$11 NL HE MTT: Is one blocker enough to discount one hand from villains range?

[Andyreas]

Game

Hold'em

Game Format

No Limit

Table Format

MTT

Buy-in

11

Currency

$

Hey forum,

I recently played this hand and wondered, if I should have been able to get away.

It's an $11 MTT and late reg has ended like 20 mins ago.

We're down from hundred+ to 27 players with 20 paid places. I'm ranging on position 19 stack-wise.

I get AJo in UTG with 17 BBs and open to 2 BBs. SB (big stack) and BB (similar to mine) call.

Flop comes AQT rainbow.

It checks to me, so I bet 40% of pot and SB makes a big check-raise, BB folds.

I don't have a good read on villian. I won both hands in BB against villain (on BN) before. One with 3-bet jamming and one where he c-bet, checked turn, so I jammed flop with a pair and he folded.

I somehow doubt he has a better Ace since no 3-bet. So he can have KJ for straight but I have a Jack as blocker. He could also have something like QT for two pair. Or a sneaky bluff because I won both hands before?

I looked at my stack and would have 12.x BBs left if I folded here. I decided against, closed my eyes and jammed.

He revealed KJs indeed.

No King came as my saviour. 😅

I genuinely believe I should have folded even with the blocker. I would have had enough behind for a comeback.

But happy to hear your feedback. ☺️

 

[pentazepam]

That flop hits you pretty hard when you are opening from UTG. If he isn't a total maniac or trying to level you in some way he probably has at least A10 or as you wrote Q10.

I would fold instantly without reads.

Blockers are overrated on lower levels in my opinion. They often play pretty straightforwardly in an unbalanced way.

I don't study solvers but is it really wise to bet so big on a flop that hit the preflop raiser this hard? I think I check back a lot here. He is often way behind but sometimes, even if it's rarely, way ahead.

Maybe a very small bet. But I think some kind of pot control is necessary even with your short stack.

 

[puzzlefish]

In my experience blockers are more useful in more normal situations where the betting action isn't extreme - like maybe trying to decide whether to make a call on something that looks like a value bet on the river. When the betting heats up early like in this particular hand, it's more important to take into account the context in which it is happening. Check raises on the flop often indicate a very strong hand, especially this close to the money. I wouldn't expect anything worse than two pairs to be doing this so if you come along you are usually the dog, and AJo doesn't exactly offer a lot of opportunities to improve on that rainbow flop.

 

[ratbat615]

Mmm 😋 tough spot but I had a similar spot were you know that you are beat but you still have to see. I have Attachment issues but you blocked KJ so what else could he have. Ok ✅ we only have one pair and you raised so the hands in the villain range is KT QT Ax’s. So two pair beats us and the straight but we blocked that and we have a straight draw ourselves. The villain check raise is very strong 💪 and with top pair and a straight draw. You know you are behind just fold. That’s my problem too . Yesterday I called a river bet when I had trips and I know that the villain hit the flush on the river and I still called just to see. If we want to be professional’s we have to make the big folds.

 

[ratbat615]

Mmm 😋 tough spot but I had a similar spot were you know that you are beat but you still have to see. I have Attachment issues but you blocked KJ so what else could he have. Ok ✅ we only have one pair and you raised so the hands in the villain range is KT QT Ax’s. So two pair beats us and the straight but we blocked that and we have a straight draw ourselves. The villain check raise is very strong 💪 and with top pair and a straight draw. You know you are behind just fold. That’s my problem too . Yesterday I called a river bet when I had trips and I know that the villain hit the flush on the river and I still called just to see. If we want to be professional’s we have to make the big folds.

pokerstars, Hold'em No Limit - 15/30 (3 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

oroochimaru (UTG): 1,950 (65 bb)
Zrariii (UTG+1): 3 (0 bb)
Tractor--stars (MP): 1,960 (65 bb)
ramorleans (MP+1): 4,228 (141 bb)
ratbat615 (CO): 1,939 (65 bb)
konmartinoni (BU): 5,865 (196 bb)
3722BMZ (SB): 38 (1 bb)
Dupakos (BB): 2,018 (67 bb)

Zrariii (UTG+1) ante 3 (all-in)Pre-Flop: (69) Hero (ratbat615) is CO with 7♦ 6♦
4 players fold, ratbat615 (CO) raises to 60, konmartinoni (BU) calls 60, 1 fold, Dupakos (BB) calls 30

Flop: (219) 7♣ 7♥ 2♣ (3 players, 1 all-in)
Dupakos (BB) checks, ratbat615 (CO) checks, konmartinoni (BU) bets 72, Dupakos (BB) raises to 270, ratbat615 (CO) calls 270, konmartinoni (BU) calls 198

Turn: (1,029) 8♠ (3 players, 1 all-in)
Dupakos (BB) checks, ratbat615 (CO) bets 515, konmartinoni (BU) calls 515, Dupakos (BB) folds

River: (2,059) 4♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)
ratbat615 (CO) checks, konmartinoni (BU) bets 5,017 (all-in), ratbat615 (CO) calls 1,091 (all-in)

Total pot: 4,241

Showdown:
konmartinoni (BU) shows 8♣ Q♣ (a flush, Queen high)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 61%, Flop: 25%, Turn: 23%, River: 100%)

ratbat615 (CO) shows 7♦ 6♦ (three of a kind, Sevens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 39%, Flop: 75%, Turn: 77%, River: 0%)

konmartinoni (BU) wins 4,241

 

[feisas7991]

obvious fold to me.
A. you have much better hands to go with here
B. heavily underbluffed spot by sb. what do you expect to see from him? he has no K9 etc best case he gonna flip a5 or kq and you arent printing even against somewhat supposedly bluffy range

Hope this helps and Good Luck!

 

[fundiver199]

Preflop
Standard open.

Flop
When you are this short, I kind of prefer to check back the flop. With you having a J, there is not much to protect against, and you can also improve on a K. As played its a really rough spot. There are a lot of hands, you lose to here. Its not only KJ (which is still 12 combos despite your blocker) but also AQ, AT and QT. Hands that might all be part of a SB calling range. I dont think, he is jamming A9 or worse for value. So I think, it boils down to, how often he is turning hands like KQ or QJ into a semi-bluff. You are getting a price here, and you are not dead against anything other than KJ. So I dont blame you can calling it off, but I dont think, folding would have been terrible either.