stefalopod
High Hand
I have a question about a hand I played on Friday. I won the hand but am kinda confused about villain's holding.
$1-$3 NLH, 9-way at a casino. I'm HJ, villain is on the button. Villain had the table covered when I sat down, tall stacks were hard to count exactly so I'm guessing $650. I'd observed him playing pretty tight but generally well. I'm roughly $280 and hadn't been playing much. Pretty standard range but hand't seen many good hands.
In one earlier hand he claimed to have folded
against my all-in with 
, though a down the table took the pot. The river on that hand was a so he was a little bitter about folding it. He said he thought I had aces. I never showed my hand and he kept asking what I had. I never call out my cards on a meaningful hand unless I have to so he was a little unsettled about me.
Hero/HJ:
2 limpers before me, I make it $10. Villain, BB, both limpers call.
Pot is $46.
Flop:
, 
,
Checked to me, I make it $15. 1/3 pot seems like a good C-bet as the PFL, as I'm now second to last to act and can get info with my backdoor and gutshot draws. Villain calls, 1 early position calls, others fold.
Pot is $91.
Turn:
Early position checks to me. Now with a legit combo draw, I continue my aggressive line and bet $45 as a semi-bluff. BB raises to $145, early position folds, and I tank to think over what he could have. The pot is $281 and I am looking at a $100 raise on a paired board but have a legit draw. I could be dead or drawing really thin or I could be in a decent spot.
To me, both 3s are blanks because I raised preflop. Could he have called with
and I'm dead against quads? Yeah, but if he is then congrats dude. I don't think he's on or , or he'd have 3-bet pre flop. Could I be drawing dead vs 
? Sure but from watching him earlier, I think he raises the flop with 2-pair.
So I've narrowed down his range a lot to something like
, 
. It makes more sense to me that he has me on a medium to strong pocket pair and is trying to push me out now. While filling up here could make sense, I'm just not buying it. Because of the earlier hand I think there's a really good chance he's (accurately) not giving me credit for a premium. He can't have 
or because I have. So the likely nut flush draw combos I see are
and maybe
. I think
would have raised preflop or on the flop, though it can't be completely eliminated.
So I have him on a strong but not premium and, looking at 11 outs to hit my draw (every and every club but ), I call. I've got over $100 left and my implied odds are really good if I hit. So I make the call, though it's a pretty thin call and I don't like it.
River:
The absolute best card for me. Backdoor flush would have been way more obvious with my line, plus there's a small but nonzero chance he'd have had my flush beat with an. I bet all-in and he calls.
I table my hand and he says it's good (yay), he seems pretty frustrated. Which I get. But then, as the dealer is pushing me the chips, he flips over before mucking. Which confuses the hell out of me. This doesn't change my outs too much (cutting out one card, whatever 
his other card was) but is a very different hand than what I had worked out. And with that thin of a margin for a call, removing one out makes a difference.
just seems like a strange card to be holding on the turn without , 
, or even 
to go with it. I feel like it has to be suited, but he called a bet preflop and the a C-bet with and on the board with bottom pair and no backdoor or straight draw (sure, 
or 
are connected and could be runner-runner but come on).
The only thing I can see is so I'm assuming it was that.
The only story I can come up with is that he's got baby suited connectors on the button, sees it's a multiway pot, and calls my raise. Because he's a little steamed at me (or thinks I don't know how to play since I made him fold), he specifically wants to play against me and calls with the tiny pair on the flop despite the big cards. From the turn, his actions make sense. I think it's also important to note that his play the rest of the night made sense to me too.
I won the pot and am thrilled about that but am trying to work on my game to understand why everything's happening. It's a little unsettling to not be sure if I fully understand my biggest pot of the night.
The fact that it's $1-$3 on a Friday night definitely plays into it, adding a little bit of rec variability to his play, but all his other plays seemed fine. I'm posting here mostly to see if anyone has any input on my thought process, considering I read his actual hand poorly despite having the intended result.
