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minotaurs's picture
Playing top pair readless PART 1

 1st hand without reads Effective Stacks: 75bb Blinds 10/20 Pre-Flop (30, 2 players) Hero is SB Hero raises to 60, villain calls 40  Flop (120, 2 players) Hero bets 60, villain raises to 180, Hero calls 120  Turn (480, 2 players) villain bets 320, Hero calls 320  River (1120, 2 players) villain bets 940 and is all in, Hero ?How should we be playing this hand, is this standart to loose all chips if he have a set or 2 pairs? Is it even +EV to call down all ur stack here?And how to play board like this QhTh7s [5s] [2d] with same actions and betting? and how about EV here?  

danzig's picture
Only real decision here is

Only real decision here is 4bet/flop or flatting the checkraise.Whats better in this kind of situation depends on how often he has air and will keep firing vs whats better against his valuerange, will we lose value on scarecards(for him or for us)?On the dry example if you're not willing to stack off with TPTK for 75bb readless you're way too tight. Only hands that beat you are Q7 77 55 and AA KK which probably would have 3bet. That are VERY few combos (+ there are two blocker two q7).Given that the only scarecard for us is a king and for him probably an ace(3 remaining) and a king, which furthermore is not a big part of his checkraising-range and it's possible that he has air which will probably fold if we raise we're probably better off just flatting him. If he has some value hand we beat we get our value probably anyways(flatting might even induce him to vbet lighter or call lighter since we might be floating) This texture is EXTREMELY dry. And then we just call down pretty much ignorant of future cards. If a king turns I'd still call down, it improves a small part of his range but he might few this a good card to barrel if he has air. If we're ahead on the flop the turn is very unlikely to improve him.We might want to raise the turn if he bets too small, since we want to play for stacks (kq qj and then some), or if the turncard is especially threatening(which in the dry example I think is not possible).oh yea, set or 2pair is a cooler on the flop with TPTK in husngs, pretty much always(against some nits you can make herofolds). I'd call off weaker queens, I think at least QTo+ (though not nearly as happy) just based on how narrow the valuerange that beats us is. And it's absolutely possible for villain to have air or checkraise and stackoff with toppair-no-kicker. Readless I'd have a hard time to get away from any queen on a board this dry (though I would not necessarily cbet q2-q6 or so, little value and great bluffcatchers). It's not a happy spot but it happens too rarely to be important. Later on you've got reads and can decide if your hand is good enough to get more chips in (I would flat at least any normal-sized checkraise w TP if it's not too much of my stack and I'm not willing to stack off).On the wet example the value of your toppair goes way down, if you're good you'll get outdrawn more often + air gets less likely. standardrange for villain is valuehand/draw, you don't want the draws to see more cards for free(including all the gutshots) + you don't want his weaker toppairs to get scared. Lots of cards we don't want to see. So I'd reraise QT+ (qt because its 2pair) for value. This deep I wouldn't be happy about felting much worse, weaker toppairs I would just call or fold. If I end up calling down depends on cards action and reads. Q9-Q2, if a heart an A K or J drop I'll probably end up folding because it becomes hard for villain to have air. If he does something I don't believe he can do with air/missed draw I'll end up folding. The weakest queens I might just end up folding to the checkraise on the flop, reasoning that we're either crushed or slightly behind in a reverse implied odds situation. If he would have checkraised to 240 I would herofold Q9, at 200 I would think Q8 borderline(also taking backdoordraws in account). I'm just not that interested, That's not a spot where the money comes from. With reads I might be willing to reraise the flop way lighter or call lighter because I'll have way more of an idea where I stand on turn and river. If I know he's passive I can easily get away if he bets the turn big, and I'll have an idea about that after a couple hands.

danzig's picture
P.S.:  On the wet example,

P.S.: On the wet example, these are about the best turn and river cards you can hope for, any toppair has improved in value because you now beat all missed draws, so readless I'd probably end up calling down.

ka5321's picture
its comes down to expected

its comes down to expected long term EV vs short term EV.... 
what i mean by this, is the fact that this board is dry, and villain is triple barrelling you on this dry board....  its an either way ahead way behind scenario... i really dont see many ppl taking this line with complete air... at best he's value owning himself with a worse TPMK scenario, where he has JQ,QK,TQ type hand, and is thinking tht he value betting you.. if he's a competent villain, i could see more value range here, where ur AQ isnt faring well here....
i mean, if you guys are having rematches or playing long sessions with each other, i would call down. since you could be ahead, and if you lose, you can take notes on his triple barrelling range under readless situations, thus preparing you for future matches vs the same villains.... but in a vacuum i would make a crying fold........
 
 
i would be more inclined to call down villain lighter on the second board: Q(h)T(h)7(s)/5(s)/2d)
since the board now hs more missed FD+SD combos tht villain couldve been semibluffing with on the flop.... you can see on turn, the board is double-toned, where it presents a more plausible scenario of villain having a combodraw/draw , as opposed to a value range hand... AQ is basically the top of ur bluffcatching range on river, in second scenario....
 
 
 havent played in a while., hope others can comment on my opinions