3 tough spots with premiums.

[fudge]

Hey guys, first post and just looking for some help as I've hit a few tough spots with premium hands recently. I wish I could give you better reads on the villains but I'm still new and working on it.

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Villian is 52/22 after 27 hands. He was active but didn't seem to get out of line.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Hero ($5.37)
MP ($9.54)
CO ($3.71)
Button ($4.66)
SB ($2.53)
BB ($3)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, A.
Hero raises to $0.08, 2 folds, Button calls $0.08, SB calls $0.07, BB calls $0.06.

Flop: ($0.32) J, K, J (4 players)
SB bets $0.02, BB calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.22, Button folds, SB calls $0.20, BB folds.

Turn: ($0.78) K (2 players)
SB bets $0.1, Hero raises to $0.7, SB calls $0.60.

River: ($2.18) 4 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.45, SB calls $1.45.

Final Pot: $5.08

Results in white below:
SB has Tc Jc (full house, jacks full of kings).
Hero has Ad Ah (two pair, aces and kings).
Outcome: SB wins $5.08.
I could have fallen in love with the aces here, but aren't we usually good in this spot?

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Villian was 41/20 after 46 hands.

I feel like I misplayed the hand pretty bad, but I'm not really sure which line I should have taken.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP ($1.88)
Hero ($5.33)
SB ($3.11)
BB ($7.94)
UTG ($2.82)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K.
UTG raises to $0.06, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.2, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.14.

Flop: ($0.43) T, J, A (2 players)
UTG bets $0.2, Hero calls $0.20.
***Perhaps a reraise here would have been a better option? It would have probably made the turn easier to play.***

Turn: ($0.83) 6 (2 players)
UTG bets $0.5, Hero?

Results in white below:
Hero folds. UTG wins $0.83.

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Villian is 31/11 after 35 hands.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (5 handed) Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

BB ($3.94)
UTG ($2.91)
Hero ($4.97)
Button ($5.75)
SB ($2.21)

Preflop: Hero is MP with A, A.
UTG calls $0.02, Hero raises to $0.1, 2 folds, BB calls $0.08, UTG calls $0.08.

Flop: ($0.31) K, T, T (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $0.02, Hero raises to $0.17, BB raises to $2, UTG folds, Hero raises to $3.84, BB calls $3.84 (all-in) .
***Is this a Bad shove?***

Turn: ($8.01) 6 (2 players)

River: ($8.01) K (2 players)

Final Pot: $8.01

Results in white below:
BB has Td Ac (full house, tens full of kings).
Hero has Ad As (two pair, aces and kings).
Outcome: BB wins $8.01.

I didn't really consider a ten in his range and felt like he was probably playing AK. Although that check raise should have probably alerted me of trips+.

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All help is appreciated!

-Cheers

[zayphod]

Hi there,

1st hand: I think the flop raise was ok to see what the response would be. His call of the reraise on the flop probably means his range does lean toward the king rather than the jack (which I would assume either pushes or rereraises) but once the 2nd king comes your hand is effectively dead without a king or jack (and even then the king is obviously preferred).

2nd hand: I'm not sure what is correct here. This is where my thinking comes unstuck. At worst you lost 40cents I guess. I definitely think a 3-bet is called for on the flop though. The call leaves you with no information and you are back to the same spot when the turn comes e.g. am I good does he have better?

3rd hand: At this level (which I also play) I am almost always folding to the all-in shove on the flop. It is almost never less than a set especially with the check-raise line.

cheers
Zayphod

[TheDeKay]

1 hand: A 52/22 is getting out of line about every second time he is entering the pot But the board (at least on the turn) looks very scary, cause I can think of no hand, that calls us here, that we can beat! So I just try to come to showdown as cheap as possible.

2 hand: I call the turn and see what he does on the river. Just folding AK here (especially on the micros) is a little weak imo and we have 4 clean outs + maybe 3-6more ours, if we are beat atm. Just calling the flop is fine imo! I do not want to build a big pot now and do not want to commit myself, so I prefer calling to pot control.

3hand: Uah, sick cold 3bet by BB, cause it's a brutal overbet. Without any read I might fold right there, cause it looks soooo strong, but I don't know, if that is too weak for the micros...

[zayphod]

Didn't look at the results till now and was surprised to see a jack and not a king on hand 1. There ya go my hand reading sux Im guessing he put you on KK maybe since he didnt push at the end.

Quick question for DeKay: On hand 2 you suggested calling for pot control (which i didnt even consider ), but does this mean we are then committed to call a push at the end since the pot will now have $1.86 in it and he only has $1.9-$2 or so left anyway (assuming he was to push). Or even if he sticks in 1/2 PSB are we obliged to then call?

