$2.20 NL HE MTT: Defending the BB on agressive tables

[DegenerateSheep]

Game

Hold'em

Game Format

No Limit

Table Format

MTT

Buy-in

2.20

Currency

$

I am reviewing the tournaments I played two weeks ago, and am trying to post more spots in which I am unsure. This spot is especially tough for me because I struggle with not taking agression personally, especially at agressive tables. This causes me to call re-jams and large bets too wide, and I don't have good decision making process inplace yet.

BB Defend vs BTN open for K9o , Table has been quite agressive.

So here my questions are:
- Is this call too light? If so, what would you be looking to check-call for pot here.
- How do we continue after a x/x line in this runout?

pokerstars - 150/300 Ante 40 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG+1: 8,675 (28.9 bb)
MP: 16,228 (54.1 bb)
MP+1: 8,600 (28.7 bb)
CO: 10,608 (35.4 bb)
BTN: 10,580 (35.3 bb)
SB: 33,013 (110 bb)
Hero (BB): 27,043 (90.1 bb)
UTG: 15,688 (52.3 bb)

8 players post ante of 40, SB posts 150, Hero posts BB 300

Pre Flop: (pot: 770) Hero has
5 folds, BTN raises to 900, fold, Hero calls 600

Flop: (2,270, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 2,270, Hero calls 2,270

Turn: (6,810, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (6,810, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Results: 6,810 pot (0 rake)
Final Board:

Spoiler: Showdown Spoiler

Hero shows : (Two Pair, Queens and Nines)
(Pre 34%, Flop 78%, Turn 86%)

BTN mucks : (Two Pair, Queens and Twos)
(Pre 66%, Flop 22%, Turn 14%)

Hero wins 6,810

 

[eetenor]

I am reviewing the tournaments I played two weeks ago, and am trying to post more spots in which I am unsure. This spot is especially tough for me because I struggle with not taking agression personally, especially at agressive tables. This causes me to call re-jams and large bets too wide, and I don't have good decision making process inplace yet.

BB Defend vs BTN open for K9o , Table has been quite agressive.

So here my questions are:
- Is this call too light? If so, what would you be looking to check-call for pot here.
- How do we continue after a x/x line in this runout?

PokerStars - 150/300 Ante 40 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG+1: 8,675 (28.9 bb)
MP: 16,228 (54.1 bb)
MP+1: 8,600 (28.7 bb)
CO: 10,608 (35.4 bb)
BTN: 10,580 (35.3 bb)
SB: 33,013 (110 bb)
Hero (BB): 27,043 (90.1 bb)
UTG: 15,688 (52.3 bb)

8 players post ante of 40, SB posts 150, Hero posts BB 300

Pre Flop: (pot: 770) Hero has
5 folds, BTN raises to 900, fold, Hero calls 600

Flop: (2,270, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 2,270, Hero calls 2,270

Turn: (6,810, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (6,810, 2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

Results: 6,810 pot (0 rake)
Final Board:

Spoiler: Showdown Spoiler

Hero shows : (Two Pair, Queens and Nines)
(Pre 34%, Flop 78%, Turn 86%)

BTN mucks : (Two Pair, Queens and Twos)
(Pre 66%, Flop 22%, Turn 14%)

Hero wins 6,810

A pot size bet by an AGG player is often polarized as we saw here so we are not folding second pair good kicker to 1 bet
The keys to your flop decision here is your hand composition- By holding the Kd we have a backdoor draw to a flush if we are not ahead and we are blocking the AKdd and KJdd KTdd hands we do not want our V to have when they bet pot on this flop.

On the river we want to decide if we are turning our 9 into a bluff or not- We also may want to blocker bet the river in some cases- So a check down is not 100% in this spot

 

[300HPGOD]

Pre: Depends on how aggressive villain is. If they are someone that is opening 70-80% of buttons then obviously K9 is ahead of that. The problem is that it is 3x and they only have 35 BBs behind so our implied odds are reduced since they are not deep like we are. However, if they are agressive enough and this being a button raise I think defending here makes sense. I would factor in what I know about them post flop as well like am I going to get barreled here and if so do I want to face the music which likely on the flop will be K high.

