Daily Hand Quiz

Min 3-bet pre? Really?
I don’t understand our line. Pre-flop we could get more value by raising more than we did, on the flop we could get more value by raising less than we did.
But here we are and we can assume villain flopped something nice, but we have the stone cold nuts. He could have
- OESD with QJ
- FD with AsKs (would often see a 4-bet pre though)
- A set
- JJ, QQ, AA

Since the turn bricked, I opt to act as if our flop bet was just an oversized c-bet. It may not be too late to disguise our hand.
Check, hope he bets and if he does, go in the tank and eventually call. Blocker bet the river, hope he shoves.
IMO this is the best way to maximize the chance we get his entire stack in.

Happy New Year everybody!

[Reply]

T Reply:
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:47 am

98 also gives an OESD of course.

[Reply]

John Kugelman Reply:
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:49 am

I agree with all of this. 3-bet more pre, flop bet smaller, check now.

I’m majorly impressed that the hero actually c-bet. The hero in these quizzes doesn’t tend to do that a whole lot. It’s a nice change of pace.

[Reply]

John Kugelman Reply:
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:40 pm

Relevant quote from a 2+2 Magazine article, Betting for Protection:

“Early in their no-limit hold ‘em careers, many players are overly concerned with protecting their hands. Novice players with top pair commonly obsess over the possibility of a flush draw and often become so single-minded about “charging the draw” that they fail to get value from second-best hands and/or to protect the remainder of their stacks from sets and the like.”

Full article: http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/issue73/andrew-brokos-betting-protection.php

[Reply]

Major Dude Reply:
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:43 am

I think T’s line makes this hand too complicated. Villain’s play so far has been loose/passive, and we should keep exploiting that. Bet the turn. At least 650, maybe 1000. Whatever made him call the flop should make him call the turn. (77, TT, KT, KQ and QJ are at the center of my range for him.)

If we slow down now, and he does, too, then it’s hard to get all his chips on the river.

[Reply]

I appreciate T’s devious thinking, but what is wrong with just betting out. Say 1000-1500.

If we check we give OESD a free card, if he whiffs the river, we may not get any more money. It also allows medium strength hands AA, QQ, JJ to get to showdown cheaply. With middle or bottom set he may even check to slow-play us.

If we bet, he may very well pay of with draws, look us up with medium strength hands and shove with sets.

Too be honest, this is based on gut feeling, I would not know how to make an educated decision.

[Reply]

I’d probably bet about the same 650 on this turn. If he has anything at all (draws included) he will have to call. I just don’t see him folding here unless he’s got absolutely nothing, which given the betting so far isn’t true. Can’t bet too big here or he may go away if he ONLY has a draw.

[Reply]

I don’t hate checking to induce a bet behind, but this early and without a read on our opponent I think I’ll bet around 800. Ideally, I’d like V to re-pop it but I think most of his range is likely to flat.
I’m not too concerned about a FD (he called the c-bet on a rainbow flop), but there are definitely a lot of straight possibilities that could show up here. Busted draws aren’t going to pay us off on the river and made draws are going to burn us on the river, so we need to charge for the privelage of seeing the river.

[Reply]

Bet and take advantage of our “active” post-flop image. No read on the V so let’s take aim on the entire stack. $1500 now, with $2100 on the river offering 3.5-1 odds.

[Reply]

have to bet. we have active image and he’s been calling. this is exactly what good poker is, recognizing your image, and seeing how an opp is reacting to it…making decisions based on that. we are at the absolute highest end of our perceived range. villain is not given us credit for the hand we have. villain has something good enough to be calling to this point. continue to extract.

[Reply]

This is a really good quiz. There is sound logic behind both checking and betting. I like the idea of repping a scared JJ/QQ and checking to induce a bet. However, the only read we have on villain is that he’s called us down so far in this hand, so I would bet again here.

I’d put out 850. I think a big bet will fold out too much of villain’s range – this still gives him a tempting price to draw.

The next big question is what we do on the river. Do we value bet or give a missed draw a chance to bluff? And if we bet, how much? I think I’d value bet about a third of the pot.

[Reply]

I check weak, with the intention of reraising, checking seems like you missed the flop and were continuation betting,

[Reply]

Villain calling our strong lead on the flop on that dry board. he’s got something and maybe OESD we need to extract more chips. The turn card changes nothing so if we fire again most of the time villain will call.

Bet 900 and hopefully he have K10

[Reply]