Hand I Played At The Horseshoe Las Vegas Sunday Night 03/29/2024 (1 Viewer)

[bernielomax]

Hero is playing 8 handed $1/$3 NLH, $300 max buy-in at The Horseshoe Las Vegas. Hero has been playing at the same table since around 11:30pm. The time is 2:30am. Hero has had a good night so far, placing 5th in the 8pm $160 tournament and has a current stack size of around $875 up from his initial $200 buy-in. This is a good $1/$3 game, with people that came to play poker versus the previous night with several people going all-in pre flop without looking at their cards.

The game is all over the place, so there is no “standard” pre flop raises or sizing. Sometimes 5 limpers to the flop, other times pre flop raises are between $10-$50.

Seated to the hero’s left is the most aggressive (and capable opponent IMO) player at the table who played in a WSOP senior’s circuit event earlier in the day, with around $3K effective. This has not been an ideal table position, so the hero generally assumes this player will be raising if playing a hand. Hero has slowly been chipping away at his stack all night with several good calls/reads. This player has also made a couple of comments characterizing hero as being difficult to read and bluff off hands. We will call him Senior.

Seated to the hero’s right is a younger player who looks to be a regular/local, perhaps a player with aspirations of becoming a pro. This player has showed up around 1pm the last two nights and is known by the floor/staff. This player wears earbuds, carries a backpack and has an I-pad with a livestream poker game playing. Hero’s regards this player as capable, but a bit cocky/arrogant. This player has witnessed several of the hero’s winning hands; including a hand where the hero slow played an A-high flush and stacked another opponent. Calling him Junior. He has around $325 effective.

The remaining players at the table are not material to the hand.

The time is 2:30am. Hero is in the cutoff and looks down at .

Action folds around to Junior who bets $10. Hero calls. Senior, who is on the button raises to $20. Junior and hero both call. 3 way to the flop with $64 in the pot (minus rake).

Flop:



Junior is first to act and bets $75.

Hero?

 

[JMC9389]

Raise to $200

 

[Taghkanic]

I assume Junior is donking here with Kx and all draws. If he were super strong he might check raise instead, right?

Meanwhile if you just call, Senior would be getting too good a price to overcall with all his draws.

I would raise… unless you feel certain that a call will induce a big bet from Senior (with worse than middle set).

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Most capable and aggressive opponent minclicks preflop, is that weird? Hate that lol, but it works when we get our set! Yeah I go big enough to spook them, Im in a weird positon between them. Reraise to $200-225

(And congrats on the wins, well done man, though I dont mind if people are just going nuts and shoving their hundreds!)

 

[kmccormick100]

First off the min click over a raise and call from a tight solid old guy is a weird red flag - that screams strength QQ-AA, AKss sort of vibes trying to induce a reraise from Junior or keep inferior hands in.

The kid sounds like a try-hard, but donking out for over pot isn’t solid strategy in any competent player’s arsenal. Would probably put him on a range of draws/combo draws Ax cc, 45s if he’s aggro, and some KQ KJ combos.

Personally I lean towards exploitative here and am trying to stack somebody with a hand that is very strong and pretty well disguised. I probably flat the $75, hoping to get senior to raise “to protect” something like AA or AK and letting you backraise all in. I put maybe AKcc and AQcc as the only possible draws he might have. I don’t mind going 3 ways if he flats and getting it in on the turn on a non-club.

 

[kmccormick100]

We need more action!

 

[Legend5555]

This is a good $1/$3 game, with people that came to play poker versus the previous night with several people going all-in pre flop without looking at their cards.

A good 1/3 game is the one where people came to play? And NOT the one with people blind jamming? We have vastly different ideas of a good game.

Wait a minute...

A hoodie backpack earbud kid leads out into the the min clicking 3 bettor for more than pot? Leaving himself 225 behind? And the min clicking old man is capable? I think we might have the wrong reads on everyone here.

I don't have any issue with the way you've played this to this point at all though. Pretty standard given the action. The kid literally never has KK here. But his bet is so big that it actually won't be hard to get your entire 800 in by the river whether you raise or call assuming old guy is never folding.

The issue with raising is that it's going to look incredibly strong since you are raising a more than pot sized bet from someone who broke flow to begin with. For that reason, I think just call. You risk a flush, but it's also the play that let's the old guy who has much more money for you to win to stay on the pot.

Plan:
Call. If old man raises and kid jams, you jam.

Call. If old man raises and kid folds, you jam. You don't really want to call because you are OOP and if you ever think to yourself "I'm going to call them lead safe turns," then you should just be raising now barring some read on villain.

Call. If old man calls, kid will likely jam turn and you can over jam or call depending on turn card.

 

[bernielomax]

I agree, both opponents never have KK in this spot.

