at least 200$ in the account to play 5NL. It give peace of mind, when hands like this happen. Best of luck at the tables.
 
Timmah120

Timmah120

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Aug 2, 2009
Total posts
283
Awards
1
Chips
0
There is no way, I am ever folding top two on the flop, when no flush or straight is possible. You block AA and TT, and these hands would likely also have 3-bet, so you realistically only lose to 22. And even against that hand you have 4 outs to make a better full house.

And no BTN did not play his hand correctly. He should have 3-bet his AK before the flop. And after the flop facing a pot sized donk bet and a large raise in front of him, he should probably just hate life and fold. TPTK is not in great shape against that kind of crazy action, and there is lot of chips left behind, so he should be concerned about protecting his stack.

Going all in for 180 BB with just TPTK is a massive overplay, and unfortunately he got rewarded for his bad play by sucking out on you this time. This will happen from time to time but is really not something to worry about. Hands like this is what, a bankroll is for. Ideally I recommend to have at least 200$ in the account to play 5NL. It give peace of mind, when hands like this happen. Best of luck at the tables.


Thank you and everyone else! It's tough to swallow sometimes. My roll right now on this site is $145, so a bit light, but I can't play anything cheaper. I'll try to deposit a bit more, but I'm going to hold off for now. I don't use the casino at all...just poker.
 
Top