Feel free to pick apart my reasoning or my play. Here to get better.
Thanks all.
Always overthinking,
Stefalopod
$1-$3 NLH, 9-way at a casino. I'm HJ, villain is on the button. Villain had the table covered when I sat down, tall stacks were hard to count exactly so I'm guessing $650. I'd observed him playing pretty tight but generally well. I'm roughly $280 and hadn't been playing much. Pretty standard range but hand't seen many good hands.
In one earlier hand he claimed to have folded
against my all-in with , though a down the table took the pot. The river on that hand was a so he was a little bitter about folding it. He said he thought I had aces. I never showed my hand and he kept asking what I had. I never call out my cards on a meaningful hand unless I have to so he was a little unsettled about me.Hero/HJ:
2 limpers before me, I make it $10. Villain, BB, both limpers call.
Pot is $46.
Flop:
, ,Checked to me, I make it $15. 1/3 pot seems like a good C-bet as the PFL, as I'm now second to last to act and can get info with my backdoor and gutshot draws. Villain calls, 1 early position calls, others fold.
Pot is $91.
Turn:
Early position checks to me. Now with a legit combo draw, I continue my aggressive line and bet $45 as a semi-bluff. BB raises to $145, early position folds, and I tank to think over what he could have. The pot is $281 and I am looking at a $100 raise on a paired board but have a legit draw. I could be dead or drawing really thin or I could be in a decent spot.
To me, both 3s are blanks because I raised preflop. Could he have called with
and I'm dead against quads? Yeah, but if he is then congrats dude. I don't think he's on or , or he'd have 3-bet pre flop. Could I be drawing dead vs ? Sure but from watching him earlier, I think he raises the flop with 2-pair.So I've narrowed down his range a lot to something like
, . It makes more sense to me that he has me on a medium to strong pocket pair and is trying to push me out now. While filling up here could make sense, I'm just not buying it. Because of the earlier hand I think there's a really good chance he's (accurately) not giving me credit for a premium. He can't have or because I have. So the likely nut flush draw combos I see are and maybe. I think would have raised preflop or on the flop, though it can't be completely eliminated.So I have him on a strong but not premium
and, looking at 11 outs to hit my draw (every and every club but ), I call. I've got over $100 left and my implied odds are really good if I hit. So I make the call, though it's a pretty thin call and I don't like it.River:
The absolute best card for me. Backdoor flush would have been way more obvious with my line, plus there's a small but nonzero chance he'd have had my flush beat with an
. I bet all-in and he calls.I table my hand and he says it's good (yay), he seems pretty frustrated. Which I get. But then, as the dealer is pushing me the chips, he flips over
before mucking. Which confuses the hell out of me. This doesn't change my outs too much (cutting out one card, whatever his other card was) but is a very different hand than what I had worked out. And with that thin of a margin for a call, removing one out makes a difference. just seems like a strange card to be holding on the turn without , , or even to go with it. I feel like it has to be suited, but he called a bet preflop and the a C-bet with and on the board with bottom pair and no backdoor or straight draw (sure, or are connected and could be runner-runner but come on).The only thing I can see is
so I'm assuming it was that.The only story I can come up with is that he's got baby suited connectors on the button, sees it's a multiway pot, and calls my raise. Because he's a little steamed at me (or thinks I don't know how to play since I made him fold
), he specifically wants to play against me and calls with the tiny pair on the flop despite the big cards. From the turn, his actions make sense. I think it's also important to note that his play the rest of the night made sense to me too.I won the pot and am thrilled about that but am trying to work on my game to understand why everything's happening. It's a little unsettling to not be sure if I fully understand my biggest pot of the night.
The fact that it's $1-$3 on a Friday night definitely plays into it, adding a little bit of rec variability to his play, but all his other plays seemed fine. I'm posting here mostly to see if anyone has any input on my thought process, considering I read his actual hand poorly despite having the intended result.
Feel free to pick apart my reasoning or my play. Here to get better.
Thanks all.
Always overthinking,
Stefalopod
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