Flopped set of 7s. Thoughts on how to play each street. (1 Viewer)

[Perthmike]

This hand is about 90 minutes after the rivered straight I had with AK and villain is the same loose passive guy that called off with q10 offsuit preflop.

Table is $1/$3 and I’m sitting on about $950, villain has maybe $700 (he has been on a heater since I stacked him and he rebought).

I raise $15 from middle position with 77 and get 2 calls. Villain called from the button.

Flop comes out 7qj rainbow and I bet $20 for value, because I’ve been c betting quite frequently and the villain on the button is a total station, but hasn’t shown too much aggression when checked to, unless very strong.

I get one fold and the villain bumps it up to $50.

call or raise?

 

[Frogzilla]

If we call, are we leading turn? Checking turn after calling flop seems we would risk playing too small a pot. I therefore lean towards raising flop, as I think it’s going to be easier to get value on flop 3-bet vs a turn lead. If we were in position I’d lean towards call.

I would normally raise 90ish to make it 140, but if you have a station read and he’s done that with large bets, go for 200.

 

[Gunnar]

I would call and then check on turn and let him lead

 

[Rhodeman77]

To me what will make up my decision to raise or flat call is how likely you think villain is to just flat with a big PP preflop. If you think he would 3 bet QQ & JJ the majority of the time I am raising here for sure. He probably has too 2 pair and I want to get as much money on now before another broadway card comes off and scares him into shutting down.

But if you think he is so passive that he would just flat call with a big PP then I just call and see what the turn brings and will most likely check call.

 

[detroitdad]

I want to re raise him. I don't love bottom set. After thinking about it, I think Adam's line is solid

 

[Perthmike]

I’ve not actually seen him 3 bet pre yet, apart from when he jammed against me after I bet $120, when he only had $190ish, but again I’d initiated the betting.

He’s so weird and fishy that I probably think he would flat qq and almost certainly jj.

All I really know is that he only bets post flop when he is pretty excited about having a strong hand.

 

[200 Motels]

Flop comes out 7qj rainbow and I bet $20 for value, because I’ve been c betting quite frequently and the villain on the button is a total station, but hasn’t shown too much aggression when checked to, unless very strong.

This might be a good reason to bet more. $45 in the pot, betting $30 will get ya more on this street and the pots bigger on the turn which will lead to bigger turn bets.

I get one fold and the villain bumps it up to $50.

call or raise?

If I had position on villain I'd likely flat but being OOP, I don't see the harm in raising again small to say $100-$125. Since there was no 3bet we can safely take QQ and JJ out of his holdings. Knowing we don't want to blow him off a weaker hand, making it small should keep his two pair and straight draws in maybe some of his one pair hands.

Just calling isn't too bad, however, what could happen is Turn ends up being A or K and it goes check /check. You don't want that. Also, calling a raise on the flop and leading the turn looks pretty strong but I think a some $1/$2 players would probably still call with two pair. A or K are scare cards and could slow down the action of a two pair hand so get some money in on the flop. If you think he's the kind of guy who could flat with QQ or JJ, calling might be alright but I don't love it. If he's hoodie/internet kid then you can include draws in his raising range here. If he looks over 55, (this is a generalization, but that's what we gotta do here) then it's less likely he's raising any draw and more likely to be flatting with QQ JJ, but on flip of that, he could also be flatting KK and AA some of the time.

 

[Perthmike]

So I thought that he could have something like jq, ja, qa, or even jj or qq, but I was still feeling confident at this point.

I decided to call the $50, with a plan to bet the turn and reevaluate. Not standard I know, but I wasn’t worried about playing standard against this villain.

Turn was an ace, I can’t remember the suit, but it wasn’t relevant at the time, so I bet $75 and he re raised to $150.

 

[200 Motels]

So I thought that he could have something like jq, ja, qa, or even jj or qq, but I was still feeling confident at this point.

I decided to call the $50, with a plan to bet the turn and reevaluate. Not standard I know, but I wasn’t worried about playing standard against this villain.

Turn was an ace, I can’t remember the suit, but it wasn’t relevant at the time, so I bet $75 and he re raised to $150.

You're in a tough spot now, but I'd call the $75 and check fold most river bets. Unless he's a complete maniac, the guy's not doing this with hand worse than yours. I doubt I could do that in the moment but it's what separates the the champs from the chumps.

 

[ChaosRock]

Fine open with 77 in mid position. On a board with plenty of straight draws possible, two broadways and three players, I'm betting more than $20. Maybe $30 or $35 is a good number.

