$5 NL HE MTT: Facing donk bets hand 4 - Top pair bad kicker on dry flop

[fundiver199]

Game

Hold'em

Game Format

No Limit

Table Format

MTT

Buy-in

5

Game Options

1. Turbo

Currency

$

After 3 premium hands its time for something more average. Two limps ahead of me, and I isolate with A5s. First limper call and donk jam a dry A high board. Game is an "on demand" SnG, and this is the third blind level. MP was playing VPIP 20 / PFR 0 over 15 hands. Hold`em or Fold`em?

pokerstars, $4.55 + $0.45 - Hold'em No Limit - 25/50 (6 ante) - 7 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat - https://www.cardschat.com/hand-converter.php

UTG: 1,387 (28 bb)
MP: 1,487 (30 bb)
MP+1: 1,427 (29 bb)
CO: 1,500 (30 bb)
BU (Hero): 1,989 (40 bb)
SB: 1,758 (35 bb)
BB: 2,793 (56 bb)

Pre-Flop: (117) Hero is BTN with A♣ 5♣
1 fold, MP calls 50, 1 fold, CO calls 50, Hero raises to 250, 2 players fold, MP calls 200, 1 fold

Flop: (667) 9♣ 3♠ A♦ (2 players)
MP bets 1,231 (all-in), Hero?

 

[Dejange]

And that is pretty weird hand you posted, I would jam though

 

[mariussica88]

I would fold here. Maybe I play to tight but when a players that just calls pre-flop and suddenly becomes aggressive post flop (and that aggressive ) he has at least an Ax with a kicker better then yours, or a set, even 2 pairs.

 

[Statsman1]

I thought about this one for a while. Like the person who posted above me, I probably play too tight,

A PFR of 0, while in 15 hands feels like a very small sample, shows caution to me. When he limped, then called your preflop raise, that would tell me he has something pretty good, hoping to hit and ambush, post-flop.

Post-flop, if he had AA, AK or AQ, why would he bet out? If he is cautious, shouldn't he let you go first so he could 3-bet? A donk shove shows that he doesn't seem concerned that you hit a set. The shove here would tell me that he now has 2 pair, or very likely Ax with a better kicker than a 5, and wants to take it down now. So I would fold, and hope for a better spot to get him.

 

[fundiver199]

Thank you for the comments. This one was a much closer decision for me than hand 1 or 3, mainly because I lose here to most AX. But the SPR was less than two, and a bit like in hand 1, why would he be so fast to shut me out, if he actually had a strong hand? Its not even like, there was any flushdraw to "protect" from on this board. So even though it was difficult for me to put him on a hand, that made sense, I felt, that this looked bluffy and decided to make the call.

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Conclusion: Dont fold to donk bets, if the donk bettor is an actual donk

 

[Statsman1]

Yeah, great call there! My initial response included the possibility if him having KK or QQ, but I questioned why he would then donk-shove on that flop right into the 5x preflop raiser? Based on that, I dismissed the possibility, that would be a silly move, and so I gave him too much credit for being smart, I guess.

I was right, he DID have something good, and calling preflop was just fine, but he completely blew it with that shove. Great job on your part to get him!

 

[fundiver199]

I was right, he DID have something good, and calling preflop was just fine, but he completely blew it with that shove. Great job on your part to get him!

Personally I dont use a limping strategy except in SB in games with antes. But if you are going to limp QQ and get this action behind you, then you have to limp-jam with 28BB effective. I would have folded A5s to a limp-jam, and he would have increased his stack by almost 1/3 without showdown. But instead he went for the slowplay, let me get there, and donked off his stack on the flop

 

[Makarius]

The best solution is to fold, lots of sets, Ah. So definitely fold