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Continued1
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Villain claims he's "sLAA," (by the way, never good to be at a table full of people using PT acronyms, i think) so he could be taking one off with a wide range of hands. ****Some hands we're not too concerned with that villain may think are stronger on the flop: KQ, KT, A9, A4, 87 pretyt unlikely any of those check call that big a bet, but KQ may think overs are live and KT may think king is live, A9 or A4 may think you'll shut down with anything that cant beat tp. fine. it would take a real fish to check call 78 there but while establishing equities against always nice considering those types of hands. others which have considerable more equity
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SB bets $67.35 (All-In), BB calls $67.35, Hero folds.
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standard
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Continued3
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In addition, by checking here, hands which WOULDNT call a bet, but are live (even the KQ example) have an "equity share" of the pot. The pot is 120 or so now, why give up 10% to a 4 outer? thats 3bbs. I dont know about you, but i want whats mine. if T8 folds to a bet, its still better to bet then give up 8 outs, or roughly 20%, or 20 dollars (5 bbs). The reason it's more a bet here then if the board was rainbow, also, is a bulk of the hands which can call a flop bet are still "drawing," whereas on a rainbow board (dry board) it's more likely you're being trapped. hand protection is less important then stack commitedness. betting pot on a drawless board then getting bounced in is likely a fold, but the first mistake was the bet. ANYWAY, there are boards to control the pot size, and then there are situations where whether you'll be c/r or not doesnt matter, you need to worr yabout the initial bet.
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Continued4
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FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, once you get c/r, it's time to reevaluate the situation, player, and odds. 5handed vs this type esp. when top pair and underpairs/overpairs have just 5% equity and 99 is now so unliekly it's very often a call. sometimes do you lose to J9 or 44? sure, but it's deifnately a profitable call especially dead money in the pot. also, i would probably fire a 2nd barrel herre with AK, obviously folding to a c/r though. if my opponent would reraise (especially image) QQ+ i would bet/call with AJ, too. sometimes do I get trapped? sure. do i catch people with 2outers? most of the time, yes. this was a little long, but the principle behind pot control is more often the "if this pot gets real big, i just cant see how i can win unless im playing poker with forrest gump," but this board given so many draws -> and subsequent hand protection (and opponent perhaps viewing THEIR move as hand protection) its bet bet bet. What draws? There's a flush draw, that's about it, unless this guy is calling raises with QT or T8. The fact that the board paired means anyone with a J only has two outs, so you don't even have to worry about some sort of two pair on the river. On top of that, this guy is lag and views you as lag. He'll bet the river often with missed draws to get you to fold A high, and he might also make a big move on this turn with or without a 9. I'll give my views on this since I usually advocate a turn check.
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Continued2
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What we know is we raised preflop, he called, one other guy called. We potted a draw heavy board when checked to us, and villain called. ~abstrating a read, like villain always leads with sets, or always checkraises top pair, or whatnot, it's very tough to eliminate hands~ we can eliminate hands like A5 or things like that which have no business being in the hand. But really, alot of hands which WILL call a bet, like flush draw, straight draw, or both, make them make a mistake. beauty of 5handed play is you set up opponents like this from when yo usit down (or maybe im the only one) I dont set up raising alot p f in order to win a flop bet and hopefully a river bet out of a busted QT or overplayed KJ. I bet and make them move on a draw or a weaker pair (or oddly played KK, for example) or calldown w/ 2 outs (like QJ) or w/ 8 to 15 or so. Alot of potential hands, few of which are beating you, will call a bet, and they will be making a mistake. Rather then let them make the mistake on the river, where your potential ear nis lower, make them make the mistake now.
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Continued5
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on this turn I would bet and I would likely call any reraise. If villain is thinking player, there is no way he does not lead with a set on the flop. there is no indication that I would continuation bet in to 3 way pot on that board and he would hate to have BB hit the draw for free. once the 9 hits, he tries to check raise us with a boat? gives us bad odds even if we have something like AKs? true I get broke to a 9 here but thats the only hand I get broke to. now I do understand what wtfsvi is saying. he is saying that there is a wide variety of hands that sb is leading the river with. and I agree with him that if villain won't call the turn bet with a draw or a lone J, then I think check behind is not bad. yes I give a free shot for him to outdraw me but the thing is the times he doesn't outdraw me, hes bluffing or blocking the river 100% of the time, thus it makes sense for me to check behind if this assumption is true. Assume no reads on villain
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Hero checks, MP bets $50
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fold. Most 1/2 players would check behind any hand you beat, or make some sort of preposterous twelve-dollar bet. I think this is perfect.
