This seems like a basic question, but I think I am betting too big out of greed/fear.

This seems like a basic question, but I think I am betting too big out of greed/fear.

2/3/5 - B/SB/BB NL holdem, 8 handed.
This table started 1.5 hrs ago. It has 4 OMCs. A couple lively players came and left, replaced by a relatively unknown female who I think is a decent player, and a tough regular guy.

I think my table image started out as TAG. I got up a couple hundred quickly, but now am down $600 overall. I've been 3-betting preflop and losing. I've opened a few hands to no avail. I had QQ on the button and got check raised when I c-bet an A-high flop because I thought the unknown female was a bad player who would call with 2nd pair. She check-shoved on me and I folded. On 2nd thought...I think I have played a little with this woman before and she was not a donkey. I confused her with another similar woman who is one of the worst I have seen. Ok, so I might not be playing my best. I shoved all-in on a turn bluff and the tough reg tanked for 3 minutes and called me, and I got lucky to chop the pot because we ran it twice. So I might look a little spewy.

V OMC is 70's or 80's thin Asian male wearing a medical/surgical mask. In the past 10 minutes, he has started opening up, and playing more hands, open raising. He was initially getting respect for a tight range, I wonder if he is getting impatient now.

V with stack of $545 opens to $25.
Folds to H who covers.
H on B with KcKd, 3-bets to $105.
V calls.

($210) Qd 7h 4c
V checks
H $105
V calls

($320) 2c
V checks ($335 behind)
H?

I think V has a Q, maybe JJ/TT/99... I'm wondering do I shove, or milk it over 2 bets.

08 March 2025 at 05:48 PM
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7 Replies


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Wait, V is OMC and calling big 3bets big cbets?

Anyhow, either OMC is very station or he has a decent hand.

If you want to keep his jj/tt type range bet like 70 on turn.

Then jam any river. Pot will be so bloated it's hard to fold any hand.

Or just jamming is fine. Especially you got aggro image.

Tbh I probably wouldn't 3bet/cbet this big vs this type of opponent. I might loosen my 3bet/cbet range but not making them huge. They have alot more traps waiting for you with huge sizes.


I think V often just folds his 99-JJ even vs smaller sizes so we rather mainly just target Qx and shove to ensure w stack him.

Really sucks when we go small and he finds a reason to fold river with hands like KQ, QJs, AQ.

Also You never know he may just call off with JJ sometimes.


I did think my table image might elicit a call if I bet big.
I had earlier shoved all-in on the turn with a bluff that stopped for a few minutes as V tanked.
Also, on another hand, I thought I was waiting on another player to act, and he had in-fact folded his cards when I had turned away for a moment. Bottom line is that I held the game up for a few minutes in the middle of that hand before I folded. Quite emabarassing for me. And so I think my image at the table could be that of a dope.

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So I shoved the turn card. OMC tanked for about a minute, and then folded. Then he stood up and slowly did a lap around the cardroom before coming back. I think he might have folded a Q or maybe JJ/TT. I should have bet smaller.


Preflop it matters what position he is in ... 4x vs. his big open is difficult to do with a wider 3bet range, but he did call.

Flop: There are no draws and it's HU, I would bet smaller on the flop even 55 but if deeper then 75 is still better than 105.
He can have all the sets, you maybe have top set. 55 will more often trigger people who think you have AK, IME.

Turn is a brick, so w/e ... if I'd bet 55 on the flop I'd probably bet 150 now planning to shove almost every river. As it is you could try betting 150 (or even 105 again) now and shoving rivers, but it looks a lot like what it is ... and you still have some bad cards.


This game sounds terrible. If possible, I'd switch tables.

If our image sucks, we need to dial back on bluffs, and bet more / thinner for value.

PRE - Seems pretty standard.

FLOP - The 1/2 pot c-bet in a 3BP seems a little large.

If we're just range-betting here, I think we'd want to go 1/3 pot, give or take, and start sizing up on turn, towards a river jam.

I suppose we could argue for sizing up with our over-pair when our image sucks, but if V is generally nitty, he's probably folding out weak Qx and worse when we take this size.

TURN - The LAG in me wants to jam. But I think maybe the better play is to check back.

Maybe he calls a jam with AQ, but he probably folds the rest. If we check back, we give him a chance to monkey-stab on a river brick.


As suggested you can beat smaller on the flop, especially as it's tritone and not too connected. A smaller c-bet size would allow you to bet turn and river for 50% ish.

Btw: shouldn't turn pot size be $420 not $320?

Anyway, point is that you should be thinking about your turn (and river) sizing before you bet the flop, especially as you have a clear value hand in a 3bet pot and generally seeking to get ALL of your opponent's stack.

I don't mind the larger 3bet size as an exploit, although much depends on how often you're 3betting and/or whether you're including some bluffs.


With how bricky that turn brick was I think shove OTT is unnecessary. Probably 1/2 pot or so seems right. You’re WA/WB (mostly WA) and there are very few bad rivers. No need to blast off here.

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