$Freeroll NL HE MTT: Top Pair Top Kicker on wet board. How to avoid getting drawn out?

[Andyreas]

Game

Hold'em

Game Format

No Limit

Table Format

MTT

Buy-in

Freeroll

Freeroll

1. Freeroll

Currency

$

Hi Forum,

this hand is definitely the type where I currently suck the most at:
I hit top kicker on a very wet board with Straight and Flush draws. How to play/do the bet sizing?

I would love to get some input here. I know I played it badly and definitely knew I was beat on turn but I called because it's a Freeroll, lol.

pokerstars, Hold'em No Limit - 50/100 (10 ante) - 9 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

Newzooozooo (UTG): 1,729 (17 bb)
zorro222_zor (UTG+1): 1,931 (19 bb)
Tractor--stars (MP): 1,185 (12 bb)
pasha.ua.31 (MP+1): 6,551 (66 bb)
AndyreasDE (LP): 1,806 (18 bb)
PatriceM915 (CO): 5,201 (52 bb)
joeisi (BU): 7,545 (75 bb)
leleka1024 (SB): 1,676 (17 bb)
Oscarlindo (BB): 2,148 (21 bb)

Pre-Flop: (240) Hero (AndyreasDE) is LP with Q♦ A♥
4 players fold, AndyreasDE (LP) raises to 220, PatriceM915 (CO) calls 220, 3 players fold

Flop: (680) 9♥ Q♣ 8♥ (2 players)
AndyreasDE (LP) bets 340, PatriceM915 (CO) calls 340

Turn: (1,360) J♠ (2 players)
AndyreasDE (LP) bets 449, PatriceM915 (CO) raises to 4,631 (all-in), AndyreasDE (LP) calls 787 (all-in)

River: (3,832) 5♠ (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: 3,832

Showdown:
PatriceM915 (CO) shows T♦ 8♣ (a straight, Eight to Queen)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 36%, Flop: 33%, Turn: 97%, River: 100%)

AndyreasDE (LP) shows Q♦ A♥ (a pair of Queens)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 64%, Flop: 67%, Turn: 3%, River: 0%)

PatriceM915 (CO) wins 3,832

 

[300HPGOD]

Pre flop: raise size is fine, that or min works. You could think about jamming here based on its a freeroll and you could get some light callers more easily but in the grand scheme of all the tables you will play at min raising or raising the manner in which you did is better imo.

Flop: We started the hand the with 18 BBs and we have TPTK. I would be rarely folding this hand post flop and would be deciding how I want to get the chips in. I would be deciding that with the SPR and the board wet I want to make this a two street hand and get the chips in on the turn. That would mean for under pot shove we need to be roughly 300 as the smallest amount. We could smaller and overjam turn since this is no limit but no reason to do that when it sets up nicely for an under pot turn jam. I would be thinking that most of the time if I win this hand it will be because villain folds the turn so with this board and thinking it connected with them I would go bigger trying to get my value on the flop. Im not betting larger for protection purposes but betting larger since I think I will be only called one street most of the time so if we can get 50 chips or so more value knowing that then we should do it. Your bet sizing pf half pot fits with jamming turn but you could have gone bigger here and still got a call most of the time. With this board, if villain is calling 340 then they would probably bet 400 so I like 400 better than 340. 340 though, is fine.

Turn: Not the best card for sure but I already mentioned that with our stack entering the hand I am going with it so in my mind I would be saying if you got the 10 then you do but I would jam here and leave it at that. The second best option would be checking. The last thing you want to do imo is do what you did and bet small which still commits you but you arent folding to a raise (even though when villain raises there we are dead and we know it). If the card scares you and you dont want to jam then you should check and see what happens. At least in that case if you decide to fold turn then you have over 10 BBs at least and can play push/fold. However, as I mentioned I would have a plan for this hand as soon as the flop comes down and would follow through on it. I would have just jammed into it but to me it would be an it is what it is hand.

 

[fundiver199]

Preflop
Small open raise is fine. The plan is to then get it in against any 3-bet.

