How I lost 3 pots to a very aggressive player (0.25 NL on Absolute)

I'll post 3 hands I lost to the same player, the first 2 times I folded and the 3rd time I lost my stack. I don't know what I should have done. Thank you for your help.

<u>First hand :</u>

I'm readless, it's his first hand at the table.

Stacks :
Me : 26
Vilain : 20

Preflop (8 handed):

I have K /images/graemlins/club.gifQ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif
I post BB, he post BB UTG, 2 limpers, we both check.

Flop (pot = 1$) : 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif 2/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/club.gif

I bet 0.75$, Vilain calls 0.75$, both limpers fold.

Turn (pot = 2.40$) : 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif 2/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/club.gif 8/images/graemlins/club.gif

I bet 1.75$, he raises to 3.5$, I fold (don't know why I folded with K/images/graemlins/club.gif in my hand...).

<u>Second hand :</u>

A few hands later I'm again against him (nothing to notice within these 2 hands).

Stack :

Me : 22
Vilain : 24

Preflop (7 handed) :

I have A/images/graemlins/heart.gif8/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
I post BB, he calls UTG, one limper in middle pos.

Flop (pot = 0.85$) : 7/images/graemlins/club.gif 6/images/graemlins/club.gif 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif

I bet 1$, they both call.

Turn (pot = 3.70$) : 7/images/graemlins/club.gif 6/images/graemlins/club.gif 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif J/images/graemlins/heart.gif

I bet 3.75$, he raises to 8.75$,limper folds, I fold.

<u>"In between" hand (Vilain vs another player).</u>

I've started to put most of my attention to Vilain after those 2 hands and 40 mins later I've noticed a very aggressive play vs another player.

Stacks :

Vilain : 35
Opponent : 62

Preflop (8 handed) :

Vilain has 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif 3/images/graemlins/club.gif, Opponent has A/images/graemlins/spade.gif 2/images/graemlins/club.gif.

Folded to Opponent in 4th position who calls, folded to vilain who raises to 0.50$ on the button, folded to Opponent who calls.

Flop (pot = 1.30$) : 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif

Opponent bets 0.75$, Vilain raises to 2.25$, Opponent calls.

Turn (pot = 5.50$) : 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif T/images/graemlins/diamond.gif

Opponent bets 1$, vilain raises to 4$, Opponent raises to 8$, Vilain calls.

River (pot = 20.50$) : 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 4/images/graemlins/spade.gif 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif T/images/graemlins/diamond.gif A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif

Opponent bets 4$, Vilain raises to 10.75$, Opponent calls and they split the 43$ pot.

<u>Final hand :</u>

At this point I've notice he was actually quite tight, despite his earlier raise with 32o, and still very aggressive preflop (he reraised with AQs) and post flop.

Stacks :

Me : 34
Vilain : 44

Preflop (9 handed) :

I have 9/images/graemlins/club.gif9/images/graemlins/heart.gif in the CO.
The first 3 players fold, 2 limp, I limp, Vilain limp, SB fold, BB checks.

Flop (pot = 1.30$) : 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif A/images/graemlins/club.gif

BB and the 2 limpers check, I bet 1.25$, Vilain calls, BB and limpers fold.

Turn (pot = 3.60$) : 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif A/images/graemlins/club.gif 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif

I bet 3.75$, he raises to 9.25$, I call (should I have raised ?).

River (pot = 21$) : 8/images/graemlins/spade.gif A/images/graemlins/spade.gif A/images/graemlins/club.gif 6/images/graemlins/diamond.gif K/images/graemlins/diamond.gif

I check (should I have bet ?), He goes all in for 33.35$, I call for 23.65$, he won the 70$ pot with A7o.

It took me some time to type that post, so if I could get opinions from winning experienced players it would be nice.
Thank you.

[billymonk]

Raise all three hands preflop.

First hand I am not folding on the turn, especially with the K /images/graemlins/club.gif.

Second hand, I don't mind a fold on the turn.

Third hand, I would again fold the turn. Especially since you've noticed he's gotten tighter.

He has actullay got tigher preflop but not less aggressive postflop.
For the preflop play I'm using Harraington guideline, should I raise more preflop hands than he advises ?
Thank you.

[billymonk]

I've never read Harrington's books, so I don't know what he recommends. Generally speaking though, I raise those three hands preflop.

[rikz]

Hand 1: By the turn you are out of position in an unraised pot with a paired board and non-nut flush draw where villain is betting like he has a strong hand. Folding is good. Check/folding the turn is weak, but good too. I'd take a stab at the flop, check the turn, and try to see a free river card. Sticking around in this hand is bad because a river flush might actually be your undoing here since your K-flush loses to an A-flush or a full house.