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Argument against pushing
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i'll go ahead and pull this back to the front page because pushing here sucks a lot. The problem though is that your hand NEEDS to see both remaining cards. If you just call here and he blasts the turn you find yourself in a tough spot and often have to fold. Regular flush draws and straight draws and boat draws and what have you need to see both cards, too. If you miss, and they bomb the turn, you may have to fold. Welcome to draws. If you push the flop, your EV if you always get called was already posted: you are like a 4% favorite, and you make a few bb. If you call and play poker on the turn, you stand to make far more than a few bb. Without pulling out EV calcs because they are overated, use the following logic: Suppose hero has Ac2c. Are you really folding the flop? You obviously shouldn't, because your implied odds vs someone with a premium defined hand are very large. Are you folding to his turn bet, assuming he doesn't pot it? I hope not. Again, implied odds. So, why the heck would you fold a SF draw on the turn UI? Put another way: We can either take a 4% edge, with all the money in, or we can call him down, and save ourselves a PSB on the river when we miss, and get that last bet in when we hit. Clearly, the latter is better. Pushing this hand with 0 FE is a waste of a perfectly good SF draw. Don't play poker - go flip coins.
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Button ($83.70) SB ($113.85) Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Ac, Kc. 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $3.5, Hero calls $3.50, 3 folds, SB calls $3, BB calls $2.50. Flop: ($14) Kd, As, 7s (4 players) SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 bets $10, Hero raises to $25, SB raises to
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Also, I usually don't call preflop but I felt like it this time. Don't hate, now I realize we're too short for me to call. Do you honestly think SB is c/r'ing the preflop raiser who was followed by a raise with just a draw? That's two people showing a lot of strength on a board with an ace and king. Most people just assume any preflop raise has AK, and then this guy shows no fear of the bet and raise. I just don't see anyone doing this with a FD. I think at least one of them has a set the vast majority of time.
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Arguments on the other side
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To those saying fold (which is pretty much every1)...here's a question for you. Lets say you change AA to 22, tehn what do you do? n excellent question. However, a few things change with this assumption. - First, the odds that villain has a set just fell by 33%: it's now impossible for him to have 22. - Second, villain's chance of having AA just increased by 500%. Instead of one way to have AA, he's now got six of 'em. - Third, against a two-pair hand (unlikely, I agree) we're now way ahead instead of way behind. I can see villain going to the mat with AA much more easily than with KK, here. By increasing the chance of AA by 500% and decreasing the chance of a set by 33%, I think it swings the situation to a call. Note that I didn't call AA an "easy fold," and I'm not calling 22 an "easy call," here. I think we're skating around a fairly EV-neutral position, but I think AA is on the -EV side and 22 is on the +EV side. Folding here is just lol. He's short, the board is totally innocuous, you have AA. wtf. You sure as hell shouldn't be raising the flop if you're folding this.
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Hero ($218.60) BB ($294.40) UTG ($189.25) MP ($185) CO ($240.33) Button ($49.40) Preflop: Hero is SB with As, Js. Hero posts a blind of $1. 1 fold, MP raises to $8, CO calls $8, 1 fold, Hero (poster) calls $7, 1 fold. Flop: ($26) 4d, 2s, Ac (3 players) H
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fold. Most 1/2 players would check behind any hand you beat, or make some sort of preposterous twelve-dollar bet. I think this is perfect.
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CO ($174.85) Button ($218.40) SB ($130.35) BB ($282.95) UTG ($210.45) Hero ($502.40) Preflop: Hero is MP with Ah, Ac. UTG calls $2, Hero raises to $9, 2 folds, SB calls $8, BB calls $7, UTG calls $7. Flop: ($36) 2s, 4d, 7c (4 players) SB checks, BB check
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Flop raise is smallish bc I didn't see alot of draws. Interesting bc a larger one more or less commits me to a call. Comments appreciated on that too would be appreciated.
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Arguments for raising the flop
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Raise the flop to 15. If he calls he's likely checking the turn to you, in which case I'd likely check behind. If he checks the river then value bet. Standard. I believe part of hodelm isn't only geting weaker hands to bet into you, but also trying to induce money to get into the middle when you have the best hand. If he folds then so be it, but you're also begating the possibility of an opponent out drawing you. Also, if you plan to take the line you took, then you have to be prepared to call most river bets because you've shown no strength an really have very little idea where you stand. It's just a guessing game at that point, and how many cards and what's the size of the bet that is going to make you fold the most? I'm not a big fan of making large pots with big slick, so that's my two cents.
