quick
Legend
Silver Level
One major leak (esp in online games) I have is being unable to get away from my TPTK when facing a raise either on the turn or on the river. For some reason at live 1/2 I can easily get away from it when needed most of the time but online (both tourneys and cash) I struggle to find the fold button often enough.
That said, I wanted to get some of my lines and thought processes down here and see what others think of these lines. It's obvious I'm missing something in some of these spots and any input would be greatly appreciated.
Mostly by TPTK I mean we hold hands like AK and there's an Ace on the board. Or we hold AQ and there's a Q on the board. Sometimes a K when we hold AK.
So here is how I think about these hands/spots by different pieces of the puzzle and the line I tend to take. Do you think each line is correct, needs work, or is completely wrong?
Based on preflop action:
- Obviously with AK I'm often willing to play for stacks esp when facing just one opponent so when an opponent raises and simply calls my 3-bet OR when I open and they simply call,we can often assume they're looking to hit the flop hard with big draws, 2 pairs, and set mining. If I'm the last to bet preflop, I'm C-betting here a large percentage of the time whether or not I hit at least a pair...and if they re-raise and I have TPTK, I'm sometimes stuck on whether to call or put in another raise or fold.
Based on board texture:
- Obviously if the board is wet or draw heavy and I hit TPTK, I'm leading out to give incorrect odds to draw. If they call and the turn does not seem to complete a draw, Im firing again, and if the river makes an obvious draw complete that's clear as day, IP I'm calling small min bets or folding to big raises and OOP I'm usually check/folding. Rarely I'll bet OPP here for value if I think the opponent has a weaker kicker and fold to a raise as the draw likely got there.
- If the board is pretty dry and low, I'm mindful of sets but often am betting for value both as a standard C-Bet and also for value when we hit an A or K. If they raise I'm cautious here but don't want to call passively so will sometimes bet again but i do think I sometimes call too much here.
- At the river if no obvious draws completed my biggest leak I think, is trying to get into a betting war with TPTK rather than simply either a.) calling small river donk bets or b.) checking when OOP and reassessing based on opponent's action. I find too often I'll value bet then get jammed on and have no idea where I am anymore in the hand. Or IP I'm not flatting their small donk bet enough and raising and getting shoved on.
Based on opponent actions:
- Especially at the micros I think I overestimate the opponents' ability to understand that slow playing at the micros is bad and they (like I would and you reading this would) should be getting value bets in on good hands like flopped sets , flopped 2 pair, etc. But for me I think I get carried away trying to get value off TPTK when really I'm just giving value to the opponent who doesn't raise their bigger hands on flops and turns and seem oblivious that I could have something that draws out on them. So I rarely slow play hands and go for value but I think I forget that many micro players love to slow play and think they're check/check/SHOVE or "call/call/check/SHOVE!" lines are brilliant. And I guess they are because I fall for it more than I should!
- If opponents are simply calling my bets on drawing boards I assume they are drawing which is obviously wrong sometimes. And if they raise my flop or turn bets I wonder if I should be folding TPTK much more on these spots. Then again I get stuck here if the board is draw heavy because I've seen many players aggressively raise their big draws (and it's a tactic I've started doing which seems to be a nice play). So I know the moves in these drawing spots....then I fall for them myself sometimes.
- Opponent lines seem to range from aggressively overbetting air to passively playing decent hands and everything in between.
I don't know how much sense these lines make but basically I'm looking for ways to play TPTK better online. I think I just need to check back more on rivers and fold more to aggression from very tight players and very whale players. Ironically I feel like against LAGs and aggro fish I tend to be able to make hero calls when I've seen them run these crazy aggressive lines but I don't know what is stopping me from making more hero folds.
Part of me thinks the solution is literally as easy as checking back more on rivers with TPTK or at the most calling small donk bets and stop getting out of line calling huge river bets or trying to 3-bet villains when a call will do with "just a pair."