My assessment was that Junior has a Broadway hand with a K and hates the two clubs on the board. Junior is looking to take down the hand right now with his bet of $75.

Senior’s min raise to $20 pre flop was not concerning to me. I have seen Senior use a small bet/raise strategy even with marginal hands to see where he is at. Senior raising Junior’s pre-flop bet of $10 was probably more of a feeler bet to see if he gets a re-raise from a super strong hand. My take was that senior probably has A10 or below or even a small pocket pair. I don’t think senior will stay around if I bet.

I am certain I have the best hand with trips at this point but don’t want to play the hand 3 way with the club draw.

I want to trap a premium hand with a K.

I am also happy to take down the pot right now given a flush draw is on the board.

I tank for about 2 minutes and ask for a count of Junior’s stack. I decide to to play the hand super strong and go all in.

Senior folds immediately. Junior snap calls and shows . I flip over my hand and junior is not happy and begins reaching for his wallet. But I get an unfortunate runout.

Turn is the , river is

Board is

Hero gets his money in ahead, but loses the hand to a better full house.

I know these scenarios are always difficult to comment on because you have somewhat limited information and have not been sitting at the table for hours watching players.

What do you think of the way I played this hand?

What do you think of Junior’s call/play?

 

[Rieguy]

I think Junior watched too much Windwalker on Hustler Casino Live

 

[doublebooyah85]

This is a good $1/$3 game, with people that came to play poker versus the previous night with several people going all-in pre flop without looking at their cards.

 

[Legend5555]

I really don't like your jam. You are going to get all in vs Junior no matter what happens. It's more important to figure out how to maximize against senior. By jaming you just shut senior out of playing any flush draw KX and even potentially AA. Though, an old guy min raising and sitting on 3k in a capped game probably isn't folding AA here.

 

[bernielomax]

It's more important to figure out how to maximize against senior. By jaming you just shut senior out of playing any flush draw KX and even potentially AA. Though, an old guy min raising and sitting on 3k in a capped game probably isn't folding AA here.

This is a fair point. I am not exactly sure how to maximize against Senior in this situation and given our hand history. But I do see what you are saying.

At the time I think I was more concerned about forcing Senior out of the hand and getting Junior to call with a KQ, KJ, K10, AK, a hand that was an underdog. I guess I got what I wanted, but not a clean runout.

What do you think about Junior's call? What sort of hand does Junior put me on? (with just a call on the flop)

 

[jamesjkim]

What sort of hand does Junior put me on?

Probably AK or flush draw. Maybe not AK since you flatted the preflop raise. Don't think he thought you had a set.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Probably AK or flush draw. Maybe not AK since you flatted the preflop raise. Don't think he thought you had a set.

I hope he discounts AK, players have seen bernie play decently and he's not just calling twice with AK. I know the joke is "I put you on AK" lol but it would be weird to end up there after 2 calls.

 

[Legend5555]

This is a fair point. I am not exactly sure how to maximize against Senior in this situation and given our hand history. But I do see what you are saying.

At the time I think I was more concerned about forcing Senior out of the hand and getting Junior to call with a KQ, KJ, K10, AK, a hand that was an underdog. I guess I got what I wanted, but not a clean runout.

What do you think about Junior's call? What sort of hand does Junior put me on? (with just a call on the flop)

I mean, he's flopped 2 pair heads up and and is getting 2 to 1, I'm not sure how he's supposed to fold. If he runs into 66, then oh well.

Your question implies that you could never have worse here, which I think is more telling of your game.

Edit: I see... If you just call then I think he can put you on KX, flush draws, 66. He will likely jam blank turns.

 

[bernielomax]

.

 

[JustinInMN]

I tank for about 2 minutes and ask for a count of Junior’s stack. I decide to to play the hand super strong and go all in.

Senior folds immediately. Junior snap calls and shows . I flip over my hand and junior is not happy and begins reaching for his wallet. But I get an unfortunate runout.

Turn is the , river is

Board is

Hero gets his money in ahead, but loses the hand to a better full house.

I know these scenarios are always difficult to comment on because you have somewhat limited information and have not been sitting at the table for hours watching players.

What do you think of the way I played this hand?

What do you think of Junior’s call/play?

I think you played this fine. I might consider a 3-bet/fold line pre with Senior yet to act, just to really narrow his range if he should come in. Usually I wouldn't 3-bet 66 pre, but this would be an exploit decision if junior is raising too loose. (in fairness I have the benefit of the result when I mention this.) Flatting twice is fine as well if you just want to go full set-mine mode, nothing wrong with that.