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4) 99 5) 76s 6) J8o 7) 73o
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1) Raise or complete (opponent dependent) 2) Fold 3) Fold/complete 4) Raise 5) Complete 6) Fold 7) Fold
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Villain in this hand is a decent player but over-aggro particularly preflop. Can be tricky postflop. Something of a calling station I think but I have seen him make some tough laydowns also. Should I have bet the flop? If he bet, should I have check/rais
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given you limp/called pf (actually, thats standard for me, i dont like raising JTs, its one of hte few connectors i truly believe plays better as a caller in a raised pot...) betting the flop with the intention of 3betting all in is standard. checking is ok, were yoi planning on raising or calling? i like checkcalling more then raising given stacks. lead the turn, if the PFR is a real donk who raises pf w/ AK then checks htis board, you can call a raise profitably, but obviously he's not folding it. if he's meekish and checks with AQ, AJ, QJ, etc (any raising hands) QQ, JJ, who knows, he's folding them for your bet. so it's a good spot to semibluff. what it breaks down into is if you bet you can call a raise from a big hand he could have, but most of the time he's given up and this is your pot, so take it because jack high probably isn't good vs a PFR.
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I have been playing slightly laggy, nothing really crazy, but quite a bit of openraising. I reraised villains button raise from BB, he folded and remarked that he didn't like having another sLAA at the table. So apparently he considers himself SLAA, but
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thought about checking behind, and I do it a lot. All the draws convinced me to bet. In my mind it's pretty close, no? it breaks down like this. This is a moderate to heavy drawing flop. there are alot of possibilities for villain to take one off
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Hero ($288.15) UTG+1 ($75.30) MP1 ($268.80) MP2 ($238.05) CO ($195) Button ($75.30) SB ($169.55) BB ($183.40) Preflop: Hero is UTG with Qs, Qc. Hero raises to $8, 1 fold, MP1 calls $8, 5 folds. Flop: ($19) Qd, Js, 8d (2 players) Hero bets $20, MP1 calls
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Bet the turn. Though, c/c turn, block river isn't awful I guess.
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Villian with stats of 30/2.2/7 over 170 hands so seems like his raise is screaming AK QQ KK AA especially UTG. Calling here seems the right answer as villian's overbet is showing that he has a strong hand and is not willing to fold it. Therefore there is
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I have often thought about this. The problem though is that your hand NEEDS to see both remaining cards. If you just call here and he blasts the turn you find yourself in a tough spot and often have to fold. Also, theres no such thing as zero fold equity. If he has AK here I think he might be capable of laying it down. QQ is an easy laydown for him and the rest he is calling with. I'd rather take down the pot here or make sure that I see all remaining cards. A) Reread fimbulwinters post on making an all in raise. We seriously need like less than 10% for him to fold. There is FE. Even with a draw like this (correct if I'm wrong here) you don't need FE. Your pot equity is very high here. Push b/c you have any odds you might need with that monster draw, and he might not pay off as much if a club hits. And you might get him to lay down a scared JJ or QQ. Remote, but possible.
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Check/fold line with mp on the flop
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The merits of this line are obvious. It's not -EV, as maybe some of the other lines might be (its clearly 0 EV). You are OOP with a very marginal hand. Therefore, c/f certainly cant be terrible. The problem of cource is that if you keep doing this, you will be folding to cbets left right and centre and folding the best hand pretty often. This will no doubt be making your preflop call pretty damn -EV.
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Button ($95.40) Hero ($206.30) BB ($133.90) UTG ($157.10) MP ($110.90) CO ($108.40) Preflop: Hero is SB with Kd, Qd. UTG raises to $8, 3 folds, Hero calls $7, 1 fold. Flop: ($18) 5s, Kh, 8d (2 players) Hero checks, UTG bets $10, Hero calls $10. Turn: ($3
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meh, I don't like C/R here. I just really feel he's going to check behing real often. KQ and all underpairs check behind. As do AQ and AT or any other ace he double barrelled with. Maybe even some 2pairs check behind, like KJ and the like. I think he's very rarely going to bluff on this river, given how the hand has played out. If he doesn't have the ace, it's most likely a scare card for him, as you could've just made aces up. or the flush. As a result, I like leading this river. I really don't like 30-40 one bit. I think he just calls that bet with far too many hands. I much prefer making a healthier bet. Not sure if I prefer 60 or a push though
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Bet/Fold line with mp on the flop
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This line is simple and no nonsence. You have a hand that might be good, you don't want to get outdrawn, so you bet it. If you get raised, its pretty obvoius you're behind, so you fold it. The other really nice thing about this line, is that it balances out the times where you lead a flop with a flopped set. The drawbacks from this line is that 1) you might get bluff raised, as in general, leading looks weak. 2) you might get floated and you will be c/f all the turns where you don't improve and 3) you get no cbet.
