Big hand against aggressive opponents

[Ikke]

10/20 5-max at Paradise.

It's down to 4 handed, with on my right and UTG an aggressive player who frequently bluffs and semi-bluffs and is loose in paying of. Preflop he frequently limps in however.

The BB is an even more aggressive player preflop, but he seems to be able to get away from hands easier than UTG. Still, he can be tricky and plays fast.

I have KcKs on the button. UTG limps in, I raise and BB calls. Now UTG limp-reraises. To me this doesnt necesarrily mean a big pair, he seems to me a player who uses a lot of deception in his game. For instance I saw him open-limp on the button with Ax. Or limp-reraise with suited connectors.

I cap and both call.

Flop comes Qc 2c 5h

BB leads, UTG calls, I call.

Turn Jd.

Now BB checks, UTG bets, I raise, BB coldcalls (oh wonder what he has), UTG calls.

River Qd. It's checked to me, I bet and only UTG calls.

Comments?

Regards

[Jason Pohl]

Ikke, I like everything. My initial reaction was that the river value bet was unnecessary, but after consideration, I put UTG with a jack or smaller pocket pair and the BB with a flush draw. I'd say that over 50% of the time your opponent calls, you'll win the pot.

Most opponents would not check a queen on the river here, but if they do, they will checkraise. Then there might be the rare bluff checkraise, although I doubt it.

So, it seems you have a profitable bet on the end. Waiting to the turn for the raise also makes sense, due to the size of the pot and texture of the board. Raising would add some money to the pot but in a situation with reverse implied odds. Waiting to raise on the turn likely adds more money overall if a blank hits, and can cost less when a scare card hits.

So, good play.

--Jason

[karlson]

I think I would have raised the flop. More often than not, you will get three-bet, and then be able to raise the turn anyway (I think you have a big enough hand to justify this).

[Ikke]

With already 12 SB being in preflop, I think your focus should shift to increasing your chances of winning the pot, rather than extract the maximum amount of bets. My hand is still very vulnerable to draws.

When BB leads out on the flop it typically means a flushdraw IMO. I have vitually an autobet on the flop when checked to, so why would he, if he wants to protect his hand, bet out instead of check-raising. A logical explanation can be that he's not protecting his hand, but trying to create volume, so he's likely on a flushdraw. If I raise now on the flop it's not going to get anyone out and I dont think chances are high it gets 3-bet. The flushdraw probably wouldnt and will most likely check the turn as well.

If a flushcard comes on the turn I would not raise and therefore save a SB. If not I will raise the turn and charge the draw max when the odds are the least favourable. Furthermore I had a good hope that if BB checked, UTG would bet the turn. He's a thinking players and also knows what's happening. So he will frequently bet a mediocre hand here, because in this big pot you need to do everything to protect your hand.

Regards

[Ikke]

IMO this is a clear value bet on the river.

The pot became so big that I have to call a riverbet with a lot of hands. Furthermore it's generally expected that with a lot of hands that have showdown value but are only reasonably strong I will check behind with this a scare card hitting. So IMO my opponent is very likely to just bet out if he has a queen, collecting his bet virtually everytime whereas a check-raise often means a lost bet.

And, ofcourse, he also has to call with a lot of hands due to the potsize.

Regards