Line check - 1/3 NL 300 max bet - TT utg

Line check - 1/3 NL 300 max bet - TT utg

V1 - Decent player, but has the propensity to bluff in large pots. I've seen him go for thin value on the river as well. Plays a bit loose, but nothing too crazy.

V2 - Wild player. Constantly raising 10-20bb preflop. Probably a 50% VPIP.

Full table of 9 players. 1/3 blinds, max bet of 300 (WA state), also capped at 4 raises per street.

Hand:

Hero (UTG): ThTc raise to $15

V1 (UTG+2): reraise to $40

V2 (SB): reraises to $120 (capped)

Hero: calls $120

V1: calls $120

Flop: 8h 8d 6h (pot: $365)

V2: checks
Hero: checks
V1: bet $200
V2: folds
Hero: calls $200

Turn: 8c

Board: 8h 8d 6c 8c (pot $765)

Hero: checks
V1: bet $150
Hero: raise $450

.............

My thinking:

Preflop: V1 probably has a decent hand, although he only raises 2.5 my raise. I've seen him make much bigger reraises preflop. V2 could literally have any 2.

Flop: V2 checks, I check to see what V1 wants to do. V1 best, V2 folds. At this point, I consider check-raising, but I feel a call is best. He isn't going to believe I have an 8, he may have a flush draw, and if we are reraised we puke and have to fold.

Turn: Hero checks, V2 bets $150. V1 is very capable bluffing two streets with hands like AK, AQ, KQs or even smaller pocket pairs. Even if he were to have a hand like 99 or JJ, I feel like a check raise here looks extremely strong, and he knows he would be on the hook for $600 (the $300 raise and $300 assuming I bet the river) if he calls. Also, his sizing of $150 just screamed to me that he was afraid of aces or kings (or possibly an 8, but doubtful).

The only hands here I feel dead to are AA, KK or maybe QQ. I think all three are making an easy call here, but I feel that there are many more combos of hands which he could likely have.

Is this a total punt play here? Did I read his range correctly?

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Villain tanked for only about a minute, said "well I guess Jacks are beat. Tanked a bit more and folded. Not sure if he really had Jacks as my neighbor said he folded a Jack.

06 February 2024 at 04:40 AM
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Don't post the reveal for at least 24 hours. Helps discussion. Sort of a forum rule, I think.

Also - it helps to provide the starting stack depths for each player in the hand, though I'm not sure if it matters as much, with the $300 betting cap.

You changed the suit of the 6 from the flop to the turn. Still a heart, I assume?

The odd betting caps some states enforce make the games seem weird to those of us who don't play with those caps. Depending on what the rake is in a game like this, I think I might open larger pre, but it somewhat depends on various factors, such as stack depths and how loose the game is playing. Your $15 open UTG otherwise seems pretty standard for 1/3.

Odd that V2 4B pre and then didn't c-bet the flop. Likely he has a hand like AK that whiffed. Your flop check in flow to V1 seems fine, as does your flat call of V1's bet, even though his bet was somewhat large for a multi-way, 4B pot.

One challenge here is that on this board, you're not beating much of a "correct" UTG1 3B'ing range. You're behind JJ+, and also behind any 8x and 66. You're basically beating un-paired over-cards being played aggressively, and lower pocket pairs also being played aggressively. It's a pretty narrow range we're beating. I'd proceed carefully.

It's worth thinking about what our range looks like here, when we open UTG (strong), get 3B by +1 (strong), then 4B by SB (strong), but then we can't 5B because of the cap (?). If we can't 5B, then we've got an uncapped range that includes all the over-pairs, and probably also some 66-88. V1 betting over half-pot on the flop, into two uncapped opponents, including a UTG opener and a SB 4B'er (two very strong ranges) is repping pretty strong.

The turn 8 seems like a good card, reducing the likelihood of his having some 8x combo, but likewise reduces your likelihood, and turns every pair into a boat. The relative strength of your two hands hasn't really changed, but some players don't see that. They only see "boat", and decide they can't fold, no matter what.

His turn down-bet is very small, and very odd. I'd say folding is never an option facing that bet size, but I don't think I'd raise. What are we trying to accomplish? What better hands are we trying to fold out? What worse hands are we targeting for value? Why fold out his bluffs? I think I'd just flat call.

Doubtful he'd be doing this with lower PP's like 77. Maybe he does this with 99, though 99 has the same problem as TT (what are you beating?).

So I'd say his range is either higher pairs that beat us, or unpaired over-cards that he's just barreling off, hoping you'll fold. But I'd think he'd bet bigger if he was bluffing, and the betting cap makes bluffs harder to get through, so that would seem to weight his range towards better value hands, like JJ+.

Doubtful he's ever folding AA/KK. Maybe he folds JJ/QQ occasionally. If he really folded JJ, you basically turned your hand into a bluff, whether you meant to or not. Not sure if that's the right play or not, but if it worked, NH/GG.

ETA - even without the comment from the other player, about folding a J, I'd guess he folded a bluff, probably something with a jack in it, like AJs.

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