25 NL: 3-handed aggressive game

[Shattered]

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 3 Players
LegoPoker (http://www.legopoker.com)Hand History Converter (http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

BB: $20.60
Hero (BTN): $53.10
SB: $45.20

Pre-Flop: 5/images/graemlins/club.gif 6/images/graemlins/club.gif dealt to Hero (BTN)
<font color="red">Hero raises to $1</font>, SB folds, BB calls $0.75

Flop: ($2.10) 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif 3/images/graemlins/heart.gif 3/images/graemlins/club.gif (2 Players)
<font color="red">BB bets $2</font>, Hero calls $2

Turn: ($6.10) T/images/graemlins/club.gif (2 Players)
<font color="red">BB bets $5</font>, Hero calls $5

River: ($16.10) A/images/graemlins/diamond.gif (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Villain sat down 3 orbits ago. He had just raised twice in a row out of the SB, and I had 3-bet him from the BB and took down the pot PF the first time, on the turn the second.

Thoughts on any street are appreciated.

[WHITEBOYAEHS]

i usually raise flop here to see where i'm at, this usually makes the hand easier to play... i think you can maybe take it down on the river(you fold out a lot of pps which are a big part of his range here imo)

[Woody317]

I think flat calling the flop is really bad actually. When he leads into you he either has a hand or is bluffing. You're not going to get any more action out of a bluff unless he hits one of the overcards so it's best to just raise the flop and slow down if called. The last thing you want is to give him a look at the turn and have an overcard hit.

Personally i think i'd just fold the flop and wait for a better time to take him on if he's aggro but if you want to play, raising is far better than calling

[vixticator]

You have initiative as PF raiser, flopped a pair on a safe board (hint: you aren't stacking off) and facing a donk bet. He doesn't have anything most of the time, really weak lead. Raise this bet IMO. He can have just about any hand so you don't know which overcards to be careful about on turn/river. He can just value town if he spikes one. Make a pot sized raise and bet the turn if he calls. Dump if re-raised which isn't happening much.

[Bavid Denyamine]

raising the flop lets you play your hand perfectly instead of c/c and hoping to be good

[Shattered]

Thanks, everyone.

One thing is bothering me, though: Doesn't raising the flop allow villain to play perfectly? He's not getting bluffed off a pair and he's giving up with overcards so I figured at the time I'd flat call two streets instead of raising flop and putting in essentially the same amount of money. Sure, I don't protect my hand and I'm playing it passively, but is it still not worth it when villain occasionally double barrels?

[Woody317]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks, everyone.

One thing is bothering me, though: Doesn't raising the flop allow villain to play perfectly? He's not getting bluffed off a pair and he's giving up with overcards so I figured at the time I'd flat call two streets instead of raising flop and putting in essentially the same amount of money. Sure, I don't protect my hand and I'm playing it passively, but is it still not worth it when villain occasionally double barrels?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's pretty much the same reason you raise very wet flops when you've got top set. If he's betting as a bluff you're unlikely to get any more value out of him. Why then give him the chance to catch up by hitting the overcards?

I'd say that if he bets the turn it's more likely that he either had a hand on the flop or caught top pair on the turn so you're likely behind when calling the turn so there's no value in seeing that street.

This is a position when you don't have strong enough cards to continue when an overcard hits on the turn so giving him a free look is too risky. Don't get greedy and don't give him a chance to hit. So raise the flop.

[Supwithbates]

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[ QUOTE ]
Thanks, everyone.

One thing is bothering me, though: Doesn't raising the flop allow villain to play perfectly? He's not getting bluffed off a pair and he's giving up with overcards so I figured at the time I'd flat call two streets instead of raising flop and putting in essentially the same amount of money. Sure, I don't protect my hand and I'm playing it passively, but is it still not worth it when villain occasionally double barrels?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's pretty much the same reason you raise very wet flops when you've got top set. If he's betting as a bluff you're unlikely to get any more value out of him. Why then give him the chance to catch up by hitting the overcards?

I'd say that if he bets the turn it's more likely that he either had a hand on the flop or caught top pair on the turn so you're likely behind when calling the turn so there's no value in seeing that street.

This is a position when you don't have strong enough cards to continue when an overcard hits on the turn so giving him a free look is too risky. Don't get greedy and don't give him a chance to hit. So raise the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Raising the flop is bad at 25nl. Your opponents play badly and predictably, so we are much less likely to make a mistake later on in the hand than our opponent is.

When he donks the flop we are easily ahead enough to make the call. The turn is more iffy but if villain is aggessive the call is fine, especially 3handed (note though that opponents at unl are not as likely to adjust aggression for 3handed as they should).

Calling the flop induces opponent from making a mistake, whereas raising the flop is a move designed to prevent us from making a bigger mistake down the road. Villain will almost always play perfectly on this flop when we raise, whereas smoothcalling allows him to continue bluffing or betting a worse hand, or potentially he'll c/c river with 54 or 44.

I like OP's line if villain is aggressive. Turn call is iffy for the stakes b/c they're rarely betting so big 2x with a worse hand, but with our flushdraw to go with the pair it's not bad.

I think this hand becomes more interesting if villain checks to you on turn. Do we bet or check behind? I often opt to check behind because I don't think they fold 66 here often enough to make it a profitable spot to bet, and it would really suck to get c/r here.

[Supwithbates]

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[ QUOTE ]
Thanks, everyone.

One thing is bothering me, though: Doesn't raising the flop allow villain to play perfectly? He's not getting bluffed off a pair and he's giving up with overcards so I figured at the time I'd flat call two streets instead of raising flop and putting in essentially the same amount of money. Sure, I don't protect my hand and I'm playing it passively, but is it still not worth it when villain occasionally double barrels?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's pretty much the same reason you raise very wet flops when you've got top set. If he's betting as a bluff you're unlikely to get any more value out of him. Why then give him the chance to catch up by hitting the overcards?

I'd say that if he bets the turn it's more likely that he either had a hand on the flop or caught top pair on the turn so you're likely behind when calling the turn so there's no value in seeing that street.

This is a position when you don't have strong enough cards to continue when an overcard hits on the turn so giving him a free look is too risky. Don't get greedy and don't give him a chance to hit. So raise the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]
No, raising wet flops with top set is for value. There's no such thing as "not having strong enough cards to continue", because if your opponent is bluffing with a high enough frequency in a situation then it's correct to call him down with bottom pair.

[bozzer]

i probably fold flop, cos he's repping an overpair for a good section of his range and if it's an aggressive game you don't have much fe.

turn is a definate fold.

river as played bluff-shoving a lot looks good depending on image.