MrNiceGuy

Nobody does this with a set or a straight (unless they misread the board). A complete maniac could do so with a hopeless hand as a bluff, but I think less than 1/12 villains fit that description.IPITS v. an unkown. If villain is believed to be a decent player, though, then I don't raise the river.

I think you should follow up with a river bluff. CO posted preflop, so he really could have started with just about any two. I think there's probably about a 20-25% chance that CO has J9 or QJ (as opposed to a T or an 8), and bluffing is the best play as long as there's more than a 10% chance that CO will fold.I'm not completely sold on the flop check/raise though; it has a small amount of value if everyone calls, but it is terrible if BB 3-bets and the others fold.

I think the turn raise is bad, and I'm pretty sure the turn cap is bad. Since he can be probably 99% sure that AA is good, and since if he has QQ or worse, he should strongly fear you having AA/KK, I think you're basically in a win one/lose two scenario every time you reopen the betting here (since he's almost never 3-betting with a worse hand, and he's always 3-betting with a better hand).After he caps from the SB preflop after all that EP aggression, I'm weighting his range heavily toward AA/KK/QQ. I like the flop raise, as we can expect worse overpairs to 3-bet to knock out UTG, but after

If he has two overs, he'll have a gutshot, and he's not going to fold the flop (and he'd actually only be a very slim underdog, as he'd have 13 outs twice, but he wouldn't know that).

A quick question; why are we betting on this flop? I'm not necessarily saying it's wrong, but I' m wondering if checking behind might be better.

I can't put him on anything that makes sense, but I can't see him cold-calling preflop, raising this river, and calling a 3-bet with anything that you can beat, so I would just call without a specific read suggesting otherwise.

I still raise on the button unless the SB was an extremely loose player, because I want to play heads-up (where the A3o is a 55-45 favorite against a random hand). Although you make a good point; against a BB who will virtually never fold, particularly in a 1/3 SB structure, it may be wise to open-limp these types of hands even on the button, as long as it doesn't become easily readable; I'm not sure though. If both blinds are very loose players, I'm not even sure if the hand is worth playing at all....

Sorry, I mispoke in my original reply (now fixed); meant to say that opponents will probably never fold a better hand than yours after the flop (unless you catch an A, then they might). In other words, your preflop raise probably does not set you up for a successful bluff later in the hand. I think that depends on how much extra equity you can expect to gain based on your position, given your hand and the nature of your opponents. Generally speaking, I believe position does two things for you: (1) allows you to win more when you make the best hand and lose less when you don't, and (2) incr

I really disagree with the preflop raise in a game as described. You are unlikely to get heads-up (as BB is likely to defend with trash), and you already have the button. Also, you are unlikely to get anyone to fold a better hand than yours after the flop. And you probably are getting little if any immediate value on the raise. So, I think you give your opponents a reasonable picture of your hand (they will probably figure there's a good chance you have an A) without much benefit to yourself. I strongly prefer a call preflop, given the nature of the table. It will let you get away cheap

I dunno... I know it seems passive, but I like a simple calldown after he check-raises the flop (unless an A or a Q hits).When he check-raises the flop, he either has a K, a Q, or a very weak hand with at most 4 outs. He's aggressive, so if he has the weak hand I'd like to just call and give him a chance to keep betting (particularly since if we 3-bet, he'll likely just fold any underpair).When he has a hand, he has a K roughly 60% of the time and a Q roughly 40%. But if we raise, it's likely a win one/lose two scenario. So I don't think the odds are there for a raise even when he has a leg

Certainly my standard play would be to lead the flop. But, if your read suggest that villain is likely to bet with nothing if checked to, then I don't mind checking the flop (with the intention of check/raising).On the turn, if I was against the type of opponent I'd check the flop against, I'd probably check again. I don't like the turn check/raise, though. Villain's not folding a ten or better, and he's not calling otherwise (unless he has a flush draw). If villain has something else, he likely has no more than 4-5 outs. The pot is small, so it's not a disaster if he spikes a free card,

IPITS v. an unknown.If villain has anything worse than KK, he's brutally overplaying his hand, IMO, as you are very strongly repping an overpair (meaning if he has QQ, he should consider himself a 2-1 underdog at best, and has no business raising).With AA I would 3-bet against an unknown, although I wouldn't consider it a particularly easy 3-bet.

My line is to check behind on the turn.SB, a relatively tight player, called 2-cold on the flop. At that point, I'm putting him on (most likely) either a flush draw or a slowplay with KT (or maybe AQ, AJ). He could also have JT. I suppose it's possible he has AT, and maybe it's possible he has a worse A.So, when the flush card hits, I'm guessing we are way, way behind his range. I check behind, and I probably call any non-heart river UI and expect to lose (hoping to pick off a bluff from JT or a mistaken value-bet from A-high).

If you're not going to bet this river, then you should've taken the free card on the turn, IMO. (Unless you have a very specific read that villain will often call on the flop and fold the turn, but will almost always go to showdown if he calls the turn.)I'm betting the turn and the river against anyone who is capable of folding A-high.

