Two short-handed deep live cash hands.

[AlexMartin]

Game is short-handed (6) 1/2 Holdem but the stacks are varying between £300 and £1200.

Will give plenty of background as im sure it affects most efffective line.

Hand 1. In this hand Villain 1 is a regular cash game player, doesnt believe unusual lines, capable of anything, probably a winner and has about £500. Villain 2 had previously been crushing the game tonight but just lost a huge pot when i rivered quads against his pair and u+d str8 draw. He has about £1000, we have both covered. He appears to be the value in the game for me, his betting patterns betray weakness and he overvalues hands, plus his hand-reading skills dont look up to scratch. My image is pretty wild and i just lost a £600 pot to an elderly lady with AK v AQ ai pre.  Game has generally been pretty wild and aggressive, lots of bluffing etc.

We are dealt K7d in the BB. Hijack (villain 1) opens for £10. Button (Villain 2) calls. We call from the BB. Flop  . We check, V1 checks, V2 bets £25, we call, V1 calls. Turn  . We check, V1 checks, V2 bets £100. We call, V1 dwells and folds. River  . We check......?

Right or wrong river trap? Does betting turn get more money longterm as either a lead or a craise. 





Hand 2. Same villain as in hand 1 (V2), he has lost a little more and appears frustrated with the game. Hasnt bluffed for a while though, appears the deeper stacks have intimidated him. We are dealt  in mp and raise to £12. Matey raises to £35. 1st time in 4 hours he has 3bet me pre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We call, hu pot. Flop    . We lead for £70. He calls. Turn  , we bet £180.

Bad play to lead so strong? Or maxing value when you consider villains 3-bet range?

[Longy]

Hand 1: Fold preflop? I would K7s is a bit of a trap hand postflop and we are out of position.

Postflop I think you could check raise here but given its live and reads I think flatting here is best. Given we have monster implied odds baby and not as much as fold equity as we would like.

Turn i probably donk out here just because of your image and the fact these guys seem to like to call make it about 80.

River i would donk again but this something im currently working on and not really coming to a solid conclusion whether checking or betting here is best, though it is obviously player dependent. Most cash players don't value bet thin enough here to make the trap work imo.

Hand 2

How deep is villain Alex? To make this call profitable I reckon he has to be about £400 deep, to purely set mine.

I will often lead a set in raised pot, but in 3 bet pots often we aren't quite as deep and villain often bets his whole range. So I actually would check again it depends on how deep we were.

Yes once he has flatted the flop, leading the turn is good. I would size my bet based on the fact that i want about a 3/4 pot bet back on the river, so I can shove the river without it looking suspect. This is something I think alot people don't think about when sizing bets.

[totalise]

hand 1: what hands vbet the river that dont call a raise on the turn? he aint cbetting into this mass of a field of players unless he has something, so on first (drunken) glance, it looks like any hand he bets the river after u smooth call the turn, will call a raise on the turn anyways.... so raise the turn and stack him on the river.

hand 2 leading the turn for a bet less then the flop lead is the best play, it sells weakness and lets people try and play bad, and given your read, he is frustrated, so weak lead the turn and let him get it in.

[Benny Brox]

You have said the villain "appears to be the value in the game for me, his betting patterns betray weakness and he overvalues hands"

If this is your assessment at the time then I would defo value bet the river in hand 1 (anywhere from 2/3 to a pot-sized bet). As he has bet every street and overvalues hands you are likely to be called by a hand as low as AJ. I think you would lose a lot of value checking here.

Hand 2 is a bit trickier. I suspect he could have QQ or JJ here so a does a pot-sized bet here put him of the hand? Or as he overvalues hands will he call a bet and pay you off on the river if a blank comes? Hard choice but I acutally think your bet on the flop and turn is fine. That's a great board when there's been a re-raise pre-flop so I'd be betting it strongly against this type of player.

By the way are you the same Alex Martin that writes in that Inside Poker mag?