Live $1/$2 NLHE — AT makes two pair, check-raises turn and bets river
Hero starts the hand with $280 in the SB holding A-T. Villain covers with approximately $400.
I had only been at the table for around 30 minutes. Villain had barely played any hands during that time, so I did not have much information on him.
Villain opens the BTN to $10. Hero calls from the SB, although in retrospect I wonder whether 3-betting would have been better. The BB folds.
Pot: $22
Flop: A-7-4 rainbow
Hero leads for $10 and Villain calls.
Pot: $42
Turn: T
Hero checks. Villain bets $40. Hero check-raises to $95.
Villain thinks for a long time and eventually calls.
Pot: $232
River: 2
Hero bets $110, leaving approximately $55 behind. I chose this sizing because I did not want to scare off hands such as AK or AQ.
I am interested in opinions on the whole line:
- Should Hero have 3-bet preflop rather than calling from the SB?
- Did Hero’s line and sizing on each street make sense, or should Hero have bet larger?
- What range would you give Villain after he calls the flop lead, bets the turn and then calls the check-raise?
- Should Hero have shoved the river instead of betting $110, or was the smaller sizing more likely to get called?
I thought Villain could possibly have AK or AQ, or perhaps a high pocket pair such as KK. I initially wondered whether AK might raise the small flop lead, although I can also understand Villain simply calling in position. A turn call with a hand such as KK would be more difficult for me to understand.
I am not sure whether the river sizing maximised value or whether I left money on the table, but I think I may have done a few mistakes here.
2 Replies
Preflop both a call and 3bet have merit. The biggest reason to 3-bet is that many casinos don't rake the pot without a flop. It's not a bad result to just steal the $13 the times when he folds, and AT plays well enough the times you're called.
As played preflop, the flop lead doesn't make much sense. Many opponents are going to range bet if you check to them, and you want to give them an opportunity to put money in the pot with all of their air. Also on the flop you're really not loving it if you lead and get raised. Besides all that, if you lead all your strong hands it makes it easy to play against you whenever you check.
As played on the flop, once you make two pair on the turn I would just keep betting, and bet big. He probably calls you with any ace that way whereas a lot of the weaker aces might fold when you check raise.
As played on the turn, I would just jam river. Once he calls the flop lead and the turn check raise, he seems to like his hand and you want to get maximum value with less than a pot-sized bet remaining.
PRE - Mostly just play 3B or fold from the SB. If action folded to him on the BTN, he could have a really wide range, so it's reasonable to raise because AT is probably ahead of his range, but also reasonable to flat call because his range is so wide that we might win more letting him continue betting post-flop.
I probably raise here, but calling doesn't seem terrible.
FLOP - Okay, this is unusual to see someone flat in the SB and come out and donk on a board like this. I think I'd like it better if you donked bigger, if only because your hand is under-repped when you just flat pre, and the pot is pretty small.
Otherwise, the standard line would be to just play our hand like a bluff-catcher by check-calling the whole way, or otherwise lead river if he checks back turn.
TURN - Even weirder now. If you're going to go for the check-raise, go huge with top 2P. At least go 3x and make it $120.
Honestly, if I was V and an opponent took this line, I wouldn't know what to make of it. I don't think I'd fold many AX combos here. I'd be looking to get stacks in with any hand that could beat AT, so I'd think V is pretty capped when he just flats. But at low stakes, I could see some opponents deciding to slow play when they're in position.
RIVER - Just jam. Or check and hope he's so confused by your line that he jams. Or bet $25 and pray he spazzes. Your line looks too value-oriented when you x/r turn and then bet 40% pot on the river.
If I'm V, I might fold some AX combos here, but your line is so odd that I might flick in the call with AJ-AK just to see what you'd play this way, then go on monkey-tilt when I see you sucked out on the turn.
If he folds for 40% pot, he's folding to 2/3 pot. And if he's calling 40% pot, he's calling 2/3 pot, so the $55 difference doesn't do anything.
