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This is a 1/3 B&M cash game.

Table perception: Villain sees like a good player.
Hero is struggling (played an earlier hand very poorly) and seat has been very cold.

UTG+1 raises to 10
UTG+2 (Hero) raises to 35 with QQ
Folds around to HI
Hijack (Villain) quickly calls
Folds around to UTG+1 who calls

Flop is 8-3-2 rainbow
UTG+1 checks
Hero bets $45, leaving $160 behind
Villain quickly min-raises to $90, leaving him with ~$170 behind
UTG+1 folds

Hero chose to push here. Logic was:

  1. Put villain's range on KK, JJ, maybe 10-10, and a teensy change of a bluff. Didn't think AA was likely as 1-3 players (from hero's experience) would re-raise pre-flop with AA. Didn't think anyone's calling $35 with 2-2, 3-3, or 8-8. Or if they did, I think it's definitely a -EV play pre-flop.
  2. Admittedly, I was having a rough night as my seat was frigid. So another factor may have been frustration that my cards had been so consistently bad.

The min-raise had me a bit spooked although I wasn't sure if I should interpret that as strength, or a weak hand trying to be cute.

Questions - Did I play this hand well? Should I have folded after the min-raise from villain?

Result:

Villain insta-calls and shows 8-8 and ends up winning the pot.

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  • Villain's range here is insanely player-dependent and how well you played the hand depends on what his actual range is. Some players literally only have sets in that spot, ever.
    – Andrey Mishchenko
    Aug 19, 2018 at 4:56
  • Yeah, the OPs point that he could have KK but not AA is not true. That estimate is over specific.
    – John Dee
    Aug 25, 2018 at 20:04

6 Answers 6

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On the flop you should make it like $20-$25. Really small, because realistically villain never has any good hands (I think he should fold 88 and slowplay aces and kings only rarely). Villain will be put into a tougher spot. You allow him to float / get crazy with all his weak holdings.

He minraises you and it is just a stupid spot. Given the fact that he had eights in this spot and min-raised like this, tells me he probably is a fish. And they are the most unpredictable players. This is such an onorthodox move by him, it comes down to a read. Because he is a fish I wouldn't quickly discount eights. He could also have aces or kings from time to time. Would he make this move with a set or a strong overpair? Would he do it with T9 with a backdoor flush draw? With JJ, TT? It is really hard to say.

However, just like Ying Li said, you shouldn't shove. It makes his life very easy. If he is looking to stack off with JJ-99 he will still do this on most turn cards. If he has a bluff, you allow him to continue bluffing or maybe he shuts down and you likely win at showdown.

It really depends on the fish I am playing against, but I think I would setup my range like this: call with eights and nearly every overpair on the flop. Then stack off on the turn with eights, aces and possibly kings. If you think he is capable of making really crazy plays and you have a tight image, maybe include queens and jacks. It is a close spot. Against normal players you should definitely stack off being this short (against a call or a normal raise). But in this spot I think calling the flop and hero folding the turn is right.

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  • What difference does stacking off on the turn make? if he has an overpair or the set he won't stop firing on the turn, I think at this level hes getting called by A8 K8 all day long
    – MF DOOM
    Aug 6, 2018 at 9:25
  • @MF DOOM you make his life easy when shoving. He will fold his weak hands and call his strong hands, easy. By just calling you allow him to keep bluffing. A8 or K8 can still get all the chips in on most turns
    – Raymond
    Aug 6, 2018 at 18:33
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At 1/2 1/3 cash games, it's fish central, a lot of good (average shark) players will min-raise nuts (or close to nuts) thinking you can never get out of it. Sharks know one thing, fish can't fold.

Going all-in with QQ after being the preflop aggressor is a "give up" move; you basically give your fate to the other guy. Your range is so well identified, if anyone calls you, they got you crushed. What did you expect him to call you with? You don't expect a call and A8, do you? You are basically hoping to raise and get him to fold a weaker hand (a stronger hand would not fold). The only real value you can get is maybe out of a JJ / TT. The reraise all-in is definitely a bad move, you will only get called with a better hand; there's no value bet potential (weaker holding will fold), there's no incorrect fold (stronger holdings will call (AA, KK, sets).

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4
  • Your answer seems a bit snarky. I provided my estimate of the villain’s range in the question description. I thought JJ and maybe TT were possible. I discredited AA since I wasn’t re-raised preflop, and 88, 22, and 33 seemed unlikely given the size of my preflop re-raise. It seems your point is the min-raise is a huge sign of strength in 1/2 and 1/3 cash games so that was the signal to fold.
    – Craig
    Aug 5, 2018 at 6:06
  • I disagree. You said it yourself, these smaller games are fish central. It is very possible that someone could call with A8s K8s or a lower pocket pair like 9s or 10s.
    – Clarko
    Aug 5, 2018 at 22:27
  • Sorry for the snarky reply. Fish central indeed, which means, the min-reraise is really damn scary. Against a table of fish, literally no fish will fold anything remotely winable to min-reraise (even with like gut-shot, 1 over-card, etc...). There's no advantage at all to a min-reraise against a live 1/2 table UNLESS the villain knows you and thinks you are a good player (then he might be mind-gaming you); otherwise a min-reraise accomplishes nothing and opens the door for reraise. It's a really bad move without the nuts.
    – Ying Li
    Aug 19, 2018 at 21:58
  • As for the because it's fishy, it could be A8 / 99 argument... Yes it's possible. But fishes can get good hands too. You have to consider the entire possible range with that betting pattern. In this situation, most of the time he got you crushed if he calls you. Here's something I learned over years of live game. People are really bad, thus... (here's the sum of my experience)... WAIT for a better spot. Live 1/2 is so bad, I don't even go for 51% win, I wait for a 75% win spot and then all-in (they can't fold). If you are patient, 1/2 live game literally donates money to you.
    – Ying Li
    Aug 19, 2018 at 22:01
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I think you played OK.

I like that pre-flop bet. QQ is a hand to protect.

I get villain calling with any pair in position. He could be on a suited ace or even suited connectors.

On the flop I think your bet was fine.

Don't get the raise from villain. He could get action from UTG+1.

You going all in I guess is OK. I would not put him on AA or KK. You might get called by JJ, TT, 99. I think just call is better play. I don't think AK would raise there so you have no scare cards.

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1

I think you played the hand correctly.

i would say that KK and AA are very unlikely holding for villain just because villain flat-called preflop.

this board texture is very good for your hand, because the only hands that are beating you are overpairs and sets.

One thing you may consider next time is making the pre-flop raise a bit larger, I find that in smaller games like this, players call very wide up to around 10x but that is just my personal experience.

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1

This is a donkey play typical of losing nits. It's a 3 way pot with $115 in the pot. Hero has QQ with 832flop with $205 in middle position. If you're beat, just re-buy and chaulk it up. There is no defense against getting stacked in this spot. If there is any way you fold here you're just getting run over.

$45 bet on the flop is the PERFECT PRICE for AK to hang on! Against AA, KK, or a set there is no defense. So a $45 bet is the worst bet against the spot you're beating and has no effect when you are losing.

$90 on the flop is better, with a shove or call next no matter what happens next. Expect to lose a lot here, that's life. A $45 bet on the flop maximizes your chance of losing.

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0

Correctly! Player with 88 - is fish, and to distance he will lost a lot money

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