A Very Tilting Situation

[ventrolloquist]

So this guy to my left today kept calling half of my raises and a reg kept squeezing from 2 seats down each time this happened.

I was wondering what percent of my RFI range I should be defending IP vs. a squeeze from the blinds. This drove me nuts as I didn't have HUD stats on him and don't know if he was just running hot or just a maniac. Caller fish to my left was also 4 betting offsuit trash like 67 which didn't help create a non-squeezable table image. This led to some very loose calls + tilt that cost me 2 buy ins. The preflop station to my left wasn't realizing he would keep getting squeezed and just kept calling with 0 positional awareness.

I'm a bit tilted right now. Especially because this reg and/or maniac kept multi-street barreling 3 bet pots with what I'm sure was air and I was nervous floating him with just overcards.

Defend (calling) range vs. typical 3bet should be about 45-50%. How does this change vs a squeeze? None of the preflop ranges I have found go over this situation (not snowie, nor zenith, nor poker-ranges.com). Would I just keep the same calling % as if it was a regular 3bet (assuming the squeeze size was theoretically correct)? I def don't know if I would feel okay 4betting AJ with such a small hand sample on this player, but if I was certain he was a maniac I'm pretty sure I'd shove over his squeezes.

I think what happened is this guy may have assumed I was a station because I ended up having hands I deemed good enough to defend with vs a squeeze almost every time he squeezed.

 

[fundiver199]

This is why, you want to have loose players on your right. Every time the fish call you, he is essentially putting out dead money for everyone behind to attack with a 3-bet. The best solution is to find another table.

 

[c0rnBr34d]

I think what happened is this guy may have assumed I was a station because I ended up having hands I deemed good enough to defend with vs a squeeze almost every time he squeezed.

He is squeezing from the blinds? How many times did this happen and over what kind of sample. I think the first case wouldn't be note worthy, the second would get your attention and the third may warrant a post here in a small sample.

It sounds like you are over calling and then giving up pretty much every time here which is printing him money. There are several adjustments you can make to combat this. The first is opening your 4 bet range. I would absolutely 4 bet AJ the fourth+ time we get squeezed in this spot. I may also have a limp / re-raise range and a limp / call range if there aren't already limpers in front of us. Also, stop floating flop with overcards hoping to hit a 6 outter on the turn. If we flop a gutter or a flush draw to with with our over cards then we can continue.

For example within a small sample, the first time I get 3 bet in this case I probably fold AJo and dont think much about it. The second time I fold AJo and maybe flat AJs. The third time I'm flatting all AJ. The fourth time I'm 4 betting all AJ.

We may also need to tighten up and fold some hands we would have raised at a normal table but I don't think we necessarily need to jump ship and find a new table. This could be a great dynamic as there are lots of large pots to be had. We cannot battle aggression by floating over cards though. We will need to find more folds pre, more flop folds, more 4 bets, and perhaps some other creative solutions (limp / re-raise, limp / call, etc).

Lastly, if it's a maniac I prefer him on my left so that I can see how the rest of the table reacts before entering the pot. Many times other players will also be setting traps for the maniac and you don't want to get caught in their trap calling a raise with AQ only to get 3 bet from a limper and then have the maniac jam over top. If we have the maniac to our left we can limp or raise, see what maniac does. See what the rest of the table does then close the action with a raise, call, or fold. The only part that sucks is we have to play significantly tighter.

 

[ventrolloquist]

Thanks so much for all the advice. [emoji4]

Will digest it slowly and come back to it again.

Regarding floating. I was doing it because I thought my ace overcard might actually be ahead on a dry flop where he was likely to cbet many of his hands. I definitely wasn't chasing any pairs. When he fired a second barrel though I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue. Normally I'm able to steal the pot after they check the turn. Occasionally I'll make a balssy move and bluff the river if they give up. Not sure if this is a good approach. I only really use it vs players I see cbetting very wide with small raise sizes.

 

[ventrolloquist]

This is why, you want to have loose players on your right. Every time the fish call you, he is essentially putting out dead money for everyone behind to attack with a 3-bet. The best solution is to find another table.

Yes, I was thinking about how I should have just left after the 2nd squeeze.

 

[c0rnBr34d]

Thanks so much for all the advice. [emoji4]

Will digest it slowly and come back to it again.

Regarding floating. I was doing it because I thought my ace overcard might actually be ahead on a dry flop where he was likely to cbet many of his hands. I definitely wasn't chasing any pairs, that's crazy. When he fired a second barrel though I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue. Normally I'm able to steal the pot after they check the turn. Occasionally I'll make a balssy move and bluff the river if they give up. Not sure if this is a good approach. I only really use it vs players I see cbetting very wide with small raise sizes.

No prob, always happy to share my opinions.

As far as floating as you've described. This can be a fine level 1 exploit vs a weak fish who over cbet and give up as you've mentioned. You're counting on them making a mistake later in the hand that you can exploit. Counting on a V to make a mistake when you don't know if they are good are not is a bad plan though as you've experienced in the session in question. Until you show some aggression of your own or at least make it to show down you are giving V incentive to keep blasting away until you adjust. Wouldn't you do the same if someone kept calling pre, flop, and sometimes turn, just to fold river?

 

[ventrolloquist]

No prob, always happy to share my opinions.

As far as floating as you've described. This can be a fine level 1 exploit vs a weak fish who over cbet and give up as you've mentioned. You're counting on them making a mistake later in the hand that you can exploit. Counting on a V to make a mistake when you don't know if they are good are not is a bad plan though as you've experienced in the session in question. Until you show some aggression of your own or at least make it to show down you are giving V incentive to keep blasting away until you adjust. Wouldn't you do the same if someone kept calling pre, flop, and sometimes turn, just to fold river?

Thanks. Good points

I shouldn't have assumed NL4 plays as easy as NL2 and that the same exploits would work.

 

[fundiver199]

The issue with having the loosest player on our left is, that we will be playing most hands out of position. This is a big disadvantage, and there are no adjustments, we can make to compensate for it. If the squeeze comes from the blinds, then we will have position on the squeezer, but other times the squeeze will come from someone with position on us, especially if this is full ring.

Also we are probably not getting squeezed every hand, but we are always out of position against the fish, except when we have the button. Its just a shitty spot, and since we can easily change tables in cash games, then just do it. Or try to get back on the same table but in a different seat. There is no need to be a "hero" and try to combat the disadvantage caused by a bad seat, unless its a tournament or a live game, where we cant so easily jump tables.