Two live 10/20 hands

[HelloandGoodby90]

I apologize if these hands aren't interesting to some of you higher stakes players. I typically don't play 10/20, and dont play a lot of poker, so they are somewhat interesting to me. I don't mind input on my plays during streets leading up to the problem street either.

Hand 1: I just sat down so I have no reads on any players. Effective stacks are 2k/100 BB.

I have 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. It is folded around to the cutoff who limps. The button limps. The SB folds and I check from the BB. Flop come 9 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. I check with the intention of calling and betting the turn because I think by betting, I pretty much say I have a 9, and may cause some PP or overcards to fold. Also, I may be able to get the CO or BTN to bet at the pot. Is this check standard or do you prefer a bet? What if you were in LP with the same cards?

Hand 2: Effective stacks are 2k or 100BB. The Villian (CO) is very aggressive and loose. Villain has played maybe 50% of pots and raised about 30%. Villian also raises tons from LP, and has raised from the CO almost every orbit. I am on the button with 2 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. The Villian makes his standard raise from the CO, and I 3-bet him thinking that he cannot have much. Is this standard against loose opponents? Would you repop if you were in the BB?

He flat calls and the flop come 8 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]5 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. He checks and I check behind with the intention of betting the turn/calling a turn bet. I checked because he is very aggressive, and I didnt want to be CR and be put to a tough decision. He could CR me with air, a made hand, and a draw. Is this check good?

Thanks a lot.

[lapoker17]

just go ahead and lead flop in hand 1 - live players are bad, and to this day, many of them assume you have a 2 and will calla bet w like 44 or whatever.

2nd hand just call his raise and try to flop a set. if you were deeper, or he was a better player, then 3 betting would be good sometimes. given the way you played it, you need to bet the flop - playing your hand now for its inherent value (?) is making the game way harder than it needs to be.

[limon]

[ QUOTE ]
I apologize if these hands aren't interesting to some of you higher stakes players. I typically don't play 10/20, and dont play a lot of poker, so they are somewhat interesting to me. I don't mind input on my plays during streets leading up to the problem street either.

Hand 1: I just sat down so I have no reads on any players. Effective stacks are 2k/100 BB.

I have 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. It is folded around to the cutoff who limps. The button limps. The SB folds and I check from the BB. Flop come 9 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. I check with the intention of calling and betting the turn because I think by betting, I pretty much say I have a 9, and may cause some PP or overcards to fold. Also, I may be able to get the CO or BTN to bet at the pot. Is this check standard or do you prefer a bet? What if you were in LP with the same cards?

Hand 2: Effective stacks are 2k or 100BB. The Villian (CO) is very aggressive and loose. Villain has played maybe 50% of pots and raised about 30%. Villian also raises tons from LP, and has raised from the CO almost every orbit. I am on the button with 2 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. The Villian makes his standard raise from the CO, and I 3-bet him thinking that he cannot have much. Is this standard against loose opponents? Would you repop if you were in the BB?

He flat calls and the flop come 8 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]5 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. He checks and I check behind with the intention of betting the turn/calling a turn bet. I checked because he is very aggressive, and I didnt want to be CR and be put to a tough decision. He could CR me with air, a made hand, and a draw. Is this check good?

Thanks a lot.

[/ QUOTE ]

in hand one your best bet is to lead flop, check/call turn when over to the 2 hits, pot size lead on river. unless you fill up then possibly consider all-in lead on river.

in hand 2 3 betting preflop is a bad play because you have no fe and a weak hand against a guy who can outplay you. just call, flop something, and let him outplay himself.

[Sunny Mehta]

wanted to make a quick point on Hand 2.....

OP didn't specify (just indicated "loose"), but if villain is a smart LAG, and hero is a fairly inexperienced postflop dancer with a tight table image, reraising with deuces is a better play than most think, and calling is a worse play than most think....

calling is crappy in this situation because hero won't have much at all in the way of implied odds against a guy who's opening more than a third of his hands and won't go to felt with a mediocre holding.....reraising is good, even though it essentially turns your hand into a bluff, because it may fold out better hands, and once in a while you'll bushwhack him with a hand he's not expecting.....

of course, if villain is not smart, and is simply a really bad player, than the above may not be true because you'll have better implied odds and worse folding equity.....

point is, it's REALLY important to know which type of player villain is in this kind of situation...

[lapoker17]

yeah that's correct sunny - i assumed he was just loose bad - you know because that's usually the case!.

[Aisthesis]

Hand 1: On that board, you'll probably get a bet out of a low pair if someone has it and maybe A2. There's no real draw, so that's not a problem (if flush draw shows up on turn after checks, I'd start betting), and your only real risk is having some pair hit--but I think 55 is going to bet anyway. It's really fairly similar to a hand that Sklansky talked about with 77 as top set where he thought checking was clearly the best play all the way and waiting to get some action. I'm not so sure about his "always" on that, but I think checking frequently is good. If the board was 99K, I'd bet out more often.

Hand 2: While I'm a fan of re-raising frivolous raisers with a wide range, 22 really isn't in that range. If he's going to get a bunch of callers, I'd just flat call and try to set. If it's going to be HU or 3-way, I'd just fold it and wait for a better spot.

If you do 3-bet it, I think not CBing is horrible. I mean, you have almost no hand. Admittedly, it's a scary board for AA, and LAG will know that. But surely you're not playing your hand for showdown value either.

[Aisthesis]

I agree in part. But I'd rather have at least 88 or an SC to 3-bet. If it's a smart LAG, who might himself have 55, I want to take the intitiative in almost all cases and then in some cases turn over a winning hand that he doesn't expect.

Also, on the call, I think pot odds are an issue. If everyone else knows this guy as loose raiser, then you get a bunch of KJ callers, etc. Relative to these players your position isn't great (despite appearances, since if you set, you're playing mainly against the rest of the table), but if there are at least 4 seeing the flop, then you already have some decent pot odds. I'd also tend to flat call LAG's CB on a lot of flops that I hit, again depending somewhat on how the rest of the table plays.