Trouble with cold calls

[RunDownHouse]

I know I should love it when people cold call like this. I mean, it HAS to be a mistake, which means I make money, right? However, I often find that when people cold call like this, I get lost because I can't put them on a hand at all.

PF raiser is TAG, but will lay down fairly easy if he misses flop. I'd like to isolate him and steal a non-A flop, but of course everyone loves calling 3 cold. Here I'm unsure of my flop and river play. God only knows what all those cold callers have, so I could be drawing almost dead to two pair or a set, or I could be ahead with K high Q kicker. No telling. On the turn I've got TPGK with the second nut flush draw, so I'm pretty sure a bet is ok there. If its raised on the turn do I call then check/fold river?

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (6 max, 6 handed)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K/images/graemlins/heart.gif, Q/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
<font color="CC3333">UTG raises</font>, <font color="CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, CO calls, Button calls, SB calls, BB calls, UTG calls.

Flop: (18 SB) 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 6/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 9/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(6 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">SB bets</font>, BB calls, UTG calls, Hero calls, CO calls, Button calls.

Turn: (12 BB) Q/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="blue">(6 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>, CO calls, Button calls, SB calls, BB folds, UTG calls.

River: (17 BB) 6/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="blue">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, UTG checks, <font color="CC3333">Hero bets</font>...

[naphand]

You played this fine. Calling 3-cold is just the Morons way of saying PP, sooted or an A. Once they decide to play a hand, they wont fold for anything PF.

Flop fine, Turn good. All those checks is far more likely to mean fear of a flush, that someone getting cute. Anyone getting cute and not raising the flush here with the dawn-of-the-living-dead crew capable of cold calling Xtreme PF, needs all the help he can get. You are probably ahead here, they are calling because they have a stright fdraw, a single /images/graemlins/heart.gif or a 7.

River card is OK, it is possible you are against trip 6's (but not very likely, that board can hit a lot of bad hands and overcards are still there, of course), but you must value-bet this (you also beat 97 now). Given the Turn terror-calls someone with trips is not likely to raise you, fearing your obvious flush/maybe you are bluffing.

This is not very scary. Keep playing it the way you did, and allow yourself the "luxury" of seeing Turn calls as a sign of weakness and fear, not power and trickiness.

[Michael Davis]

You think threebetting an UTG raiser with KQ is fine? This is a recipe for disaster even at 6-max against. Although I admit there are lots of LAGs, this should not be a routine play, IMO.

-Michael

[spydog]

If your read on UTG is TAG, then I'm inclined to fold this preflop. There aren't many hands that he would raise in this spot that you have beat and many are heavy favorites against you. If he truly does give up easily on the flop then maybe this play is OK, but I'm still leaning towards a fold. Considering this is 1/2, your chances of isolating anyone is rare. Usually, at least one chump is going to coldcall and you really don't want a multiway pot with this holding when a TAG was the initial raiser. If it is suited, then it would be different. I would coldcall the raise to encourage other coldcallers.

[spydog]

You beat me to it! Must type faster.

[naphand]

Perhaps Hero has a reason to believe 3-betting is a valid line here? Hero is only dominated by AK/AQ/AA/KK/QQ, and a TAG could be raising with quite a few more hands than this, so it is not that out of line. It would be nice to know his PFR%. According to PokerStove, KQo has a lot of equity here against the hands a TAG raises (AA-66, suited broadways to QJs and A9s, AK-AT, KQ-KJ) even with players yet to act.

In fact, I was ignoring that aspect of the hand as it has nothing to do with calling 3-cold. His opponents can only call 3-cold after he 3-bets, so given this fact I was looking at the hand from there on, which I think he plays fine. PF yes, against a TAG raise UTG then fold is the standard line, though PokerStove seems to think otherwise and I sometimes 3-bet here, it is fairly easy to play this hand post-flop.

[RunDownHouse]

Don't forget my read on the TAG raiser, which was very important. I'd played with him enough that I knew I could push him off a flop that missed him. Very easy to get away from an A-high flop, and if he started throwing raises at me on a K or Q high flop I felt I could fold to him.

One of the idiots behind me showed A /images/graemlins/heart.gif J /images/graemlins/heart.gif and I died a little inside.

[sammy_g]

[ QUOTE ]
One of the idiots behind me showed A /images/graemlins/heart.gif J /images/graemlins/heart.gif and I died a little inside.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not saying that calling 3 cold with this hand is a good play, but you do realize that he had a better hand than you on every street, right?

I muck KQo to an UTG raiser.

[RunDownHouse]

Its all part of a big downswing, which is why I'm posting hands in the first place, trying to plug holes in my play. I'm sure you know how hands like this, in the middle of a stretch where you're running bad, just kill.

[naphand]

I understand your line, but PokerTracker paints a different picture. I think with a good read on a player, KQo could easily swing from fold to 3-bet here, if the Stove is to be believed.