three handed play with an aggressive player to your left

How do I play this with a decent-sized stack? Specifically:

1) What should be my attitude if he plays back at me from the BB (on that hand and on subsequent SBs)
2) How often and with what cards should I play back at him from my BB when he raises on the button? Minraises?
3) Should I ever call his raise on my BB? Minraise?
4) Should I ever complete my SB, or is it raise or fold?

Basically, I find it to be really difficult to play here without good cards. I think I need a general attitude adjustment here because I've been getting a ton of thirds, and I know it's because of timid play, but I'm having trouble identifying specific hands where I make an error.

I'm absolutely terrified of betting more than 15x the BB or so on a reraise bluff, so I think I just need you guys to tell me when you do it and to shut up and do it then too.

[bawcerelli]

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, and I know it's because of timid play,

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straight from the horses mouth

[Xenod]

Assuming a decent-sized stack relative to the blinds.

1) Don't get involved in a big pot with bad cards if you can avoid it. If you get caught stealing with T7o then usually you need to drop it.

2) I'd play back at him with reasonable all-in hands if he is continuously raising your bets preflop. Go ahead and call minraises with decent drawing hands and hope for a good flop.

3) This is very card and blind dependent. When the blinds are big then I'll fold mediocre hands in the BB to minraises.

4) I don't think it's wrong to just complete the SB if it doesn't constitute a significant part of your stack, however, you need to be raising with your good hands.


When I have someone who continously plays back at me preflop, I tighten up a bit, but I also get a little more aggro. As a rule, I always come in for a raise 3-handed, but if there's someone who frequently re-raises then I'll limit my hands to ones that I'm willing to go all-in with. A9+, 77+ etc. Also, you want to be the one pushing, not the one calling. If he pushes against your initial bet, then go ahead and fold with KQo, but if he doesn't raise all in and you think there's a chance he'll fold if you push, then go ahead and push with hands like KQo

Yes, but I don't know when to not be timid. If I have A2o, and someone raises my blind, is this an obvious push in most situations? Or am I correct to fold this?

What about if me and villain both have 15x BB or so and he's raised my BB three orbits in a row. Is this an any two situation?

[Xenod]

Your A2 situation is very dependent on stack size. I recommend that you post some hand histories of situations similar to this. I don't consider A2 a good all-in hand at all. You're behind any pair, WAY behind Aces with a 6 or higher(A2 versus A3,4,5 split a lot), and only a little ahead of unpaired non-Ace hands.


Don't think about it as YOUR BB. What's important in these situations is to average a little more than one steal per orbit. If you're getting crummy cards in the BB then don't let that knock you out. Instead, steal more pots when you're the Button or the SB.

In the situation you described, yes, you can increase the range of hands that you'd push back with, but with 15 BB's there's no reason to push with any 2.

[Myst]

[ QUOTE ]
How do I play this with a decent-sized stack? Specifically:

1) What should be my attitude if he plays back at me from the BB (on that hand and on subsequent SBs)
2) How often and with what cards should I play back at him from my BB when he raises on the button? Minraises?
3) Should I ever call his raise on my BB? Minraise?
4) Should I ever complete my SB, or is it raise or fold?

Basically, I find it to be really difficult to play here without good cards. I think I need a general attitude adjustment here because I've been getting a ton of thirds, and I know it's because of timid play, but I'm having trouble identifying specific hands where I make an error.

I'm absolutely terrified of betting more than 15x the BB or so on a reraise bluff, so I think I just need you guys to tell me when you do it and to shut up and do it then too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stop thinking on push-fold guidelines and actually try to outplay your opponents postflop.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How do I play this with a decent-sized stack? Specifically:

1) What should be my attitude if he plays back at me from the BB (on that hand and on subsequent SBs)
2) How often and with what cards should I play back at him from my BB when he raises on the button? Minraises?
3) Should I ever call his raise on my BB? Minraise?
4) Should I ever complete my SB, or is it raise or fold?

Basically, I find it to be really difficult to play here without good cards. I think I need a general attitude adjustment here because I've been getting a ton of thirds, and I know it's because of timid play, but I'm having trouble identifying specific hands where I make an error.

I'm absolutely terrified of betting more than 15x the BB or so on a reraise bluff, so I think I just need you guys to tell me when you do it and to shut up and do it then too.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stop thinking on push-fold guidelines and actually try to outplay your opponents postflop.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually learned to play 4-handed, and this is exactly what I've always done. The problem is the stack sizes. There's just no room to maneuver post flop. I whiff 2/3 of the time, so I lose 2/3 of pots where I call here. Bluffing a flop seems very risky since I have essentially no idea what villain has here except that he's got a higher chance than usual of having an A, a K, or a PP.

Please correct me if I'm wrong somewhere here.

I just realized I wrote decent-sized stack, and that's not what I meant. Won't let me fix it; I meant about 15-20 BBs.

[Myst]

[ QUOTE ]
I just realized I wrote decent-sized stack, and that's not what I meant. Won't let me fix it; I meant about 15-20 BBs.

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15-20 BB is plenty play with, esp. 3 handed. Just remember that you dont have to win every pot, but always attack if you perceive yourself to have the best hand, or if you believe your opponent to have a marginal holding.

This, of course, requires experience in knowing what sort of situiations this encompasses.

ty