What should I be capping with?

[The13atman]

It's embarrassing to ask, but a post on here discussing 3 betting JJ got me thinking about my preflop game, which I always thought was solid...

What should I be capping with preflop at Party 0.5/1? I know this depends on the opponents and positon, but let's just say it's your first hand at the table and you have no reads or notes on anyone.

I have always been capping with AA, KK, AKs, AKo, as well as QQ and JJ (unless the 3 better is a complete rock). Is capping with JJ or even QQ just spewing chips?

What if it's HU when it comes back to me after a 3 bet as opposed to having a few more players along for the ride thus lowering my pot equity?

What if a limper ahead of me 3 bets when it comes back to him? In 0.5/1 this almost certainly means KK or AA in my experience, but should it be enough to slow me down before the flop?

[jrz1972]

I always cap with QQ and almost always cap with JJ. TT is a little closer but I still frequently cap with that.

When a person limp-reraises, they might have AA or KK. They also might have 55, A2s, 76s, K4o, or all kinds of other crap. Our experiences obviously differ, as my observed crap-to-good-hand ratio is much higher than you describe. IMO, you are giving these guys way too much respect if you always put them on AA or KK.

[PokerBob]

I don't cap with JJ. I will with AQs if there are many players in the pot. Otherwise I think I play the same as you. Capping with QQ is NOT spewing chips IMO, at least not at .5/1. Those nuts will do some crazy stuff.

[meep_42]

Capping hands for me: AA KK QQ JJ AKs
3-betting hands : TT 99 AKo AQs AQo

-d

[radek2166]

[ QUOTE ]
What if a limper ahead of me 3 bets when it comes back to him? In 0.5/1 this almost certainly means KK or AA in my experience, but should it be enough to slow me down before the flop?

[/ QUOTE ]

Where are you playing .5/1
In my experiance at party .5/1 if someone limo raises it means they have 2 cards

[mr pink]

i don't know about 3-betting with AQo

[meep_42]

[ QUOTE ]
i don't know about 3-betting with AQo

[/ QUOTE ]

Granted. It's more situational than the rest, but it's not unlikely that i'd 3-bet it for some reason or another at this level. (Loose PF raiser, etc etc)

-d

[aron]

I don't really think the opportunity to cap PF comes around very often in .5/1.
When it does, I basically cap with the same hands as you mention.

-aron

[droolie]

Capping if it comes back to you HU is different. Since you aren't getting dead money anymore you might want to consider only capping with KK, AA, and AKs.

Deciding when to cap and three bet also depends on the read of your opponent. The previous advice of other posters is fine against a standard decent player.

If he is a maniac raising over 15% of hands, 3 bet or cap whenever you get a very good hand to isolate him and make him pay for raising with crap. If you can sit to his left do it. If he raises you can isolate him. If he's already folded or limped you can limp without fear of him raising you all the time. You can play him normally postflop if his postflop aggression is reasonable.


If he is raising over 70% of his hands and capping on later streets sit to his right. In this case limping is no longer an option. You should raise every time you have a playable hand knowing he will reraise. (A playable hand should not be speculative hands but hands that can stand up unimproved. High card strength and suited preferrably. Muck the low pocket pairs and low suited connectors without second thoughts) These maniacs can be your best friend and are worth seeking out. Other players at the table will take turns isolating these fools and will usually get out of your way when your doing the isolating. Its fun. That's why you see such long lines at the big average pot tables. They often have one of these guys spewing $$ at them. The trick to winning is isolating them and not losing your nerve postflop and let them push you into folding. You want these loose idiots HU and you then cap every street regardless of the texture of the board and let your premium hands gradually beat their marginal ones to death. They'll win some big pots off you but you'll win more off them over the long run.


Against a table full of weak tight players (this is rare)raise more often and push them around but don't 3-bet or cap. These are players who only raise premium hands pf and if they limp will bet only if they connect with the fop. Your preflop raises will get you HU with a limper who will fold to aggression postflop quite often.