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combo draws and good hands on the flop- Stack Sizes (in relation to the pot)
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: This is really important. There’s nothing worse than C/R a board with a combo draw, only to get called, have a lot of money behind on the turn, and the turn bricks. You’re aim it normally to get AI on the flop with both a combo draw and a monster, so if unsure, it’s best to take the line that that gets you all in with the most ease. Eg. You have $20 behind and the pot is $10, then a C/R is the best option, as it gives your opponent a chance to cbet/bluff and your C/R will easily be all in. If however you have $95 behind and the pot is $17, then a bet/3bet is better. Lead for $17 and then after even a minraise, you’re 3bet all in, is a PSB. The other reason that stack sizes are important, is to figure out the FE you have on a draw. Obviously, the shorter stacked the opponent is, the less FE you’re going to have
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How to play KK after the flop comes A-x-x, continued
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I'll give my thoughts on this situation. I would normally check this flop as I see it as a WA/WB situation and I do not think that we will get called often enough on this flop when we are WA. A comptent TAG understands that this is a great spot to c-bet and occasionally may call here with a hand like 88 to see what you do on turn. Most of the time, however, I think they are dumping it. All depends on the player. Also, by checking on the flop we pretty much define out hand as a decently large PP that is not AA. With a smaller PP normally people bet this flop to represent the ace and try to win the pot right there while with a hand like TT-KK we have much better showdown value so may check behind more often. Now when the TAG fires the turn it means one of two things: a) He has an ace(or better) and wants to protect his hand from free cards b) He thinks you have a smaller PP and will probably fold it so he may bet here as a bluff with any two cards. Calling here is pretty iffy and I'm not sure if I like it because we probably should be folding for a river bet and I don't much good in calling turn to fold river. Then again we do have position so we can take the free showdown if offered. The next question is what to do if checked again on a blankish turn. I think a bet is necessary here so that we don't voluntarily give villian 2 free cards that he doesn't deserve if he doesn't have ace, rather has some weird mid pair hand instead. Then we will be checked to on the river and be able to take our free showdown 90% of the time. At this point I think that we will get called by a hand like 67 or JT since we checked the flop and decided to wake up on turn which looks really shady....
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Preflop: Hero is UTG with Ah, Ac. SB posts a blind of $2. Hero raises to $15, 2 folds, SB (poster) calls $13, BB calls $11. Flop: ($45) Js, 4d, 9s (3 players) SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $40, SB calls $40, BB folds. Turn: ($125) 9h (2 players) SB che
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thought about checking behind, and I do it a lot. All the draws convinced me to bet. In my mind it's pretty close, no? it breaks down like this. This is a moderate to heavy drawing flop. there are alot of possibilities for villain to take one off
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Pre-flop: (6 players) Pokey is SB with Ah Ks. UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, CO raises to $2, Button folds, Pokey calls, BB calls, UTG+1 calls. My standard, though unusual, play: I don't like raising AK from the blinds. Usually, you build a big pot that you'll
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I go for the check-raise, and the bet comes like a hammer. I call it, knowing that I'm pot-committed to calling any raises, but expecting the hand to wind up heads-up at this point. Why call the huge bet? 1. I have a very strong hand, and there's no way in hell anybody can know that before I called the push. 2. Last-to-act makes a tremendous overbet into a tiny pot -- that doesn't look like the behavior of a 6 to me. I smell a weak ace or a smaller pocket pair. 3. Pushing can't fold out hands that beat me, but might fold out weaker hands that would call (slowplayed KK, AQ, flush draws, something similar). No weaker hand is getting anywhere near correct odds on a call, so I might as well invite them along. My intention is that if I'm called, I'll push any turn..
