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Hi guys. Its been a while. I hope we are all crushing it out there. I wanted to continue posting hands here and hear about your hands if possible. I have one that’s entertaining from a recent session. I think my play is pretty standard, but the action from the opponent……………….????
Hero stack: 620
Hero position: UTG2
Hero hand: AA dhVillain stack: 800
Villain position: BB
Villain hand: ???Preflop: This is where all the action is!
UTG opens to 15, hero 3bets to 45, folds to villain, villain 4-bets to 145, utg folds, hero 5-bets to 400, villain 6-bet shoves, hero snaps
Board: Qc 6d 8h Jh 3s
Villain in this hand was a player of interest to me. I picked up on a betting-tell he had and use its to help my decision here, but it’s probably not much of a decision. I saw him make small raises, like $10 with his speculative hands and $15-20 with his premiums.
I had been playing pretty aggressive and winning pots without showdown. There was a spot where I had squeezed with KK, and this villain verbally said “I’ll let you steal it.” So maybe he thought I was stealing in this spot again. Who knows.
I have the best starting hand preflop and face an early position raise. I elect 3-bet for value ensuring the hand does not go multiway. This raise from the UTG player was not “normal” during this session, I thought I can get it heads-up with him in position.
The 4-bet from villain was un-expected and this preflop action is extremely rare at this stake. AK, QQ, KK, AA are definitely in this 4-bet range. UTG folds and the action is back on me.
Calling would under-rep our hand. We expect to get several streets of value if the board does not kill the action. Villain would likely shutdown if broadway hands were to show up on the board. An Ace any where on the board would definitely shut him down.
Raising and getting value from KK, QQ, AK was my choice. However, I was worried that 5-betting here would telegraph the strength of our hand. I would need the board to look “safe” and hope he calls a pretty large c-bet on the flop.
I took a minute to complete my action. I thought the better of it and just played straight-forward. I knew he views me as aggressive, so lets not disappoint. I chose a 5-bet sizing, where if he called, he’d feel “pot committed” and just go for it on the flop. “Leave about half his stack, so he’ll get 4-1 pot odds when we shove.” This took me the longest time to compute at the table.
He shoves! I snap and we hold.
I have a lot more exciting hands to post and hope to get feedback from you guys on my thought process.
I think there are only a few things to consider in a spot like this at these levels.
First, is this villain ever 4-betting light? Even though calling here is super strong, if he’s just trying to attack your raise then he’s folding to a 5-bet. Like you said , 4-bet bluffs are rare at this level, but if this is one of those opportunities then I think you can call here in position and let him barrel off.
If he only has strong hands (which you think he has because of the sizing tell), I think you can go either way here. You can’t really go wrong raising AA pre, but being in position the call isn’t terrible. That 5-bet will get a lot of premiums to fold (some players may even fold KK here), but that’s opponent dependent.
I think you’re image is the other consideration. Even thought bluff 4- and 5-bets are incredibly rare, they are possible. Since you’ve been aggressive he might think you are just a maniac. I like the raise, could have been a jam but I like your reason for your sizing.
That side, looks like he had AK or KK and this was just a cooler.
In this player pool, I don’t see anyone 4-betting light at all. There are some players who 3-bet pretty light, but that’s as far as it gets. The 4-bet range at my stakes, and table, is very narrow. Its so rare, I’ll even pay the villain an extra $50 for pulling it off!
I agree that calling, in position is not terrible at all. Against a “better” player, they could’ve gotten away from AK or KK preflop facing the 5bet. I’m not sure how experienced this villain is, but I just didn’t like the idea of calling and a possible scare card come, and kill the action.
We had this discussion of my image before. I probably did fit the stereotype in this session =) I think raising or shoving would’ve gotten the same response.
Thank you for the comment about my reasoning. This is one hell of a complicated game and I think I’ve only scratch the surface of figuring it out too.
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