3bet pot against loose aggressive
I want you to give me your opinions about this hand. I played this hand on NLH cash game 25-50 peso (1-2 USD) 8 handed in Mexico. At this time, I had AKo.
HJ player is a loose aggressive and always calls against my 3bet. When I don't make a continuation bet, he always make a high size bet. Hero is SB. Both player have over 200BB.
Preflop
HJ raise 200 peso
SB 3bet 1000 peso
HJ call
Flop 2050 peso
Q57 rainbow
SB ???
Should I bet in this situation? If HJ raises 2500 peso when I bet 700 peso, and the frequency of such a raise is too high for a value, what should I do? Should I 3-bet or just fold?
3 Replies
Yes you should 3-bet for value against a LAG HJ open from the SB on the larger size.
I’m happy checking or betting small on this flop. I would likely call a bet if I checked.
HJ player is a loose aggressive and always calls against my 3bet. When I don't make a continuation bet, he always make a high size bet. Hero is SB. Both player have over 200BB.
No one here is going to be able to range him as well as you. Do you believe that you likely have the best hand here?
This is a difficult situation and guys like this can be tough to deal with.
Maybe this is an extreme situation. Maybe this guy is calling many hands for almost any bet size, then trying to bully you from position the majority of the time. Then, you will make most of your money just trapping with good hands. You don't have to beat him in every hand and you can allow him to bluff you some. Almost every time you have a very good hand, you are going to make a a lot of money. Your description might be exaggerated but let's say it's really true to illustrate the point. You could raise even more preflop with AA, KK, QQ, JJ. Check to him, and let him bet huge on the flop and win a big pot every time he doesn't get a lucky and hit 2 pair or something. You can call with hands like 44 or JT suited and he will pay you when you hit. If he bluffs you sometimes, that is OK because you make so much money when you have a good hand.
With AK you will usually miss the flop. If you raise big preflop, you will usually be in tough situations like this one. So, against this particular player, especially as he is giving you problems, I think it is probably fine to just call preflop a lot with hands like AK when you are out of position and play them more as traps. He might believe that he can bluff you when an A or K flops, because you did not raise.
As played, you are in a tough situation. If he always bets when checked to, maybe he knows that when you make this small bet, you are trying to keep the pot small. It's kind of a judgement call, as others have said. You could call and see what happens, if there is a chance he stops betting on the turn. If he is going to just blast any turn, it is OK to fold. If he is a complete lunatic who has any 2 cards, you should probably not fold.
If you are checking hands like a Q here to let him bluff, you should probably do the same with AK. You could always check to him when he has position. Overall, it is kind of boring, but you mainly just want to play to trap this guy rather than out-dueling him. You also need to look for patterns in how he plays and determine exactly how loose and crazy he is. For example, does he bluff on the flop and then give up a lot, or does he often bluff the flop, turn and river?
