10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

Villain was 26/23/4 after 57 hands. No other reads on him. Did I play this alright?

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.10 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

MP ($3.55)
CO ($3.85)
Hero ($11.40)
SB ($16.10)
BB ($5.95)
UTG ($11.75)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
<font color="#CC3333">UTG raises to $0.35</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $1.4</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, UTG calls $1.05.

Flop: ($2.95) 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">UTG bets $1.5</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $10 (All-In)...

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

My immediate response is that he is going to fold all the hands that you beat and call with the hands that you don't want to see. This is a draw heavy board and he is firing at you OOP, but his stats indicate that he is a very aggressive player. I would have put a modest raise in on the flop, say up to $4. He most probably has two high overcards like AQ or KQ. If he wants to pay that money to have a shot at drawing out then that's great. I just don't like these all-ins on the flop. You can often get more money out of these guys by playing the turn and river with a bit of thought. With flop all-ins like this, the only time you're going to get called is when you're really in the crap, like when he's holding TT. So you either win a little pot or you lose your stack.

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

Hey Akak,

Alot of players get this situation confused - the flop looks like a real tough spot, and they wonder what the best plan is.

Interestingly enough, the decision lies not on the flop, but preflop. If your opponent calls reraises light, and stacks off with a wide range of hands, then preflop is fine, and the flop is fine too. A raise to $5 or $10 doesn't make a difference, except for the rare cases when he reraise-bluffs on the flop.

That said against an unknown I don't love preflop, you're going to be value-stacking yourself a fair amount (vs sets and QQ+) so you need to *know* that he will pay you off with worse PPs, or worse flopped pairs, to make it worthwhile.

Surf

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

Surf,

So you call pf against an unknown? Then try to hit a set, and/or keep the pot small?

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

[ QUOTE ]
My immediate response is that he is going to fold all the hands that you beat and call with the hands that you don't want to see. This is a draw heavy board and he is firing at you OOP, but his stats indicate that he is a very aggressive player. I would have put a modest raise in on the flop, say up to $4. He most probably has two high overcards like AQ or KQ. If he wants to pay that money to have a shot at drawing out then that's great. I just don't like these all-ins on the flop. You can often get more money out of these guys by playing the turn and river with a bit of thought. With flop all-ins like this, the only time you're going to get called is when you're really in the crap, like when he's holding TT. So you either win a little pot or you lose your stack.

[/ QUOTE ]

The pot wasn't little when I went allin. After his raise it was 44.5BB, so I don't mind taking it down right there.

Doing anything but calling commits me here, and since there are a ton of scare cards that could hit on the turn (A,K,Q, any spade). I think just calling is out.

And since any sized raise commits me, the pot is pretty big, and my hand is very vulnerable, I pushed.

Also, I discounted QQ+ heavily due to his high pfr and the fact that he didn't 4-bet me. This probably shouldn't have played as much into my decision as it did, due to the sample size and lack of real preflop reads.

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

[ QUOTE ]
And since any sized raise commits me, the pot is pretty big, and my hand is very vulnerable, I pushed.

[/ QUOTE ]

And I understand this .... but, by doing this you let him get away from the hand relatively cheaply. I prefer to keep them in there with a hand like AQo or a smaller pocket pair. But I feel comfortable playing the Turn and River in these situations. So often in these situations the only time they're going to call you is when you're going to get stacked. Maybe I'm wrong, I've only just gone back to no limit after a long lay off.

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

[ QUOTE ]
Surf,

So you call pf against an unknown? Then try to hit a set, and/or keep the pot small?

[/ QUOTE ]

While this particular opponent's pfr is super-high, how he reacts to a 3bet is far more important than what he's open-raising when deciding what to 3bet with, and how much.

Until I had more information, like seeing him call a reraise OOP with a SC or small PP, I would default to call in these games.

Surf

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Surf,

So you call pf against an unknown? Then try to hit a set, and/or keep the pot small?

[/ QUOTE ]

While this particular opponent's pfr is super-high, how he reacts to a 3bet is far more important than what he's open-raising when deciding what to 3bet with, and how much.

Until I had more information, like seeing him call a reraise OOP with a SC or small PP, I would default to call in these games.

Surf

[/ QUOTE ]

Whereas in tougher games, you would 3-bet to widen your 3-bet range?

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

I was just giving some thought on watching how opponents react to three-bets. So if this opponent folded to my push, would you make a note like:

Calls 3-bets with hands &lt; TT.

Re: 10NL - JJ on Button versus a pfr
 

[ QUOTE ]
I was just giving some thought on watching how opponents react to three-bets. So if this opponent folded to my push, would you make a note like:

Calls 3-bets with hands &lt; TT.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's hard to discern his hand if he folded, he almost certainly has something non-premium, though there is some (small) chance he bet-folded QQ, or turned AK into an ugly bluff. I'd rather wait to actually see cards shown down to make that kind of note.

WRT 3betting JJ preflop - in a "tough" game I wouldn't reraise JJ, since my tough opponents will 4bet bluff me / 4bet valueraise me enough that I hate getting 4bet still, and conversely they may trap call with KK/AA.

However in an overaggressive game I'll 3bet JJ for value (and call a shove) because there is so much preflop shenanigans going on, and so much "he knows i know he knows so i'll bluff shove" type stuff, especially if I've been active with reraises recently.
Note that one cannot assume a game is overaggro just because it is, say, a 5/10 or 10/20 game, this is more of an opponent-specific type thing.

Surf