I got out played…

[Todd]

I finally sat down at a poker table (1/3 NL) for the first time in 18+ months and I left stuck and hating myself for how I finished the night. I fully admit I played this hand terribly from the start and ignored a big tell. (I had been up for the first couple hours and then chased some hands that never materialized and was in the red. My ride was done playing poker and I felt like he wanted to leave. I convinced myself I’m just going to win this hand to get unstuck)

HAND BREAKDOWN:

Hero with JJ in SB. There were maybe 3-4 limpers before it came back around to me. Hero made it $16.

Villain in BB bumped it up to $40. Folded around back to me and I made the call. (Villain hadn’t been at the table for that long, but I felt he was not a bad player. I sensed he was going to go all in after the flop.)

Flop came 4-10-6 rainbow

Villain let out an audible “sigh” which I picked up on as a sign of strength yet quickly dismissed.

Hero bets $25 (wanted a feeler bet to see if he’d do something other than shove.)

He tanked for 10-15seconds before going all in. Villain had $168 and had me covered – I think I had ~$130 remaining.

I convinced myself he had AK and felt I couldn’t get away from the hand – dumb.

Turn/River were blanks

Villain shows KK after the river

I left feeling like why do I play this game.

Yet, I know there are lessons from this hand. I reflop raised too much. I didn’t put him on a range of hands which dominated my jacks. I ignored his intentional sigh of strength and convinced myself he had only 1 hand that I was ahead of. I didn’t take my time and count my stack before making a decision. I didn’t fold.

Thoughts?

[Chuck M]

I don’t think it was too big of a mistake.

I actually think you raised way too small pf, being oop after 3-4 limps, I would’ve raised to 20-25.

Villain 3bet to 40 (after your $16 open) that’s kinda small too, 2.5x (well he knows he’ll get HU if you call and he’s in position, that might not be “too small” from his part (especially with less than 100bb. That being said, i’d call here with JJ.

His sigh on the flop looks like he’s hollywooding, like “awh, I missed that board so bad…”
I don’t really like your bet here. Betting for info, i don’t really like. I’d rather go x/c.

Now when you say u put him on AK, you actually didn’t put him on a single hand. There’s 16 combos of AK. Now let’s say he 3bets AQs (4combos)
20 combos against which you’re ahead 75/25.
He probably 3bets QQ+ as well, that’s 18combos which you’re behind 92/8

Just for fun, I ran the numbers.
Vs QQ+ AK and AQs, you’re a 57/43 underdog. But with almost 2:1 pot odds, you’re good to call.

Even more if villains can include some AXs, KQs, Tx in his 3bet range.

So, imo, that’s a cooler, unfortunate last hand of the night, really tough hand to get away from.

[Havick]

I kind of feel like you’re being results oriented, as far as the melodramatic “why do I play this game” bit. As for the hand (Much of this will depend on your personal playstyle etc):

You could 4! JJ a portion of the time, depending on villain. I’m okay with flatting the BB’s 3! but if villain had been OTB then my 4! percentage would go up.

Check the flop. Almost always. Checking JJ here protects your range, because you’re going to have worse hands that will want to check.

If you’re determined to bet it, effing bet it, man. $25 into $93ish dollars is going to get called by anything. Seriously, I tried for 15 minutes to think of something that I’d raise to $40 with pre that I’d muck on the flop for just over half of my preflop bet. Couldn’t come up with a single one. Can you, if you were villain? Stop using feeler bets. They haven’t been a thing since 2004. Either bet to get worse to call or better to fold. You don’t need to see where your at. You’re at the table and you know that.

As for calling it off, $65 in the pot isn’t enough to necessarily commit us. It can be okay to call off here If you have history with the villain or know his player type Not going to lie, low-limit guys will punt off stacks here with ATs and the like sometimes. But you’re also going to be staring at QQ+, TT, 66, 44 a lot too. This is probably a fold, given both the live read and the fact that villain hasn’t been there long. Generally speaking, most guys aren’t in a hurry to stack off right after they sit down.

This is going to sound like I’m trolling you, but I’m not. Before you call it off here, stop. Ask yourself this:

“What would he do this with, that I beat?”

Answers are: AKs, possibly ATs, complete air (there’s no draw really)

Now ask, “What would he do this with that crushes me”:

Answers are: QQ, KK, AA, TT, 66, 64s, 44.

Whether or not he “should be” jamming those isn’t relevant. If you combine all of villain’s range against your JJ you have about 33%. Against just AKs you have about 78%.

That’s not your biggest problem though.

If you really haven’t played in 18 months, relax man. There’s no one on the planet that wouldn’t have to knock off some rust.

This stuff though:

My ride was done playing poker and I felt like he wanted to leave. I convinced myself I’m just going to win this hand to get unstuck)

Get out. Find a new ride, ask if he wants to leave… Never. Never. Never. “Play one more hand to get unstuck…” There hasn’t been a time in history that this approach worked.

[Author]

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