1-3, Preflop BU vs blinds, stack off spot
1/3
V1 (250) is playing very splashy and wide, raising and getting it in light. He is on his 3rd buy-in in the last 2 hours. I raised with AKo UTG and he called Q8o. and c/c a 966 flop and hit an 8 on river when runout got checked through.
V2 (300), middle aged asian man who bought in for $500. A few orbits prior i 3b him with AKo pretty large and he c/f an A high flop after SB cold called. He is also playing micro stakes PLO on his phone. He lost another medium size pot before this hand came up.
Hero(covers), playing TAG but punishing limpers and playing hands aggressive IP.
1/3 and $6 straddle is on here.
folds to V1, Button and he raises to $18
V2 in SB calls $18
Hero in BB raises to $70
V1 Folds
V2 shoves $300 total
Hero?
Hero calls with what range? 99+ AQ+?
7 Replies
Not sure what to read in the backraise, but every time I think a backraise is weak, it is always stronger than I thought.
i would be tighter than this - perhaps QQ+, and perahaps AKo+. If you had some reads, perhaps add in JJ, and AQ, but unless he's a total LAG or mainiac I am not calling a big 4 bet with less.
I don’t do much raising from the bb
I am content to defend when OOP
I would have seen a flop for 18
As played, AQ is trash and the problem with 99 is that when facing a bigger pocket pair, you’re so far behind. I’ve seen people make a play like this with 44 or AQ (probably not AJ or worse) but you can’t count on that. It takes a bigger hand to call, than to bet.
Guy flats sb when theory says ‘raise or fold’ then follows with a backraise. Unusual lines usually mean strength, and the players playing on the phone are often tight coming in.
Villain seems like a reasonable player, so calling with AK is probably a flip or a chop. Villain needs almost 70% folds for a bluff to be profitable, so does he think you will fold most of the time?
Snapping with QQ+
Hard to call with anything else, even if you think he’s making a move. This is one of those hands where you call, and are relieved to find out you made a good decision and are ahead.
But then ‘good luck all-in’ spikes the winner and takes your money anyway.
Remember we are in the BB and there is a straddle behind us. BU is opening WIDE and SBs range is likely medium strength when he flats. In game the thought was we are well ahead of buttons range and can attack a capped SB range.
Hero flatting a hand like AQo here is imo terrible when we are going at least 3 ways, maybe 4 ways sandwiched with no initiative.
First off - I love seeing someone at the table who is so in need of nonstop action that he's also gambling on his phone.
That said, my heuristic for anyone looking at their phone a lot is that they're not paying close attention to the game, so they tend to play tighter.
Have you been squeezing a lot from the blinds? This feels like a trap he's been waiting to spring on you.
Is this the size you'd 3B with AA, or would you go bigger? The only thing that might make me think he might have improvised this play on the spot is that your raise size looks suspicious, possibly weak. I'd have 3B to $90, at least, not $70.
At first it seems weird for him to back-raise for value here, but his stack depth would lead to a pretty shallow SPR on the flop if he 3B. It would seem weirder for him to do this as a bluff.
Unless there's some reason to think he's just fed up and decided to take a stand with AJs or TT, I don't think I'm calling with anything that isn't AA, or maybe KK. I would've had to have been 3B-squeezing over this guy's flat calls a ton to think he's getting OOL here.
I've been fairly aggro TAG but at each showdown they have seen, Ive shown AA, KK, AK, JTss and 77.
and since its a 1/3 game with a straddle my 3b sizing with AA/KK would be around that size, maybe a touch bigger.
So you're saying you are folding QQ? lol
I've been fairly aggro TAG but at each showdown they have seen, Ive shown AA, KK, AK, JTss and 77.
and since its a 1/3 game with a straddle my 3b sizing with AA/KK would be around that size, maybe a touch bigger.
So you're saying you are folding QQ? lol
Re, your sizing - BTN made it $18 and SB called. My usual OOP 3B size from the BB would be 5x the raise + 1x per caller, so that would be $90.
When we use smaller sizing than what our opponents would expect, it can often induce aggressive actions when they would otherwise fold or flat call.
There are a few conflicting bits of info here:
1. V's a middle-aged Asian male who flat called the BTN raise in the SB. Usually not going to be a big hand.
2. V back-raised. Usually going to be a big hand.
3. V is paying more attention to his phone than the game - usually a big hand.
4. V is playing micro-stakes PLO on his phone - gamble, gamble, gamble! Might not be a big hand.
5. He didn't back-raise less than all-in while playing deep. He back-jammed playing short, but for 4x your 3B. I dunno, but probably going to be a big hand.
6. You 3B from the BB, when you could have just called, closing the action. Your range should be strong. His 4B range should be nutted.
You see the challenge in trying to range this guy. But, yeah, at low stakes, I tend to over-fold to 4B-jams vs the population.
If I've been raising a bunch, then put in a 3B from the BB, and someone back-4B-jams on me, especially someone who I think is going to be nutted when he 4B's, hell yes, QQ goes right in the muck, and I wouldn't lose a moment's sleep wondering about it.
I'd call it off with 77+ against certain player types (I 3B-called a 4B-jam for $300 with 77 in my last session, and held vs AK), but against the low-stakes pool, a 4B-jam for >100BB's is going to be a snap fold with QQ and worse.
Spoiler
Hero calls with AQo and loses a race to TT
AQo is not a hand that can call a back-4B-jam from a middle-aged Asian dude focused on his phone.
You're usually going to be up against TT+/AK.
when someone flats from the SB and rejams you are ranging him exactly on KK+ and folding QQ? Are there monsters under your bed?
In my experience in these games villains will get married to 88-TT and random suited aces and just go with it a decent amount of the time.
I would fold AQ here specifically because I think SB's hand is very often AK (in addition to TT and JJ). We are basically just praying to flip.
IMO folding QQ is comically bad. Doc, you said fold QQ, then said V's range is TT+/AK. Do you have any idea how well QQ is doing versus TT+/AK?? Does villain ever even have AA and KK?