So I'm welcoming any tips, comments, and feedback on these lines and want to hear how you play TPTK on various boards and how you find the fold button more if indeed that is what I need to be doing. Thanks!
That said, I wanted to get some of my lines and thought processes down here and see what others think of these lines. It's obvious I'm missing something in some of these spots and any input would be greatly appreciated.
Mostly by TPTK I mean we hold hands like AK and there's an Ace on the board. Or we hold AQ and there's a Q on the board. Sometimes a K when we hold AK.
So here is how I think about these hands/spots by different pieces of the puzzle and the line I tend to take. Do you think each line is correct, needs work, or is completely wrong?
Based on preflop action:
- Obviously with AK I'm often willing to play for stacks esp when facing just one opponent so when an opponent raises and simply calls my 3-bet OR when I open and they simply call,we can often assume they're looking to hit the flop hard with big draws, 2 pairs, and set mining. If I'm the last to bet preflop, I'm C-betting here a large percentage of the time whether or not I hit at least a pair...and if they re-raise and I have TPTK, I'm sometimes stuck on whether to call or put in another raise or fold.
Based on board texture:
- Obviously if the board is wet or draw heavy and I hit TPTK, I'm leading out to give incorrect odds to draw. If they call and the turn does not seem to complete a draw, Im firing again, and if the river makes an obvious draw complete that's clear as day, IP I'm calling small min bets or folding to big raises and OOP I'm usually check/folding. Rarely I'll bet OPP here for value if I think the opponent has a weaker kicker and fold to a raise as the draw likely got there.
- If the board is pretty dry and low, I'm mindful of sets but often am betting for value both as a standard C-Bet and also for value when we hit an A or K. If they raise I'm cautious here but don't want to call passively so will sometimes bet again but i do think I sometimes call too much here.
- At the river if no obvious draws completed my biggest leak I think, is trying to get into a betting war with TPTK rather than simply either a.) calling small river donk bets or b.) checking when OOP and reassessing based on opponent's action. I find too often I'll value bet then get jammed on and have no idea where I am anymore in the hand. Or IP I'm not flatting their small donk bet enough and raising and getting shoved on.
Based on opponent actions:
- Especially at the micros I think I overestimate the opponents' ability to understand that slow playing at the micros is bad and they (like I would and you reading this would) should be getting value bets in on good hands like flopped sets , flopped 2 pair, etc. But for me I think I get carried away trying to get value off TPTK when really I'm just giving value to the opponent who doesn't raise their bigger hands on flops and turns and seem oblivious that I could have something that draws out on them. So I rarely slow play hands and go for value but I think I forget that many micro players love to slow play and think they're check/check/SHOVE or "call/call/check/SHOVE!" lines are brilliant. And I guess they are because I fall for it more than I should!
- If opponents are simply calling my bets on drawing boards I assume they are drawing which is obviously wrong sometimes. And if they raise my flop or turn bets I wonder if I should be folding TPTK much more on these spots. Then again I get stuck here if the board is draw heavy because I've seen many players aggressively raise their big draws (and it's a tactic I've started doing which seems to be a nice play). So I know the moves in these drawing spots....then I fall for them myself sometimes
.- Opponent lines seem to range from aggressively overbetting air to passively playing decent hands and everything in between.
I don't know how much sense these lines make but basically I'm looking for ways to play TPTK better online. I think I just need to check back more on rivers and fold more to aggression from very tight players and very whale players. Ironically I feel like against LAGs and aggro fish I tend to be able to make hero calls when I've seen them run these crazy aggressive lines but I don't know what is stopping me from making more hero folds.
Part of me thinks the solution is literally as easy as checking back more on rivers with TPTK or at the most calling small donk bets and stop getting out of line calling huge river bets or trying to 3-bet villains when a call will do with "just a pair."
So I'm welcoming any tips, comments, and feedback on these lines and want to hear how you play TPTK on various boards and how you find the fold button more if indeed that is what I need to be doing. Thanks!
