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I am relatively new to poker and I was hoping for some help with bet sizing. Also, I was wondering what the more optimal line would be in this situation.
I bought in for $300 and this is my first hand I play after paying for the button. I do not have any info on the villain due to this being the first hand I was dealt.
My stack – $297
Villain effective stack – $340Playing 6 handed, it folds to me on the button with As7d, I raise to $5 and the BB and SB both call
Pot – $15
Flop Js Ac 3d
Action – checks to me and I bet $10 (need help with sizing) SB folds and Villain raises to $30 I call.
I’m sure he will have some weak A’s in his call range, but I feel I folding would be a little to weak here and make me exploitable later on.Pot $75
Turn 10d
Action – Villain Checks, I check Behind. (not sure if I might be missing some value by not betting again .) At this point im assuming he has a hand like Kc 10c, or small pair with a backdoor draw.
Pot – $75
River 7s
Action – Villain bets $48, I raise to $130. He tanks for about 2 minutes and then folds.(hindsight, I’m not sure a raise was the right play. I don’t believe I will ever be called by worse in this scenario. I think the only logical hand I could be called by is A3 off or J10.)
I thought that hand was played fine tbh. I think he raises AJ pre so ace a3 looks like a good shout. I think it’s a good value bet the river bet. There’s actually only a few hands that are winning you there that I think don’t get raised pre. Pocket 3’s maybe but think you would have seen a turn bet with that hand. The only thing is that it’s specifically A3 hand that you are targeting but that is the most likely hand I imagine he would have with the way the hand was played
I agree with Halliday that you played the hand well. Detailed thoughts follow…
Pre-flop: Raising the button with an ace when it’s folded to you is totally standard, but your sizing is a bit small. In a 1/2 game I would tend to go at least 3x the BB and probably more like 4x or 5x.
Flop: Betting your ace is standard and the sizing of 2/3 pot is good. Calling the raise definitely makes sense. The BB could have a very wide range of hands in this spot and could be applying pressure thinking that you’re very likely to be C-betting with air (which you often would be).
Turn: I think checking behind on the turn is a good line. If your opponent was check-raising as a bluff on the flop and then checked the turn, you’ll probably fold him out with a turn bet. But if you check back on the turn, he might take another stab on the river and you can get more value.
River: I think it’s close between calling and raising here. The temptation of course is to raise because you improved, but the question of whether you could be called by worse is the key. As discussed re the turn above, your opponent’s check on the turn after check-raising the flop really looks like a bluff that shut down on the turn. So it’s not clear that there’s any more value to be found on the river. A3 is certainly possible, as is J10, but I tend to think both of those hands would have led out on the turn. So I would probably just call here, but I don’t think raising was a mistake – just a slightly higher variance choice. Given the choice to raise, I like the size. The fact that he tanked for 2 minutes suggests that he wasn’t bluffing on the flop and maybe had an ace with a medium kicker (A8, A9?). AK and AQ would presumably have 3-bet pre-flop and I can’t imagine AJ or A10 would have folded the river.
Cheers!
I agree with Dave. Never bet $5 pre in a 1-2 game. 6 is minmimum.
I would have bet slightly smaller on flop to keep one pair hands in. All hands that have you beat are going to call to almost any bet size, so if you make it half pot, you save a little when you are beat.
Turn play should be a check back as most Ax type hands just went into check call mode.
Love the river raise, just possibly size down a bit, maybe $110 to ensure a call by most jacks.
All in all I love the line.I appreciate the feedback on this hand. I would like to know why a 3x or 4x raise preflop is better than the 2.5x raise I used.
In games like 1/2 1/3 larger open sizes are just more common and its not the “standard” 2.5-3.5x open. Typical opens are normally $8-$15 depending on how the table is playing. Some tables have a lot of loose action where $15 is the smallest amount you want to open, others a $15 raise will fold out nearly everything so just get a feel for how the table is playing and adjust accordingly.
Preflop: Pretty easy open on the button, like others have said I like raising more here, probably to $8 or $10, this hand isn’t a premium value hand either so simply taking down the blinds is a favorable outcome as well as playing IP and a $5 raise just won’t fold out very many hands if any.
Flop: Standard c-bet with your holding, sizing seems fine anywhere from 1/2-2/3 pot seems pretty good here. Pretty player dependent on calling the check raise I feel, he didn’t raise pre so assuming we take stronger aces out value hands consist of 33 and two pair holdings probably not AJ but even possibly J3 although pretty unlikely the small raise he’s likely going to call with a large range. On this board what does he check-raised and how does that stack up against your hand? Some players also will just flat hands as strong as AJ pre so I dont think you can rule out hands like that completely and you do want to be careful that you don’t just value town yourself against a better ace. You’re certainly going to have much better hands here with strong aces and JJ, but getting a decent price with top pair being IP isn’t a terrible play and I like your reasoning.
Turn: Easy check back, he didn’t continue betting so it’s unlikely he has a monster like two pair or a set, if you bet it’s unlikely hes going to continue with a hand worse than yours. Not really sure if he’s check raising hands like K10s on that board seems pretty thin although not impossible. Happy to see a river and use your showdown value.
River: I like the raise here and your sizing as well, he bets fairly small and as played you size giving him a decent price that he should continue with a lot of the hands that he bets river with.
using small raise sizing pre doesn’t get enough people to fold hands. which firstly can make multiway pots which depending on your hand isnt the worst thing but you have a lot less chance to win going multiway. Other problems are good players will see it as a weak bet and will reraise if they think you are weak. If you are betting just 2.5 with that hand and say raising 4x big with premium hands players will pick up on your sizing and will find it easier to play against you. also just using that last hand as an example. Flop comes A3J. you can think to yourself well ive raised 4x pot so I dont expect him to have two pairs of jack 3 because he would fold that pre. so you can have a better idea of what hands they may have. you only bet 5 the big blind can defend with anything. He can rep a lot more on any board.
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