Once you bet $20 and get raised, I call and check/call most turns, specially an A. Once you lead and get raise, I don't think I can fold yet. I think I make the $150 call and check river if I don't boat up. If shove to, depending on the river card, it's tough decision.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Definitely prefer a check call line. Being raised twice screams he is strong. But is it flopped top 2 strong or set strong. With an A coming on the turn making bigger 2 pairs possible and he still went with a raise makes me think he is much likelier to have a set, but I still call here. Checking the river for sure, unless we make quads that is.

 

[Perthmike]

I called the extra $75 and decided to check every river, except a 7. Pot is about $450.

River bricked and I check. Villain bets $100.

 

[ChaosRock]

No way I'm folding a set there for $100. We loose to KT but not likely we are facing another set IMO, "maybe" a set of JJ. Plenty of 2P betting for value. Not raising either. Yep, call the $100.

 

[Frogzilla]

I’d consider an exploitative jam just because of your poor player / station read, but ordinarily this would be a call. Can’t fold a set here to 1/4 pot.

 

[Kain8]

A set of sevens on a board of 7QJAx with getting 5.5 to 1 on a call? Toss that call in.

 

[v1pe]

Hmm - I don't like to slow play a set really unless I have a specific read that Villain is going to be aggressive with his top pair and 2pair type hands. I would most likely just re-pop it on the flop with plan to continue on a non Q or J turn. If you think villain is pretty agro and could possibly have JJ/QQ I don't mind a check/call line on the turn. We beat value combos of QJ and AQ.

As played I would check/call the turn and probably check/call the river.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Auto call. He is probably value betting so small because he wants to make sure he gets called. I toss in the $100 and am thankful he didn’t put me to the test for my stack.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see AQ, QJ, or JJ. If it is anything else I would be shocked.

 

[DrStrange]

Preflop - - raising with a mid pocket pair is going to lead to difficult flop situations unless you flop a set. Only Hero can assess if he has the needed skills to play hard decision situations.

Effective SPR is 15+ $685 in villain's stack with $45 in the pot.

Flop bet is $20 into $45. That seems too small. Maybe Hero has made a habit of microbetting, we don't know. What we do know is that flop hits the calling range of the two villains. Lots and lots of one pair hands will pay $30 - $35 drawing almost dead. Maybe Hero is trying to induce a raise with the tiny c-bet? Let's hope not, because passive villains don't get aggressive just because hero is acting like a wounded animal.

Let's not kid ourselves about villain's range. Hero might be able to restrict the range a little due to passive play. But every premium hand is still part of the range in my opinion including AA and KK. If hero has a solid enough read on loose/passive, aggression is ALARMING!

Villains raise is the first alarm warning. JJ+, QJ and maybe AQ. A faint chance of KT or 9T. Always some chance of a crazy bet, but mostly a solidly value bet. Note that QJ has nine possible hands, three hands each for the sets and six hands for the bigger pairs. Hero is a solid favorite.

I am not raising out of fear / greed. I propose a passive / trapping approach.

Turn would be a check for me. Pot control is a factor, but also getting villain to bet his second best hand. Again hero bets small - $75 into a $145 pot. Maybe this is blocking as much as value?

I really start to hate bottom set when villain min-raises here. Still can't think fold with so many possible two pair hands in play.

River is a check / call (small bet) or check / tank-fold facing a big bet. Pot is $445, villain has $485 behind. Calling the $100 bet is the best play. Expect to see a lot of two pair hands but still lose a lot of hands to the bigger sets.

 

[BGinGA]

Pre-flop: raise to $15 from MP is fine.

Flop ($45 pot): I lead out, but betting bigger (2/3 to 3/4 pot, so ~$30-35 into the $45 pot). I think $20 is too small vs two villains.

As played ($20 bet, re-raised to $50), I'd pop it again to $120-$150. Unlikely villain has either QQ or JJ, but could be raising with almost any Q, J, KT, AT, AK, or middle pair (88-TT). If he's drawing, I want him to pay. If he thinks you missed and his hand is good, I'm expecting another re-raise (and possible jam) which I'm definitely calling. If he slow-played QQ or JJ, good for him.

Turn ($145 pot): The turn A only helps KT, so I'm betting again, in the $100-$125 range. Betting just $75 against this villain seems weak, and I'd expect a villain raise (which you got).

As played ($75 bet, raised to $150), I'm expecting he has two pair here (probably AJ, maybe QJ or AQ), so I'm re-raising to $400 - and calling his jam, with outs if he has KT.

