How to play the hand

Question

This is from Conscious Poker hand of the day on you tube. To me it is a fascinating hand.

NLHE $5, $10 nine handed

Pre flop
Hero is in the SB with a stack of $3800 with J⋄T♠
Three limps (plus BB) to the hero hero who bumps it to $60
UTG+1 calls and Btn calls

Flop
Pot $200
J♠8♣3♥
SB (hero) checks
UTG+1 checks
Btn (villain) bets $49.25 ($3000 behind)
UTG+1 folds
Hero calls

Turn
Pot $298.50
5♥
Hero check
Villain bets $73.87
Hero calls

River
Pot $446.25
8♠
Hero checks
Villain jams for $2816.88
Hero folds
Villain shows A♠K⋄

Answer 1

Preflop:

action seems standard besides the limp by villain. Obviously AK is strong holdings preflop, but it can miss a lot of flops. Limp-calling is not necessarily a bad play, but it makes the hand much harder for villain to play post flop. limp 3-betting seems like a good play here, but it polarizes the villains hand (either really good hand or pure bluff).

Flop:

I see this as a very odd line by villain, a lot of players would check this back and see a free card. In my opinion, this is also where the hero makes a mistake. On a relatively dry board like this (rainbow without connecting cards) top pair is really only beaten by random 2-pairs, sets, and overpairs. 2-pair is especially unlikely holding from villain because hero blocks 2-pairs with jacks, and it is also unlikely because hands like 83 would not call a raise pre-flop. The right play here imo for hero is to c-bet this flop, or check with the intention of raising a bet. A lot of turns can weaken hero's hand as well.

Turn:

Another small bet from villain after a check from hero, I believe this street should be played similarly to the flop. the board is still relatively dry although a backdoor flush has been added, but the decision to bet is much harder now. the check-call by the hero is one of the worst options because it shows the hero is not confident in their hand. a bet by hero has a lot of fold equity against bluffs, and it makes a decision on the river much easier for hero if hero is called.

River:

Hero checks and Villain has a decision, give up or bluff. villain decides to bluff, but his sizing is very bad. The villain here ships 6.x times the pot as a bluff, and it should be a red flag to hero. Normally, if a player has a hand, they will bet the river for value hoping for a call. Here, it seems obvious that villain does not want hero to call. The pot odds of this bet are ridiculously bad, so just considering the bet sizing alone the Hero should fold anything except for the nuts. However, based on the sizing I think hero should consider calling here even if the odds are basically 1:1. Unless the villain is playing some sort of mind games, no sane player would put out a bet sizing like this expecting a call. I could understand why hero folded, risking 2800 to win around 3000 is awful, but all of the exploitative clues suggests that a call is the right move.

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Very interesting hand, I think the hero could have taken this one down with more aggression post-flop.

Answer 2

Preflop: Checking is the standard play. Your OOP in the SB. If your raising JTo here then you're probably doing the same with hands better than JTo which would mean your doing this with a 20% range which is way too loose.

Flop: Check is pretty standard here. We really can start the hand by checking our whole range. It kind of depends on the ranges but were OOP vs 2 players. If your opening a 20% range then you should just protect that range by checking everything on the flop. Once you face a bet... check raise 88/33/AJ/QQ-KK and as a bluff QTcc/QTss/backdoor fdraw with gs type stuff... check call JJ/AA/8x/KJ-/99/TT/AKcc type hands.

Turn: Check call is fine with this hand. The flop size was really small and so is the turn so you should continue with a lot of hands.

River: Check fold is pretty standard here. For that size you don't need to defend very often. Im really not sure what SB preflop range is but im guessing he has no 8x. So then we should call down with JJ that we check call on flop. After that we want to bluff catch with blockers to villains nut hands (here he repping air or nuts). His nuts = J8/8x/JJ/33. So calling something like KJ is going to be a reasonable call. We also dont want to block his bluffs. Calling JTo is not good because we are blocking the one obvious draw on the flop (T9).

Answer 3

I will not give myself the check

Villain

I do not like his play. He took down the pot but put too much at risk to do so in my opinion.

Flop
Since hero bet 6x pre doubt he has an 8 or 3. Even AJ suited would be the low end of his range. Most likely this flop missed the hero. I (villain) can rep a pretty big range with call call pre flop.
Why only bet 1/4 of the pot. Any strong Ace or pair will call. Bet 1/2 to full pot and to fold out the villain if he blanked. If he calls you can put him on JJ+.

Turn
If villain under bet the flop then under bet the turn is consistent. That 5 should not have hit the hero. Maybe hero picked up a flush draw.

River
I missed the only way to take down the pot so time to bluff. I don't think hero has an 8.

Villain put way to much as risk to take down $450. Hero could be on an 8 and will get a call for sure. AJ could call. Villain could have bet 2x the pot for basically the same fold equity.

Hero

Pre flop

If going to raise then need to make it 6x with 4 in the pot. Need to raise some weaker hands here to balance your range. I would much rather he raise with 98s 87s that have more chance of making a disguised premium hand. I think a check would have been better here.

Flop

Check top pair on a dry board to hopefully get max value is standard. I am curious as to the small bet. Villain could be on a bigger J trying to get value but still a clear call. Seems like KQ QT would have bet more to try and fold hero out. JJ would have raised pre.

Turn

That 5 probably changed nothing. Same story as flop.

River

I get check again and hope for a small bet again for value. I think you have to fold to the jam. An 8 could play the hand that way. If they really had the 8 would they over bet like that - probably not. But they could be tying to make an 8 look like a bluff. KQ QT could get here and bluff (but they should have bet more on the flop). Strange but not worth putting up my stack. Fold

River knowing it was a bluff

Villain has hit the following keys check, check, 1/4, 1/4, and all-in. Villain could be a fish playing a wide range. Problem is that range could include AJ, KJ, QJ, and 8x that have you beat.

If villain is not a fish they are not likely to value bet the river with a hand you beat. You have called twice so a weaker J or weaker pair are just going to check back. At this point bet out 1/2 the pot yourself to represent an 8 or AJ and take away their bluffs. If they come back with a jam then you can be pretty sure you are beat.