2-3 NLH hands: thoughts welcome (15 Viewers)

[valleychips]

Hello folks!

A couple hands. Looking for any thoughts. Of course hindsight is 20/20 and all, and I definitely see a few things I could/should have done differently. But while I'm usually very critical of myself, I don't think these were all that horrible, and I still would have lost a good bit of money, just not quite as much... but let's see what you all have to say. I'm always trying to get better. Thanks!



Hand #1

I have Ah Qh. Standard raise. Two of us see the flop, $40 in the pot. I act first.

Ks Js Qd

I bet small (quarter pot), he min clicks. Maybe he has a 10, maybe he has two pair, maybe he has nut flush draw which also gives him a straight draw. I call.

Turn is another K. I check, he bets about half pot. So he could have trip kings, or the same hands as before. That bet to me is small enough to see if I hit a straight and see how he reacts. I call, knowing I still might check fold the river, even if I hit my straight, depending on his bet size. [Maybe this is where I should have folded because some of my straight outs are dirty anyway.]

River is a third king. So board is K J Q K K. No flushes available. I know he doesn't have pocket Aces. So unless he has the case king, I have the nut full house. I bet $100 into about $190 to get a call from any full house that's worse without scaring out anyone.

He shoves and has me covered. He could be trying to steal a chop. He could be over valuing worse. He's not great at folding strong hands (irony?). With three kings on the board, the chance of him having quads is super slim.

So I call. He has the case king (KJo). I get stacked. I think folding turn is the move here. But that wasn't much money. Once that river comes out, I think I'm kind of screwed. A friend said I should have check called river. Maybe villain wouldn't have shoved.




Hand #2

Hero has AJo in early position. Raise to 15, four callers

Flop is A 9 and I think a low brick. Rainbow. Hero bets half pot or so. Unknown villain on button calls.

Turn brings in a flush draw but not a straight. Hero bets $100, villain raises all in. Only an additional $80 to me. Not feeling good about it but hero calls for that small amount in case villain has a draw or a worse ace.

Villain has A9 for two pair. Hero can't take the lead on the river and loses.

Looking back on it, with an ace on the board and a ton of callers, someone likely has an ace because they play all aces. But because no one raised me, it's probably a lower ace worse than mine. This flop favors those kinds of aces. So probably should have checked flop. Button likely would have bet and I would have called.

Turn I then would have checked. Depending on how much he bets, maybe I continue or maybe I fold. But if I call turn I'm basically calling river. So perhaps a fold would have been best?

I don't think I made a huge mistake. This particular configuration and these stack sizes made a uniquely odd situation. I was gonna lose some $ for sure. But maybe I could have saved a hundred?

 

[CardRally]

Hand #1 - What did he have with the K? Didn’t matter on the river but I’m curious what he min clicked with.
Hand # 2 - check call flop, check fold turn seems too weak with AJ.

 

[valleychips]

Hand #1 - What did he have with the K? Didn’t matter on the river but I’m curious what he min clicked with.
Hand # 2 - check call flop, check fold turn seems too weak with AJ.

Hand 1

He had KJo. I was dead on the turn. Tracks that he had two pair, but it was one of several possibilities. (Updated original post.)

Hand 2

Yeah I hear you. Not sure I'm getting away from it at those stack depths, but checking first would have been better.

 

[Legend5555]

Some recommendations for posting hands going forward.

Include stack sizes for yourself and the relevant players.

Include positions of all relevant players.

Include all bet sizes/amounts.

For example, when I post hands I typically state the size of the game, some very brief player profiles (if any), and the rake (if any).

Action example:
1/3, 6+1 rake, no relevant reads
HERO: $500
SB: $300
BB: $200

Folds to HERO on button with (HAND).

HERO: Raise to $15
SB: Calls
BB: Calls

Pot: $40


SB: Checks
BB: Checks
HERO: bets $15
SB: folds
BB: Calls

Then go into an explanation of why you did what you did and what you think the villain's range is. And your plan going forward.

As for the hands you played:

Hand 1:

I like a check on this flop OOP with middle pair. This flop is great for you as the raiser, but it also hits a lot of IP calling hands. And your exact hand isn't great. As played, I think it's fine until river. There is no reason to lead the river. If he has nothing and you bet, he will usually fold. If he has a Q (which seems somewhat unlikely given the flop raise), he will likely bet and you can call and chop. Raising would be risky if he bets as he can have the K, and getting him to fold a chop in a somewhat small pot send unnecessary.

But if he has nothing and you check, he may bluff with the missed draws, which you can pick off.

Hand 2:

When you go massively multi way to the flop, you can't just bet TP into the field with a moderate kicker. That's even more true when the board looks like one that should hit your raising hands as everyone is aware it probably hit you. Thus, if you get action, it's typically from better hands and strong draws.

As played, on turn, pot is like 130 and villain only has 180 back. We are in an awkward stack spot. Most bets commit us, and if he's willing to play for stacks, we are almost certainly beat on this dry texture. I'd be checking this turn if I bet flop. Calling smallish bets, and folding a lot to 67%+ sized bets against typical villains. Hell, I may even fold to 50% because of the stack sizes. Unless the villain is bad and will auto bet any A here.

But this is why being very aware of stack sizes and ranges matters so much. If you ever think "I'm going to bet this flop/turn, but I'll be unhappy if I get called," then you probably shouldn't be betting.

 

[valleychips]

If he has a Q (which seems somewhat unlikely given the flop raise),

Excellent point! If I'd realized that, I probably would have check-folded turn and certainly river. So I def screwed up this hand, focusing too much on the improbablity (if that's a word) of quads at the end rather than bearing in mind all the steps that got us here. If I'd focused on all the steps, a K and thus quads becomes very likely. Oops. I'l learn from this one. Thanks!