$5 NLHE 6-max: Facing a weird 4bet jam

[leeroy818]

Hand played in 5NL zoom on Stars.

Wanted some thoughts on villain's line - called a 2.4x CO open from the BTN, then jammed over my BB squeeze. I needed 45% to continue as far as pot odds went, and if we think villain only does this with small pairs, then it's obviously about 0EV to call. If villain ever takes this line with a hand like AQs, then I think we're slightly +EV on the call.

I've only just started playing 5NL, and whilst I know this line is not conventional in any sense, I wondered if people have seen this play from players in this pool/at these stakes, and what they typically tend to do it with?




pokerstars Zoom, Hold'em No Limit - $0.02/$0.05 - 6 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: $4.08 (82 bb)
MP: $8.66 (173 bb)
CO: $9.96 (199 bb)
BU: $7.42 (148 bb)
SB: $5.23 (105 bb)
BB (Hero): $6.42 (128 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with K♥ A♦
2 players fold, CO raises to $0.12, BTN calls $0.12, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets to $0.58, 1 fold, BTN 4-bets to $7.42 (all-in)

 

[Hermus]

Very uncommon play indeed. While I don't really see the merit in overanalysing this spot because villain is probably just a recreational player that makes random plays sometimes here we go.

The only things that really makes sense are AA (maybe KK) to trap/induce action, or a holding that plays well multiway while holding a blocker. A5s comes to mind as something you can call on the button while also being a fairly standard 4-bet bluff pre-flop. Taking this line with smaller pocket pairs, AQs+ just seems bad, but who knows.

The breakeven range is about 99+, AQs+, KQs, AKo. Given the overall tight population in NL5 zoom that seems a little wide to me. The call can't ever be super bad however as you hold blockers to AA and KK. If you start folding AKo pre-flop I fear you open yourself up to be massively exploited. If villain is playing a bit too wide, or properly balanced his range with bluffs such as A5s, calling is already +EV in isolation.

 

[gustav197poker]

This is 5NL so we don't know if villain thinks it's unprofitable to go 4-bet shove with pockets smaller than 99. From your BB position, AKo should be the top of your range anyway. In addition, your opponent also represents a wide attack from BTN. It wouldn't be the same if the 4-bet came from a tighter position like UTG or MP. In that case it would be more justified to abandon the hand and look for a better place to face a more closed range.
Greetings.

 

[ronn6583]

Currently, this line is quite often operated on NL 2 and NL 5.
Range: JJ +; AK
There were also lower pairs.

 

[John A]

Currently, this line is quite often operated on NL 2 and NL 5.
Range: JJ +; AK
There were also lower pairs.

Ya, you're going to see some lower pairs in this scenario as well, and probably a few random hands at these stakes. 130bbs... it just comes down to how much you want to gamble. A call here is pretty neutral in terms of EV, but it's likely not negative at these stakes.

 

[fundiver199]

In general I will say, that this back-raise is usually some medium pocket pair, that they first tried to take for a cheap setmine, and when that did not work, then instead of folding they decided to turn it into a bluff. However in this case the effective stack was 128BB, so a hand like 88 could actually be played as call of your 3-bet and still try to flop that set.

So maybe in this particular situation it is more skewed towards a trap hand like AA or KK? However you do block those, and I also have to question, if they would not be taken for a smaller 4-bet? After all the whole purpose of setting the "trap" is to induce action, so when he get that action, would he really want to make it very easy for you to get away?

So I dont know man. I tend to agree with John A, that calling here is probably close to neutral EV. So it basically comes down to, how curious you are, and how much in the mood for these massive swings. But I guess, all in insurance is still an option in Stars cash games? And in that case you could call, and if he flip over anything other than AA, then simply cash out your share of the pot, which is then going to be at worst 30%, if he has KK and a lot more, if he has anything else.