River ($445 pot): With the bet/call history of the hand so far, I think it's fair to assume that if I check, villain will bet. We are losing to three four hands (QQ, JJ, KT, AA), and winning against all others (Ax, Qx, Jx, and all pocket pairs except aces). I'm never folding here, so it's a matter of how best to get stacks in the middle. I think a check/jam is more likely, so I check, planning to jam (or call if he jams).

As played, I jam over his $100 bet.


Not saying it's the only viable approach, but it's how I'd play it. Swing for the fences against this guy.

 

[kmccormick100]

I’m gonna disagree with a lot of posters here haha. I’m opening 77+ from MP almost always. C-bet is a little small on a connected board, I might make it $25-30. Facing what is almost a min raise from the villain, and often an indicator of top pair (I think he has a lot of AQ, KQ, and maybe once in a great while JJ that wasn’t 3bet pre) I’m 3-betting him to $150 and folding to a 4-bet shove. As played the call isn’t terrible, but I think you’re losing some value, and I don’t like planning to donk lead the turn into the raiser oop. His min raise again on the turn is strange, but would make sense with a hand like AQ, QJ or AJ, (occasionally QQ/JJ I guess) he doesn’t sound like the type of villain who’s checkraising KT on that flop. As played with your line I guess a call is ok, and I’m never folding to almost any river bet. His bet of $100 is incredibly weak on the river, never ever folding, it’s either a snap call or possibly a checkraise to $300ish if you want to take what could be the max exploitative/profit line, would be a villain dependent read at this point. Set over set? So be it, as played your hand is way too well disguised to fold.

 

[Kain8]

How @BGinGA plays poker:

 

[kmccormick100]

Pre-flop: raise to $15 from MP is fine.

Flop ($45 pot): I lead out, but betting bigger (2/3 to 3/4 pot, so ~$30-35 into the $45 pot). I think $20 is too small vs two villains.

As played ($20 bet, re-raised to $50), I'd pop it again to $120-$150. Unlikely villain has either QQ or JJ, but could be raising with almost any Q, J, KT, AT, AK, or middle pair (88-TT). If he's drawing, I want him to pay. If he thinks you missed and his hand is good, I'm expecting another re-raise (and possible jam) which I'm definitely calling. If he slow-played QQ or JJ, good for him.

Turn ($145 pot): The turn A only helps KT, so I'm betting again, in the $100-$125 range. Betting just $75 against this villain seems weak, and I'd expect a villain raise (which you got).

As played ($75 bet, raised to $150), I'm expecting he has two pair here (probably AJ, maybe QJ or AQ), so I'm re-raising to $400 - and calling his jam, with outs if he has KT.

River ($445 pot): With the bet/call history of the hand so far, I think it's fair to assume that if I check, villain will bet. We are losing to three four hands (QQ, JJ, KT, AA), and winning against all others (Ax, Qx, Jx, and all pocket pairs except aces). I'm never folding here, so it's a matter of how best to get stacks in the middle. I think a check/jam is more likely, so I check, planning to jam (or call if he jams).

As played, I jam over his $100 bet.


Not saying it's the only viable approach, but it's how I'd play it. Swing for the fences against this guy.

Beat me to the punch, I like that you play like an aggro kid, not a stubborn old guy

 

[Rhodeman77]

Beat me to the punch, I like that you play like an aggro kid, not a stubborn old guy

He knows aggro kids make money, not grumpy old men!

 

[BGinGA]

Works like a charm, especially since I drink coffee at the poker table.

 

[ChaosRock]

Question for those advocating a check/shove on the river: Which hands do you think Villain will call a shove with after Hero raise pre, bet/call the flop raise AND bet/call turn raise? What is the most likely hand Villain thinks Hero has that would take this line.

 

[kmccormick100]

Question for those advocating a check/shove on the river: Which hands do you think Villain will call a shove with after Hero raise pre, bet/call the flop raise AND bet/call turn raise? What is the most likely hand Villain thinks Hero has that would take this line.

AQ, QJ, AJ

 

[ChaosRock]

AQ, QJ, AJ

And Villain is beating what?

 

[Burke]

I think you're giving him too much credit.

 

[BGinGA]

Yeah, I think he's so wrapped up with his two pair that he's not really considering what hands hero may have. He just thinks he's good.

 

[ChaosRock]

Yeah, I think he's so wrapped up with his two pair that he's not really considering what hands hero may have. He just thinks he's good.

I hear you, man... If the read is that strong, yeah by all means... But if you're playing against a half decent player, the shove is definitely -EV, imo.