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UTG ($163.10) MP ($78.83) CO ($98.50) Button ($128.40) Hero ($106.60) Preflop: Hero is SB with Ks, Kc. Hero posts a blind of $0.50. 1 fold, MP calls $1, CO raises to $4, 1 fold, Hero (poster) raises to $12.5, BB calls $12, MP folds, CO calls $9. Flop: ($
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I used to always bet here. My new line is to check and try to get to showdown as cheap as possible. We have a hand with some showdown potential, but don't really want a big pot. I check, call a reasonable sized flop bet (we would have bet this anyway). Then, hope to check/check turn and see a cheap river. i have no idea what the point of a flopbet is id do it with 88 and there's nothing with outs to beat it really
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UTG: $85.80 UTG+1: $38.50 CO: $52.75 Button: $98.75 Pokey: $175.05 BB: $115.50 Pre-flop: (6 players) Pokey is SB with Ah Ks. UTG folds, UTG+1 calls, CO raises to $2, Button folds, Pokey calls, BB calls, UTG+1 calls. My standard, though unusual, play: I d
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I go for the check-raise, and the bet comes like a hammer. I call it, knowing that I'm pot-committed to calling any raises, but expecting the hand to wind up heads-up at this point. Why call the huge bet? 1. I have a very strong hand, and there's no way in hell anybody can know that before I called the push. 2. Last-to-act makes a tremendous overbet into a tiny pot -- that doesn't look like the behavior of a 6 to me. I smell a weak ace or a smaller pocket pair. 3. Pushing can't fold out hands that beat me, but might fold out weaker hands that would call (slowplayed KK, AQ, flush draws, something similar). No weaker hand is getting anywhere near correct odds on a call, so I might as well invite them along. My intention is that if I'm called, I'll push any turn..
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Grunch: $104.20 UTG+1: $103.65 CO: $58.55 Button: $33.55 SB: $99.70 BB: $119.80 Pre-flop: (6 players) Grunch is UTG with Jd Jh Grunch raises to $4, 3 folds, SB calls, BB calls. Flop: 2c 9d 8c ($12, 3 players) SB checks, BB checks, Grunch bets $12, SB rai
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I think villains range is JT AA KK QQ JJ TT 89s nfd 88 99 22 TPGK bluff - thats 13 hands and we beat 5 of them and can be outdrawn by a few We are folding here because -we have no reads - ur hand is not that strong given the action and this board - there is a good chance that we make a FTP mistake on future streets since we don't know what cards we want to see, and the initiative has been taken away from us. - This line is common for a donk with an overpair or set. Call flop raise. If Villain checks turn, don't allow the trap -- check behind and snap off up to 2/3 or less on the river. If Villain leads the turn, you can safely fold. When Villain min-raises, it means several things in my mind at this level: 1) often a set. They simply want to get more money, and they think min-raising will keep you in the hand. 2) sometimes a bluff with a low-card board. It's incredible how many players assume that a raise means AK and they'll challenge you on a board that doesn't connect with AK. 3) OOP, rarely but possibly a draw trying to scare you and get to the river without a turn bet. Without reads, I call and muck to a significant turn bet.
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combo draws and good hands on the flop -The Turn
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One of the biggest problems with a bet/3bet line, is if our opponent doesn’t oblige, and he just flat calls our lead. Here, reads are VERY important. If you think he is the type to just call on the flop with TP, then there’s little point making a big bet on the turn getting him to fold it, as it’s very likely he won’t. It is instead better to bet an amount that prices you in, or maybe just check/call. If however, you think that you’re opponent is floating you on the flop, then it might be best (albeit very high variance) to C/R the turn.
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SB checks, Hero bets $32, SB calls $32. River: ($110) 4d (2 players) SB checks, Hero bets $95
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Didn't want to get c/r on the flop. When he checks turn I'm pretty sure he has something like TT-QQ or maybe AQ. We like? No meaningful read yet.
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Check/call lead turn line with mp on the flop
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This is a line that you see widely avised around here in these marginal OOP situations. And TBH, I advoate it a lot too, b/c I think its a really good line. I also like taking this line with sets on dryish boards and I find that it works really well too, so balance isn't a problem. The line is slightly cheaper than a C/R. It gets a cbet and there might even be some value in the turn bet, as it gets called by overs and maybe even a draw (that might've come on teh turn). It also looks fishy enough that people don't bluff raise it and if you check the river, they usually check behind, so you can actually have showdown value with this line. Also, you give yourself a chance to outdraw your opponent on the turn if indeed you are behind, which c/r flop doesnt do. The drawbacks are that it is more expensive than just leading and that you don't get the protection you get with a C/R. That being said, its still prob the best line for the situation.
