Playing an overpair against a semi-calling station

skiierguy · #1 06-08-2005, 10:29 PM

this is a hand that i was questioning as i played it today at a full table of $1/2NL ring on PokerStars. i'm kind of new to 1/2NL ring (just moved up from .25/.50 and .50/1), and i had been playing at this table for about two hours when i came to across hand.

i generally play tight & aggressive. according to both my self-observation and to PokerOffice, my table image was exactly that: i didn't play too many hands (just under 19% for the session), i raised most of the hands i played preflop, and i was generally aggressive when it came to post-flop play.

anyway, the Villain in this hand is an odd type of player (which i rarely see playing at limits as high as 1/2NL), thus i don't have alot of experience playing against players like him at NL ring higher than like $.25/.50NL. i guess he could kind of be considered a calling station, but i found him a little tricky to play against because he would limp/call almost every time he played. he would do this with marginal hands from almost any position (Q8o, 96s, JTo) as well as with decent hands (AJo, KQo, etc) so you never really knew what he had. the only times i saw him raise preflop, he minraised to $4, and every time he showed hands down after minraising he held either a premium pair or AK; i never saw him minraise with anything else. similarly, i don't recall EVER seeing him bet on the flop...he rarely even bet at all post-flop; his standard play was check/call, and i don't think i saw him check/raise once. my reads & thought process are at the bottom; here's the hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2 BB (8 handed) converter

MP1 ($194)
MP2 ($200)
CO :#A500AF(Villain)/ ($370.80)
Button ($351.60)
SB ($232.20)
Hero ($95.10)
UTG ($124.85)
UTG+1 ($194)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
3 folds, MP2 calls $2, CO :#A500AF(Villain)/ calls $2, 1 fold, SB completes, Hero raises to $10, MP2 folds, CO :#A500AF(Villain)/ calls $8, SB folds.

Flop: ($24) 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets $20, Villain calls $20.

Turn: ($64) K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

at this point, i put him on a flush draw. i was pretty sure he didn't have a king, and i was 95% certain that i was ahead of him in the hand, so i thought for a sec then decided to push and put the tough decision in his hands. what would you guys have done in this situation? how should i play these types of players in the future? should i be overbetting him since i know he's a calling station? my reads/analysis on the situation are rather lengthy, so i outlined them (as well as some stats on him) below:

according to PokerOffice, during this session he was seeing about 28% of the flops, 11.5% went to showdowns (he won 50% of those showdowns), and was at exactly 5.77% for both preflop raise and for first-in raise. from a practical standpoint, the three hands i remembered about him prior to this one were these:

1) about 10 hands prior, he limped from mid with 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (pot was raised to $8 after his limp and he was the only caller), flopped a set with both other community cards lower than 9 and no draws on the board, then check/called two large bets ($24 on the flop, $50 on the turn) down to the river where the board ended up 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. Villain checked the river, the other guy bet $100 (pot was $167 on the river), and the Villain simply called with the second nuts to beat the other guy's QQ! he probably could have gotten another $150 or so out of the other player, who had him covered at the time...i simply couldn't understand his calling in that situation since i couldn't feasibly put the other guy on quad 3s. i think he did a good job of trapping QQ, but he squandered an opportunity to make alot more money.

2) about 15 hands before that one^^, the Villain limped as 4th to act (no limpers in front) with J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], folds to the button who also decided to limp, SB folded, BB raised to $8, Villain calls as does the button. flop came 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (pot $25) -- checks all around. turn 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (pot still $25) -- check, Villain bets $6, both players call. river 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (pot $43) -- Villain bets $2, button calls, BB raises $30 to $32, and both players call to show A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] for the BB and A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] for the button player who won the $136 pot. again, i thought the Villain played poorly preflop and even worse on the river.

3) a few hands after i sat down, i saw him limp from mid (first to act) with QQ. everyone else folded except for the button and the BB. flop came Q high with no draws; checks all around on the flop AND on the turn (!), and he finally got the balls to bet $2 on the river, which was called by both players. he won a grand total of like $13 with his set of queens. i immediately put an 'idiot' note on him along with some details; i'm somewhat new to 1/2, and i simply couldn't believe someone could be that retarded in a 1/2NL game.

based on the two hours or so i played with this guy and those three hands, i was almost positive i made the right move by pushing. sorry for the lengthy post...i had alot of stuff going through my head that i wanted to jot down for reference so others could follow my thought process. thoughts/suggestions?