[TheDeKay]

I do never really think, that I am commited to call a pot sized bet on the river, cause on the river, you are drawing dead, if you are beat.
Of course I'm somewhat commited, if there is 1000$ in the pot and I have 10$ left with any hand, that can win, but only because I get something like 100 to 1, so I have to win only 1% of the time, but if your opponent shows me his cards per accident and I see, that I'm beat, I should fold my 10$.
=> If there is 100$ in the pot on the river and your opponent shoves his last 100$ in and you are very sure, that you do not win 50% of the time... fold your hand!

In this hand villain tells us on the flop "I hit something and want to play", on the turn "I hit something! I'm really serious" and if he shoves on the river "I hit a monster! PLZZZZZZZZ call me". The only question is: What is a monster for him? I didn't play with him, so I have no notes or something, but since he is running 40/20 I'm more likely to call than to fold, cause I think, that he does that with many A. I do not know, how he reacts to 3bets and what his calling range is, but ppl tend to overplay their A...

One thought about raising the flop: If you raise to 0.8 and he shoves, what do you do? If he has AT or AJ you are making a mistake by folding, cause you have enough outs, to call! Even if you run into JJ or TT you are making only a small mistake by calling, cause you have 4clean outs...

[ahog012]

1st hand: fine with how you played until the turn, either im bet folding this turn then checking the river, or im checking behind the turn and check/folding river. Obviously a K and J is going to be in his range so you have to part with your aces here.

2nd hand: definatly reraising this flop. gives us a whole lot more info on what opponent has, if we get raised again then chuck it. If he doesnt fold and flat calls, it will most probably get the opponent to check it to us in which case we can check behind for pot control.

3rd hand: This is a tricky one, its hard to say because i dont play these stakes but im sure anyone with KK/AK is going to be 3betting us preflop. maybe not AK... like i say hard for me to judge but thats about all i can imagine him 4betting us with on the flop that we beat. apart from QJ? once again not sure if people are shoving draws like that at these stakes. If i didnt look at the results id probly be saying im getting it in here too but i wouldnt be super excited about it.

[fudge]

Originally Posted by TheDeKay

One thought about raising the flop: If you raise to 0.8 and he shoves, what do you do? If he has AT or AJ you are making a mistake by folding, cause you have enough outs, to call! Even if you run into JJ or TT you are making only a small mistake by calling, cause you have 4clean outs...

I feel like the flop is wet enough on the second hand where I would probably feel comfortable folding a shove to my raise, but maybe that's playing too tight? In that situation I would expect the nuts and folding becomes a better option to me than chasing four outs. Wow, maybe I am too tight. Would folding really be that bad there?

Originally Posted by ahog012

2nd hand: definatly reraising this flop. gives us a whole lot more info on what opponent has, if we get raised again then chuck it. If he doesnt fold and flat calls, it will most probably get the opponent to check it to us in which case we can check behind for pot control.

Can we then assume that we're beat then if he flats and continues with aggression on the last two streets?

Also, something interesting I found while going over hold'em manager was that I have done quite poorly with two pair hands playing pockets on a paired board. Maybe I can keep myself out of trouble by avoiding risking my stack in these situations.

[ahog012]

Can we then assume that we're beat then if he flats and continues with aggression on the last two streets?

This board, while scary for us, will also be scary for an opponent with a similar hand.
If we have no relevant reads on an opponent who; calls a raise on a scary board, then leads out on a turn, you start to get the impression that our opponent thinks either; he is good and thinks you may check behind, or a scare card comes on the turn and he doesnt want you to draw cheaply.
So while it does depend on the turn card, our opponent is going to be worried about our hand with that flop too, unless he thinks he has us beat. Something to think about, if you can follow me

[TheDeKay]

Originally Posted by fudge

Would folding really be that bad there?

It wouldn't be THAT bad, but let's see: You raise to 0.8 and he shoves. There is 3.85$ in the pot and 1.82$ to call, so we get about 2:1.
Let's give him the shoving range of: AK, AQ, AJ, AT, JT, JJ, TT and KQ

Board: Ah Td Jc
Dead:
equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 35.623% 27.99% 07.63% 14686 4005.50 { AsKc }
Hand 1: 64.377% 56.74% 07.63% 29773 4005.50 { JJ-TT, ATs+, KQs, JTs, ATo+, KQo, JTo }

If he calls preflop more often with the better starting hands you get:
Board: Ah Td Jc
Dead:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 45.397% 33.09% 12.31% 8844 3290.50 { AsKc }
Hand 1: 54.603% 42.29% 12.31% 11305 3290.50 { JJ-TT, ATs+, KQs, JTs, AQo+ }


We are running quite good against 2pairs, cause we have 3 K-outs and 4 Q-outs = 7 outs against AJ; +3 J-outs vs AT = 10outs; or +2 A-outs vs JT =9outs with 2 streets to come.