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To remind: my friend is a good player. His main game is PLO8 but he is a good holdem player, too. He is aggressive, but pretty tight. He can be tricky, but usually isn't. What do you guys think of my line? And what do you put him on? UTG ($262.80) MP ($8
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i LOVE mixing in checks when i raise preflop. I also raise alot to warrant needing to check behind every so often. Anyway, this isn't really the type of board a check is great. You say his pf hand range (loosely) is a pp or suited connector. fine, great. a check minimizes vs set. but gives a free 2outer, which is fine, but only if he'll give you some action unimproved. Will he? maybe. suited connectors though hit this flop. but you hit it harder. so get some value. Anyway, I bet this, and normally the full pot. Given you mixed it up, I like the turn bet, (although the turn was a potentially disastrous card) and his c/r is weird, as well. I like your thought process
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For someone who has played almost no NL. What is useful specifically about that flop lead?
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Generally in NL, it is much better to be leading the betting OOP instead of check/raising or check/calling. There are various reasons such as 1) Not building big pots OOP w/ marginal hands 2) Not allowing fish to play better by check/raising.. You want to check/raise in spots where you definitely know what to do when you get action (ie you are bluffing or you have a nut type hand) 3) Good way to build pots OOP when you have huge hands and still disguise your hand 4) It's a cheaper form of bluffing, and you force OTHERS to make a big bluff raise into you.
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initial raiser is unknown, bb is a very strange huge stack donk 92/33/1.5. he only miniraises and he hasn't shown down a lot. he's not scared of betting big. BB ($353.87) UTG ($163.10) MP ($78.83) CO ($98.50) Button ($128.40) Hero ($106.60) Preflop: Hero
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I used to always bet here. My new line is to check and try to get to showdown as cheap as possible. We have a hand with some showdown potential, but don't really want a big pot. I check, call a reasonable sized flop bet (we would have bet this anyway). Then, hope to check/check turn and see a cheap river. i have no idea what the point of a flopbet is id do it with 88 and there's nothing with outs to beat it really villain never folds an A here Given a blank turn... If villan checks the turn, I bet. If villan pots it, it can go anywhich way (raise/fold/call). I need a great reason to raise though and it is definitely villan dependent. Obviously I'm not checking this flop always with an AK. It is better to check it with a weak Ace where there isnt as much value betting all three streets " " (xorbie).
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One of the problems with bluffing (and I mean straight bluffing, not semi-bluffing or continuation betting)
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is that you often risk a lot of chips to win not so many chips. Bluffs need to exceed at a high rate to be +EV. The pot is $4, villian bets $4, and you decide to bluff. So you make a raise to $15. You're now risking $15 to win $8. This bluff must succeed more than 65% of the time to be +EV. We can combat this by making a small value raise on the flop. If the pot is $4 and villian bets $4, raise it to $9. Villian will call. Now the pot is $22. On the turn, we bet $14 and take it down. On the turn, we are risking $14 to win $13 (not $22, because we can't count our original $9). This is obviously much better than risking $15 to win $8. In fact, in total, we risked $23 (14+9) to win $13, which is STILL a better ratio than 15-8. This is obviously a read-dependent situation. We need an opponent who we can read as weak on the flop, and who will also lay down on the turn. Nearly all opponents will call the small flop raise
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I’m going to write a short piece on C/R vs. b/3b with both monsters and combo draws.
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Firstly though, I want to point out a general fact that is a lot of the time overlooked on this forum. Every1 (including me and a lot of the well respected posters) on this board keep harping on about playing combo draws and monsters the same way. We justify saying that by spouting the words “shania”, “metagame” or “game theory” usually. However, it’s quite obvious, that with the 2 hands we are looking for 2 different things. When we have a monster, we want to get paid off, and when we have a combo draw, we want folding equity. Against a very good opponent (one that is better than us or as good as us), then playing your draws/big hands the same way is the line that achieves optimal +EV. However, against a donk, this is not true. For instance, vs. a calling station that will always stack off with TP, what’s the point getting all in on the flop with 12-15 outs when you know he will call, when instead you could draw with good odds and stack him when you hit, b/c he’s that bad. Similarly, vs. a nit, there’s no point bet/3betting all in with a set on a dry board, b/c you’re letting him fold his overpair. OK, now that I’ve got that out of the way, let me tell you about some of the considerations when deciding whether to b/3b or C/R:
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This play works very well in live 1/2nl games against players
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who make weak $5 and $10 bets at pots on the flop, and in online games where players make weak 1BB stabs at pots. A good note that I take on players is "smallballer". Meaning they underbet alot with made hands, hoping to induce aggression. Obviously not a good move against these type players.
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