[Jeff76]

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Whenever I'm in this situation I think about strong hands they will be willing to commit with (JJ+, any 8, sd/fd) and what is the best way to go about playing for stacks in that situation.

[/ QUOTE ]Exactly, however I think I've come to a different conclusion. There are some hands in his range that we'll get it in with no matter what happens. If he has an 8 then stacks are going in. If he has an overpair strong enough to stack off with (KK/AA and maybe QQ), then stacks are going in short of an overcard coming.

The part of his range I am most concerned about is the hands he wont be itching to get me all in with- the lower pairs. They are the only ones that really matter (since the other hands play themselves no matter what I do) so that's what I should play to extract value from. I don't think any of those hands can call a re-raise here, but if I call it's hard to put me on a hand a small pair can beat.

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raise to somewhere in the vicinity of $17-$20 and shove any turn that isn't an 8.

[/ QUOTE ]The thing is, I'd rather build the pot slowly. If he's got a fast hand, we'll get it in on the turn, but I'd prefer to slowly turn up the heat to get him to commit too much with a weaker hand.

Very often (at this level at least) a slow build where you bet on all streets and leave villain with a less than PSB on the river gets them to commit with all sorts of weak hands. They just don't realize what's going on until it's too late. I'd actually have preferred he didn't raise, as then I could keep building gradually rather than being forced to define my hand.

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You run 25/12/3 and you are worried about him putting you on aces here?

[/ QUOTE ]Those aren't THAT aggressive of stats. Plus, who pays attention at 50NL?


Don't get me wrong, I'm all for raising and betting with strong hands. You don't see me slowplaying my monsters very often. And I don't want to slowplay here, really, I just want to figure out a way to maximize against his range. I have this problem playing monsters OOP, and this is just one example.