Hand 2: By the turn you are out of position, in an unraised pot, with with a highly coordinated board (making a straight or 2-pair for villain quite possible), villain raises big and you have 2nd button with no draws. Folding is best. You took a stab with TPTK, but you don't even have that anymore when the J hits. Good fold.

Hand 3 (Villain vs other player): Villain raises with junk on the button, then bets his draws with position, and goes all-in when he has the near-nuts. Notice that villain did not go all in on the turn with just an OESD against his opponent's min-raise to $8. Min-raising is bad, and the opponent could have made a real raise to win this pot. I bet your villain would have folded his OESD to a real raise here, but called the min-raise because he felt he could possibly stack opponent if his straight came in.

Hand 4: This is the first hand that you have good position with a strong hand, but you don't take advantage of it preflop. You should raise, then bet the flop like you have an A, and then give up if anybody calls. Nobody calls a continuation bet from a preflop raiser on a board like that without a least an Ax. In this case, you probably would have folded out the villain, or been able to fold to a raise (probably a min-raise) from villain over your continuation bet on this flop. However, since you limped with 99, then I recommend "no set, no bet." Let the guy with Ax fight it our with 88/flush draw/Ay. You have a marginal middle-pair on a paired board, and you know full well that people at your table like to limp with Ax because they did it in the earlier hands you've posted here. So, check/fold 99 on this flop if you didn't raise preflop. But, you took a stab at it and got stop-and-go'ed. Villain cold called the flop bet, and raised the turn. You're probably beat, so fold.

Overall, villain seems to play position as much as cards, and bets his draws as long as the pot's small. But, as in the 23o hand, he doesn't go all-in without a strong hand (in this case, the low end of a straight where he probably reads his opponent for something other than the high-end of it).

Also, you really ought to change seats after this. Having this guy on your left is not going well for you.

[rikz]

[ QUOTE ]
Raise all three hands preflop.

First hand I am not folding on the turn, especially with the K /images/graemlins/club.gif.

Second hand, I don't mind a fold on the turn.

Third hand, I would again fold the turn. Especially since you've noticed he's gotten tighter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, I agree that 99 in the CO when limped to is a raising hand preflop. But KQo and A8s in the blinds? Maybe if its folded to you in the CO or buttion, but in MP/EP/Blinds I think at a full table ring game (or 7-9 players, as here) that raising in the blinds with these hands is just bad. Tight players limp/call AQ all the time, especially in EP, so KQ is probabably dominated if you get action on a Q-high flop. AT/AJ/AQ are also limping hands in EP that dominate your A8 if you flop an A. EP players limp 99 and TT, too, but don't give it up on an 8-high flop so TPTK with an 8-high flop out of position gets sticky too. These are bad hands to build a big pot with out of position.

Thank you for that long and instructive reply. I finally understood why it's better to have "maniacs" on your right and "rocks" on your left.

[billymonk]

I agree with you on the being out of position aspects so I might have been getting a head of myself by saying so quickly to raise all 3. At this level you're probably right that these hands should generally be left alone and not raised from the blinds.
For the OG poster, I agree with Albert here that at this point limping the A8 hand and the KQ hands aren't terrible in the slightest. But I stand behind the 9's hand.

[rikz]

Actually, I've seen a couple of threads on this board that recommend the opposite seating arrangement for true maniacs. If a maniac is exactly one seat to the left, then you can limp good hands to him, expect him to raise, and then you get to see what EVERYBODY ELSE at the table does before you have to act. It is position on EVERYBODY ELSE that is critical with a maniac. The maniac will bet, raise, push, yell, scream, drink, and pinch the drink girl. But if a rock three seats to your right calls the maniac's all-in preflop from the BB then maybe you can fold your TT that your were planning to call the maniac's push with when the action got folded around to you.

As for rocks (i.e. super tight, only bet with strong hands, check/fold otherwise), I think you'd want them on your right so you can see when they bet and get out without the nuts. If a rock is strong, he bets. If you're not stronger, you can get out with hands you might call with or raise with against a LAG. If by rock you mean PT's Tight-Passive/Aggressive, then the same applies.

So, all things considered, I'd rather have the maniac one seat to the left and the rock on the right.

This villain, however, seems like a smart LAG (or at least a semi-loose guy that takes advantage of position regularly) in these hands, not a maniac. They are high-variance opponents that are tough to play with. I'd rather have a smart LAG on my right because he's unpredictable rather than predictably maniacal, like a true maniac.