Flop: If we called pre then I think we should be looking for reasons to stay in the hand and not be looking to fold. I wouldnt like facing a pot sized bet here but villain tendencies come into play as well. Is this someone who every time they bet post its for pot? Some are like that which I dont understand but this could be a "normal" sizing for them. It can mean a lot of things and it could just be a bluff as well as the bet does scream please fold so I think its fine to call here if you believe you wont face more action on turn. If you were up against a barreler here then you would have to decide right now if I am going with this or not. That does not mean you would jam here but just means in your mind that you are prepared to call off with second pair.

Turn: its a good card for you as it blocks Qx and strengthens your pair of 9s. I think the only play here is to check after that sizing on the flop and see what happens. When villain checks I discount all their Qx minus boats and the boats are limited since we have a 9. Flopped sets would do this as well but are flopped sets betting as large as they did on the flop most of the time? I wouldnt think so since they would not want a fold and sets are limited here as well since we have a set blocker in the 9. I would be feeling good about my hand after pot on the flop and check on the turn by villain.

River: The 2 just makes it harder for villain to have something we beat now. Flush got there but its a double paired board so villain should not be aggressive with a flush. I would check here as you did looking to bluff catch. I really think villain does not have much here a vast vast majority of the time so the only thing we could value target would be Ax. Villain should know after we called flop we likely have something that beats Ax. The only down side to checking here imo is that a thinking villain would know we dont ever have a boat either since we checked a street after they checked back. That could mean a thinking villain could value a flush here but I doubt it, I think villain knowing we dont have a boat works to our advantage here since it could lead to them bluffing river. I also discount flushes due to villains bet sizing on flop so to me, Im checking here with the intention of calling off any size bet including a jam because I just dont see what villain would have that would have played this way other than Q2, Q9, 22, 99, and QQ and those are very rare with this runout and our 9. I dont like leading river here because Im not sure what worse would call outside of a chance of Ax but even that should put the pieces together and fold since if we bet river then we can have the boat in our range. I also dont think you could bet and induce anything either so imo best play is to hope for a bluff by villain here and call it off.

 

[fundiver199]

Preflop
Standard defend.

Flop
When he bet full pot, you dont need to defend as often, as you do against a small bet like half pot or less. But even so you are still folding far to much, if you dont continue with second pair, which mean, he can just bomb the pot with random no equity junk like 73 offsuit and literally print money against you. It does suck, because you most likely have to fold, if he also bomb the turn. But not continuing here with second pair is simply not fundamentally sound poker. You also have a backdoor straight- and flushdraw for a little bit of backup equity, when you are behind.

Turn
No reason to donk lead here, since he can definitely have a Q, and pretty happy that he check back.

River
When the turn goes check-check, it can often be fine to lead the river for thin value. But in this situation I would not do it. You dont beat anything, that connected with the board other than a worse 9, so for me at least this is to thin. I would probably also fold, if he bomb the river, since I can definitely see a Q play this way, and the flushdraw got there. So the only like reasonable bluff, he could have, would be a hand like JT. You can also have a Q or maybe sometimes a 2, so I dont think, you need to hero call with a 9. But luckily he dont put you to this decision, because he check back again.

Spoiler
So he had a bluff, that gave up. This is why, you cant fold on the flop. And while being super results oriented, maybe he would actually have called a small bet on the river with A high on a dubble paired board. Also just want to add, that based on his line in this hand, that opponent is not, what I would call a good LAG. He bet full pot on the flop with an in between hand, that should look to either bet small or check back. By doing so he made sure, that he pretty much only got action from better hands and good draws. And then he failed to follow it up on the turn and river, where he could potentially have made better hands fold. So this is not the way, we want to play AJs as the opponent. And of course its not surpricing to see a low quality of play like this, since its a very cheap tournament

 

[feisas7991]

if its micros or field where you have huge edge u can consider folding on the flop already, since you arent doing so great vs his range
on the river pretty much must bet for value and as well get easy escape if he raise. you pretty much lose only to JJ TT there oh and some flushes that he could have.
but overall its much more convenient to bet there rather than check guess.
Hope this helps and Good Luck!