Flop
As HP300GOD say, we are in stack-off mode here starting with only 18 bigs, and I would also look to make it a 2 street hand. Your C-bet could be a bit larger, but this sizing is completely fine, since it still leave less than a pot sized bet for the turn. Ideally we want to see an offsuit low card on the turn, and then get it in.

Turn
This was not a low offsuit card, since it put a 1-liner to a straight. If you bet now, no better hand is folding, so you are still not bluffing. A bet therefore has to be for value, which mean, you need to be good more than 50% when called. And I just dont see, which worse hands are still calling now, other than maybe exactly KQ or a flushdraw. So I think, this is to thin, and as in some other hands, you shared, it looks to me like, you are betting, because you are uncomfortable and dont want to face a bet from him.

And this is a mistake. We are actually supposed to do a lot of checking out of position, even when we are the preflop raiser. And this is for sure a check-evaluate spot. You are just playing poker here, so depending, what he do, and what reads you have, you can either check-call and try to catch a bluff or check-fold and live to fight another hand.

One of the advantages of checking is, it makes your hand look weaker and leave him more room to bluff or even overvalue a hand worse than yours. Or sometimes he will check back, because he is just as scared of the 1-liner, as you are, and then you just make a decision on the river. When you bet and get jammed on, thats going to be a much more narrow range, and even though you are getting 4:1 and only need to have 20% equity, I am not sure, you have that, since you are basically dead to a straight. So as played I prefer bet-folding to bet-calling.

 

[Andyreas]

Thank you for your feedback, @300HPGOD and @fundiver199 as always. 🙏

So I think, this is to thin, and as in some other hands, you shared, it looks to me like, you are betting, because you are uncomfortable and dont want to face a bet from him.

And this is a mistake. We are actually supposed to do a lot of checking out of position, even when we are the preflop raiser. And this is for sure a check-evaluate spot. You are just playing poker here, so depending, what he do, and what reads you have, you can either check-call and try to catch a bluff or check-fold and live to fight another hand.

Pretty spot on! 🙊

I'll try to keep it in mind for further low stacked fights in the future. 🙏

 

[ipagan]

What was your position on this tournament at this moment? I see that your stack is not the bigges here and why just no to push this hand? Probably he would not call it with 10-8 hand. In smaller stack it is really an option just to push and not get yourself into the flop when your any bet makes it almost all-in and your opp could take his chances with "any two".

The second option with small stack for me is to raise pre-flop like you did and then if you hit a pair just push on the flop. I have top pair + top kicker and some backdoor nuts flush chance. I would not be afraid of potential straights, because much more often he would NOT get into thema anyway. The same thought is about potential flushes in opps hands. I have ablocker on A suited, so he can have KQ KJ K10 K7 QJ Q10 J10 Q7 J7 (more likely, then J2 I suppose). It's like only 9 combinations, KQ and KJ he could 3bet on pre-flop (if he does so of course), so it's even less then 9. And on the other hand he can have tons of ofsuited hands like A-high K-high. So it's 9 suited combos versus tons of ofsuited. So I would not be afraid of potential flush. Yes, of course he can have flush draw hand, but my point is that we are playing against range and in his range there are much more likely to see ofsuited hand, then suited. So if I push here, I will not be afraid of potential flush. The only thing to afraid here are pocket pairs 99 88 or KK AA. Again, AA KK he probably want to 3-bet on pre-flop. But again how much combos of 88 99 it could be versus other "any two" hands? My point here, that the equity of this hand on flop is something like 60-70% probably, what is enough for me just to push with low stack.
We know his hand and a reasonable question is - would he call with gutshot? We can't say for sure of course, but I would not if I were on his place, because it's only 8% chance to get your J on the board, right? Plus, from his perspective I would think that you have QQ or AQ/AQs or at least AK AJ etc suited and my chances versus your chances would be way worst. So I would not call all-in on flop.

Anyway in the line you chose (and probably some time I play the same way), I would check turn and fold on a big bet. Simple logic for me here - I was ahead and had a strong hand on the flop, but on the turn I became very vulnerable since it's only 1 card for the straight and opp's range have a lot of tens, like really a lot and I would just be happy check out until the showdown. That's one of the reasons I think about pushing and don't let your opponent realize his chances.

@fundiver199 very well said!