Stop and Go defense

[iceman5]

Ive never really used the stop and go play, but when I see someone do it , they normally have a marginally good hand and want to test the other guy. What do you think about this stop and go defense?

$2/$4NL. Hero is playing pretty LAGgy (for me anyway). Im raising alot. Villain in this hand is calling almost all of my raises. He cant have a good hand every time, but hes probably thinking the same about me.

2 hands before this one, I raised to 16 with AdKd. Villian called but then the BB went all in for $110. I pushed, villain folded and I beat the BBs 88.

On to the hand. I start with $510. Villian has $700
I raise to $16 from the button with KJ. Both blinds call.

Pot is $48. The flop comes 992 rainbow. They both check and I bet $35. Only SB calls. Hes the villian I described earlier.

Pot is $118. The turn is an 8, putting 2 hearts out there. He leads for $60. I dont see that many stop and gos in this game, but like i said, it feels like a probe bet to see if Im serious. I raise to $200.

Like? Hate?

[Sadat X]

His line looks a lot like trips, check-call the flop then bet out a low card that puts two to a flush out there. I don't know what else he could have (88 maybe?), but a bluff is certainly a possibilty here, given the way you described your opponent.

I would certainly favor raising the flop if he bet into you there, but the stop-n-go from him on the turn makes me give him much more respect.

[Leptyne]

It looks sound to me. Looks like you've put villain where he has all the pressure to make a correct decision. This also looks like the kind of blocking bet where villain wants to get a cheap look at the river. Now I think he has to push or fold. Reminds me of a lesson I took from the archives to study how good players use position to their advantage.

[pokerjoker]

Looks like trips to me. What does villan have that he would want to see the river for cheap? If he is calling your raises why are u trying to bluff a calling station even if he doesnt have trips? I doubt I would even c-bet here given your read.

[iceman5]

[ QUOTE ]
Looks like trips to me. What does villan have that he would want to see the river for cheap? If he is calling your raises why are u trying to bluff a calling station even if he doesnt have trips? I doubt I would even c-bet here given your read.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didnt say he was a calling station. I said he was calling most of my preflop raises. There hadnt been a hand yet where both of us went past the flop.

[matt holland]

I'd definitely be interested to see some more discussion on this hand. I think your read on the stop and go is right.

Any read on villain besides him calling lots of your raises? Even though he has been calling a lot you must respect him enough to think he isn’t making the standard calling station play and actually has a 9.

I think it also depends if he has been folding/check folding to your continuation bets or if he has been firing out/firing back at you. Don't want to make the mistake of convincing yourself a guy is making a move on you and play a big pot when the guy was going to check fold to you continually anyway.

That being said, I think your read is right and he probably has 55-77. Giving this hand up for 60 looks pretty weak and is tough when you feel he is weak. BUT, wouldn't a call (planning to bluff the river) look stronger than a raise here. What hands would you raise here if you believed he had the 9 he's representing? A9? 88? Also, I just saw a hand hasn't been shown down between you two, but I'm interested how he’d treat a blank river if you just called him. If he checks the river I'd bet 1/2 pot, if I hit a K or J I'd check behind. The problem with the whole play for me is to bluff raise the river I would have to know the player, but in this case I think you can fold to a river bet.

I have never responded to a strategy post, if this is bad advice, feel free to tell me.

[flawless_victory]

nice hand iceman. take it.

[ObnxNole]

A decent player is likely do do this with 1010 or better.

[cero_z]

Hi OB,

[ QUOTE ]
A decent player is likely do do this with 1010 or better.

[/ QUOTE ]

As long as they're trying to lose the max with it (meaning TT+ but not as good as trips), sure.

[iceman5]

Villain folded.