$33 NLHE MTT: Over Pocket v Possible Straight

[PPT]

Pocket Jacks and nothing higher than a Jack came down, but straights were possible.

LP is a calling station, he's been calling everything since the tournament started. CO hasn't played much. CO turns very aggressive which makes me worry that he's hit a possible straight but given my pre-flop raise and CO has been mucking a lot, I didn't think he'd be in the hand with what was required for the straight - it might be in LPs range but probably not COs and CO is the one raising. Plus CO turned aggressive before the straight was made so would have had to be chasing at the point of turning aggressive.

I'm just starting trying to think in ranges etc after starting the 30 day course. Was this played right or badly?



888Poker, $30 + $3 - Hold'em No Limit - 50/100 (12 ante) - 9 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: 7,538 (75 bb)
UTG+1 (Hero): 12,565 (126 bb)
MP: 7,907 (79 bb)
MP+1: 19,951 (200 bb)
LP: 8,724 (87 bb)
CO: 7,810 (78 bb)
BU: 15,037 (150 bb)
SB: 9,852 (99 bb)
BB: 9,448 (94 bb)

Pre-Flop: (258) Hero is UTG+1 with J♦ J♣
1 fold, Hero raises to 300, 2 players fold, LP calls 300, CO calls 300, 3 players fold

Flop: (1,158) 4♥ 5♣ 9♠ (3 players)
Hero bets 579, LP calls 579, CO raises to 3,458, Hero calls 2,879, LP calls 2,879

Turn: (11,532) 7♣ (3 players)
Hero checks, LP checks, CO bets 100, Hero calls 100, LP calls 100

River: (11,832) 2♥ (3 players)
Hero checks, LP checks, CO bets 3,940 (all-in), Hero calls 3,940, LP calls 3,940

Total pot: 23,652

Showdown:
CO shows 9♣ K♥ (a pair of Nines)
UTG+1 (Hero) shows J♦ J♣ (a pair of Jacks)
LP mucks
UTG+1 (Hero) wins 23,652

 

[1Payou]

After the flop think you should of been more aggressive seeing as you had top pair. CO was playing as he hit top pair on the board. Should have shoved right after the flop perhaps causing CO to fold.to eliminate the possibility of CO catching a K on the turn or river. In the end it worked out for Hero but could of been played more aggressively. Just my two cents.

 

[fundiver199]

Preflop
Standard open and like using the 3BB sizing when this deep.

Flop
I am ok C-betting here, even though these low and connected boards are usually better for the field callers ranges than our range opening from EP. But we are still likely to have the best hand, worse hands can and will call, and we also benefit from denying equity to random overcards like a KQ or AQ type of hand.

When CO raise he goes so large, that he essentially commits himself to the pot. He basically pressed the "pot" button. So you are not getting a great price, and you cant really call now and then fold later. So for me, and especially when I am out of position, this is decision time. Either I fold, or I get it in now and hope to run good.

The SPR is around 7, which is a little bit deep to stack off an overpair, and its not the best board texture either. There are only a few logical two pair combos, which is good, but at the same time there are not many draws either. So this is very player dependent. If CO is someone, who will overvalue and overplay his TT or 9X (as in fact he did), then I am very happy getting it in here. But if he is a some solid and nitty opponent, then this smells a lot like a set.

Turn
I would never have seen the turn like this, but if I did, that min-bet look incredibly fishy and weak, and therefore I would just check-jam now for the rest of my chips.

River
Pretty much the same comment, as I made about the turn. I am never folding here getting 4:1, but I prefer putting it in myself and hope to get called by a hand like the one, he had.

Conclusion
Nice result and definitely this opponent was on the recreational / fishy side of the spectrum. Which you should make a note or tag to remember.

 

[PPT]

Thanks for the advice. What do you mean by SPR? That's not an acronym I'm familiar with sorry.

You're right about a possible Set being a risk, didn't think of that. If he'd had 99 instead of 9x then I'd have been chasing a J to be in the hand, wouldn't I?

 

[PPT]

Can I flip the question around please, the villain probably thought he had top pair, top kicker and possibly thought I was holding something like AQ and had missed. Plus I never attempted to regain pot control on the turn.

If you were playing in the villain's shoes, so someone else has done a 3BB pre-flop bet, and a C-bet, and it reaches you with what you think is TPTK then how would you have responded?

How should the villain have played in your eyes, not knowing my cards. I must admit their shoes is something I've been in a few times before, and I'd have probably done a 3-bet but probably not such a big one.

 

[fundiver199]

Thanks for the advice. What do you mean by SPR? That's not an acronym I'm familiar with sorry.

It means Stack to Pot Ratio and is a way of determining, how committed we should feel with a strong but not nut hand like a big overpair or top pair good kicker type hand. Its calculated on the flop only by deviding the effective stack (in this case the remaining 7.510 of CO) with the pot size (in this case 1.158), so in this case a bit under 7.

Its an older concept, which I first heard about from James "Splitsuit" Sweeney, who still make videos for The Poker Bank on Youtube. Basically his guidelines for heads up pots are:

0-3: Always stack off
3-6: Situational
>6: Only if pristine spot

Here SPR was almost 7, and it was a 3-way pot, where we should reduce the numbers slightly. So our default should have been to fold, since we could not call without committing to much of our stack to fold later. However if we look at his sizing, which was full pot, then that does look a little fishy and scared, like he is praying for us to fold. Would a set always use this sizing and allow us an easy chance to get away? Probably not.

I also think, a good regular would tend to use smaller sizing, so even just seeing this sizing from him make me feel, he is probably not the best player in the world. When fish bet full pot on the river, its often a strong hand, but when they do it on the flop, its often a medium strong hand playing scared, exactly like what we saw here. And finally two pair is rather unlikely with 54s being the only somewhat reasonable one, and there are only two combos of that.

So I am totally on board with making this one of those exceptions, where I take an overpair to the felt, even though the SPR was rather deep. And then basically hope to run into a hand exactly like the one, he had. Of course we also had to worry about LP, but I think, if he had flopped a set, he would have raised it at least some percentage of the time, so when he just call, I think, he is more likely to have a hand, which we beat.

 

[nelomec]

you played well, but you should played more agressive

 

[lanelosee100]

well played. you only had one pair so i dont see a reason to be to aggressive