Against a tight villain, I think our TPTK is very weak when this river card hits. What are we beating that he calls with? If he makes loose calldowns, JJ, and maybe TT or 99. If he's overaggressive preflop, maybe KJ or KT. Otherwise, there's nothing we can beat, and he certainly won't fold a better hand.My lines are:Against a tight-aggressive villain: check/call or check/fold (check/fold only if he wouldn't have 3-bet KJ preflop, doesn't make silly river bets, and would have raised earlier with AK; otherwise check/call).Against a tight-passive villain: check/call or check/fold (check/call

My thoughts on the brawl (disclaimer: I bleed blue and gold):The contact itself was a legal hit, although it was a vicious head shot. The timing was questionable.Stafford's reaction was, of course, immediate and appropriate. Somebody had to take on Neil right then and there.Now, everyone is saying that, after Murray sent out Spezza's line, Ruff "responded" by sending out his toughest fighters. Technically, this is correct, as Buffalo had the last change and could match lines. But let's face it, after one of Buffalo's top two players gets knocked out of the game by an especially vicious,

QFT.Also- If villain has a hand like A9 or KJ, he may fold to a turn c/r, whereas he may have called down had we just 3-bet the flop.And, if villain makes 2-pair on the turn, he will raise again on our turn bet, but he probably wouldn't 3-bet if we c/r.Finally, if we just c/c the flop, and a spade comes on the turn, we're in an awkward spot (probably we just have to donkbet out, meaning we missed a bet on the flop).

Fold the flop. Seriously.Assuming at least one of your opponents has at least an A, the best case scenario is that you're up against Ax and 8x, in which case you have exactly 30% equity (less than 1/3). If both have an A, or if one has an A and the other a flush draw, you have less than 25%. The pot is small, two opponents seem to like their hands, and the flop could get jammed. Plus, you're not in good position to get action if you hit the flush (unless you're beat). Just get out.I'm not sure why you're putting CO on a flush draw, why would he iso-raise on that board? I'd figure they bo

I've never played on AP, but if I think I'm likely to be getting into a crazy blind battle, I'm not building a big pot preflop with 53 unless I believe my opponent folds too much.I contend that if we're not expecting villain to almost always fold a middle or low pocket pair to a flop bet or c/r, then we should not bother semibluffing on the flop at all. He's simply not that likely to hold a pocket pair. There are 42 ways he could hold 99-22. In comparison, there are 132 ways he could have started with an unpaired A. And while he wouldn't necessarily 3-bet preflop with any A, anything else

Ugh- I think the river c/r is the only part of the hand I like.Preflop- Raise is good if and only if opponent tends to fold too much (either preflop or postflop). Otherwise limp. I think we have to play this in a 2/3 structure (in a 1/2 structure, if the BB were a really tough player, I'd fold (but I'd also be looking to change seats)).Flop- I can see a bet or a c/r to try to force him off a middle pair, but once he raises our bet I think he's stating pretty clearly that he has at least an A. At this point, I'm going into plain old chase mode.Turn- The only reason to 3-bet the flop is if we

Checky,Usually I agree with you, but not here- I like a check on this flop. We have 5 outs to the nuts (T's and backdoor flush) and probably roughly 3 overcard outs. If everyone calls, there's maybe a smidgeon of value in betting. If we get check-raised and wind up heads-up, it's a disaster.Obviously, it's good if everyone folds, but that's extremely unlikely on a flop like this. And there's not much we can do to "clean up outs" with a flop bet; nobody's folding AT or KJ for one bet here. I say take a free card and allow ourselves to get out cheap if the turn is no help.------------------

I'd consider just calling the flop 3-bet and then leading out on the safe turn. But otherwise I'd play it the same. MP's play could mean a set or a slowplayed AA-QQ, but it could also mean JJ-88, or even something like 55 or worse, and the pot is getting pretty huge by the turn, so I can't really consider folding the overpair.I'd check-call one bet on the river.

After the flop, without a read on CO, I'd play it the same. A lot of players who will cap the flop with a flush draw won't take the free card on the turn anyway.I'm not wild about playing AQo in MP against an EP raiser though; I'd fold without a read (although having the poster in there does somewhat improve your pot odds for playing).

Our equity is our chances, based on our opponents' ranges of possible hands, of winning the pot at showdown; the only way raising preflop increases our equity is if it gets other players to fold. It is true that our EV (expected value for the hand) should be larger than our equity due to our position (provided we play at least as well as our opponents). But, this is true whether or not we raise preflop. Still, raising preflop may cost us money if the flop hits us, since our opponents will have some idea that our hand is strong.And, if we are more likely to fold marginal hands after the flo

This is not such an easy raise IMO.(I used to always raise in these spots. Now I almost always limp.)Suppose the big blind will call, and we'll have about 25% equity in the 5-handed pot. That means the immediate value of a raise is 1/4 SB (and that assumes we never get reraised). In a 2/4 game, that's $0.50 (that might even be negated by increased rake due to increased pot size).Of course, most profit in poker comes from repeatedly making correct decisions which, individually, each only produce a small profit. Also, raising with modest hands can, to some degree, generate more action in fut