20/40 hand

[Ikke]

It's 4-handed 20/40 with 2 weak spots and 1 mediocre player. Good game.

It's folded to the SB who raises. SB is will raise here almost always (havent seen him fold here yet, and he has shown down some trash). Also, he overplays his hands and will bluf frequently. When bluffing he has poor judgement. For instance, once I was HU with him and he bet flop and checked turn and river on a TT22 x flop. (I checked the turn behind). I bet my ace on the river and he check-raises. I call and he shows QJ. The way he played that hand he just couldnt have anything (judging from previous ways) so no way this bluf could succeed against anything that he could beat.

He also seems to be tilting a bit (although I'm not sure....could be his normal play as well :-)

OK....the hand.

He raises in SB and I 3-bet with 99. He caps it and we see the flop:

6 3 3 r

He bets, I raise, he 3-bets and I just call.

Turn is a T putting 2 hearts on the board.

He bets, I raise, he 3-bets and I call.

River is an innocent 4c

He checks (?) and I decide to bet.

Comments welcome.

Regards

[sam h]

Ikke,

Preflop is automatic.

I think I like capping the flop here. If he has overcards you are getting more money in as a favorite and it sends a message. Then if the turn doesn't come a high card and he still bets out or if you get checkraised you can reevaluate (although I would never fold against this opponent). The problem with smoothcalling the flop is that you get three bet on the turn and still don't really know where you are. I guess capping the flop is kind of a hedge, maybe too timid, but my default play.

I would have a hard time not value betting the river, although it is close because you have to pay off a checkraise if it comes.

[Ikke]

Thought about capping the flop, but I'm not sure if that play if preferable.

Preflop his raise doesnt mean anything, but his cap does, although not that much. I think you can narrow his hands down from AA to any two picture cards and even hands like JT, 98s etc. I've seen him cap with that. So not too much info, only that a 3 has become more unlikely.

The important part of this hand is the combined flop and turn play and even how this again influenced the river decision. I think this hand shows perfectly how each street can be closely related.

Raising his first bet seemed automatic; he seemed to be geared up to play it hard. But then.....cap or call?

His flop 3-bet does tell something. IMO the likelyhood of hands like QJ, 98 and the like have gone way done, and I think I'm mainly looking at any pocket pair, A high, a six, and a slim chance on 54. I don't think he has a 3 or 66. Given that he previously lost some big pots to me, it seemed that he would rather try to trap me with that. I had the feeling that he was tilting against me, which often goes hand in hand with trickier play.

Now capping will get all these hands to call. If I just call he will almost certainly bet the turn no matter what. If I cap here he would check the turn a lot of the times, and there's a good chance I would get check-raised here IMO.

Look how this influence my turn play. If a low card comes I think I can make a fairly save raise IMO. But what if a real scare card comes like an A?

As you've seen, a lot of hands I put him on contain an A (or other high card) and those which doesnt have very little outs against me or have me beat (lower/higher pocket pairs). Since capping the flop often prompts checking on the turn I will have to make a decision whether to bet or not. Given my read checking the turn seems preferable in that case. But what if I had just called the flop?

In that case he would lead the turn which makes IMO my decision a lot easier. I raise on any card, but true scare cards. In that case I just call down. Now following that scenario I would lose 1 SB more by calling the flop if he has me beat, but in most of the cases I extract one SB more, and maybe even more (because if he 3-bets on a low card on the turn I still think there's a good chance I'm ahead (I even think he would more likely slowplay AA-QQ, but not sure 'bout that).

So in a way calling the flop gives some protection (you can easily play it in a way that you almost certainly make a correct play (in a probabilistic manner)) and chances of maximizing your winnings go up.

When he checks on the river I think he was pushing AK-J, maybe hearts or a small pocket pair. He will pay of with all of those. If he check-raises I have to pay off. And if he wins after check-raising he simply outplayed me on the river.

Results:

I bet and got called. And (Mason Malmuth impersonate)......my hand was good.

Hand history shows AKo

Regards

[Ginogino]

Ikke:
Nice hand, and well thought! When it comes to the river bet, it seems to me that because you will call a check-raise (which means you'll be in at the end no matter what), then you can approach the decision to check or bet the river as an independent bet. You aren't facing the possibility of folding if check-raised (which would make you lean toward checking behind).

Gino