I don't hate the flop shove, I get it's tempting to get trappy with a set, but the board is wet and if Senior is a good player, he probably is not going to give away his chips later in the hand, I don't mind raising now to limit what he can continue with since we are out of position against him. If he has a flush draw, he is probably willing to call $75 in what would be about a $220 pot if hero calls instead. So I think the raise make sense to avoid giving a good player a great price to draw in position and is probably good enough to maximize his positional advantage to play perfectly against us. Senior should pay more for all that privilege. The only real defeat for hero by raising flop is if senior has a Kx that he might continue with after hero calls, but finds a hero fold against our hero's raise. Otherwise the upside to hero raising is charging more for the draw or otherwise avoiding uncomfortable out of position spots against a solid villain and really narrowing his holdings.

As for junior, I think everyone on here will identify the preflop action as a mistake, but other than that, he played it fine once he flops kings-up. Players that play junk pre aren't looking for hero-folds on a flop. Maybe there's an argument his sizing on the flop (greater than pot) was too high and he put himself in a situation where it would be too tough to get called by worse. (Which plays to hero's advantage because that means hero will gain max when he avoids the two-outer.) But There is no way Junior should ever be folding kings-up on this flop, even if you quibble about the bet size.

 

[JustinInMN]

I really don't like your jam. You are going to get all in vs Junior no matter what happens. It's more important to figure out how to maximize against senior. By jaming you just shut senior out of playing any flush draw KX and even potentially AA. Though, an old guy min raising and sitting on 3k in a capped game probably isn't folding AA here.

I guess I question how much is there really to be gained from Senior in this situation. If he's solid, he's not going to give the chips away later in the hand. He also has position on us, which will make it very difficult to win extra with the the best hand.

I do agree you laid out the risk of the jam here, he surely can have AA and AK (and KK for that matter in which case hero is screwed no matter what), and maaaaaybe some KQ (maybe only KQs) if he's also decided to 3-bet wider if he also assumes Junior is opening light. And if he finds a hero fold there it sucks. Beyond that, I see no other Kx from a solid player having 3-bet pre over an open and a limp. Senior can also have :Ac::Qc: or :Ac::Jc: as flush draws for sure, and also a lot of AQ, and AJ misses from which we as hero were never going to see another chip anyway.

So I guess to me by flatting flop hero would be trying to keep a pretty narrow portion of Senior's range in, when most of the time, there won't be another dime to be won from Senior, unless we lay him a pretty good price on a flush draw that will surely get us stacked if we hit, or might not continue if the board pairs.

I guess I am thinking one in the hand here, hero almost surely has the best hand against a player that's pot-stuck himself and there's no reason to give Senior a chance at a discount.

 

[Legend5555]

I guess I question how much is there really to be gained from Senior in this situation. If he's solid, he's not going to give the chips away later in the hand. He also has position on us, which will make it very difficult to win extra with the the best hand.

I do agree you laid out the risk of the jam here, he surely can have AA and AK (and KK for that matter in which case hero is screwed no matter what), and maaaaaybe some KQ (maybe only KQs) if he's also decided to 3-bet wider if he also assumes Junior is opening light. And if he finds a hero fold there it sucks. Beyond that, I see no other Kx from a solid player having 3-bet pre over an open and a limp. Senior can also have :Ac::Qc: or :Ac::Jc: as flush draws for sure, and also a lot of AQ, and AJ misses from which we as hero were never going to see another chip anyway.

So I guess to me by flatting flop hero would be trying to keep a pretty narrow portion of Senior's range in, when most of the time, there won't be another dime to be won from Senior, unless we lay him a pretty good price on a flush draw that will surely get us stacked if we hit, or might not continue if the board pairs.

I guess I am thinking one in the hand here, hero almost surely has the best hand against a player that's pot-stuck himself and there's no reason to give Senior a chance at a discount.

Senior min raised an open. I didn't think he's solid in the slightest. Someone sitting on 3k in a capped game of this size is rarely a solid player. It's usually a sun running player, good or bad. And bad players usually get the better end of this type of variance because they play more hands. To get that much in a capped game, you have to be playing a lot of hands and winning them all. His min raised coupled with his stack size, leads me to surmise that he isn't that good, and likes to play a lot of pots period. So I want to do whatever necessary to give this guy rope.

 

[JustinInMN]

Senior min raised an open. I didn't think he's solid in the slightest. Someone sitting on 3k in a capped game of this size is rarely a solid player. It's usually a sun running player, good or bad. And bad players usually get the better end of this type of variance because they play more hands. To get that much in a capped game, you have to be playing a lot of hands and winning them all. His min raised coupled with his stack size, leads me to surmise that he isn't that good, and likes to play a lot of pots period. So I want to do whatever necessary to give this guy rope.

That makes a lot of sense actually, did not consider the cap, but yes, this means he must have one at least one huge multiway pot somewhere along the way, and I suppose loose players are more likely to have done that.

I may have fallen into a trap where I assume most tournament players are too tight for their own good when they play cash.