Awaken the Oblivious Fool” — Turn Jam With Top Pair: Spew or Strategy?
I’m working on spotting spots where I may be acting on impulse instead of logic — I call it “Awaken the Oblivious Fool.”
This is one of those hands where I’m unsure whether the shove is actually +EV, or just me thinking “he doesn’t have it.”
Hand
Hand History driven straight to this forum with DriveHUD 2 Poker HUD and Database Software
NL Holdem 0.10(BB)
UTG_1 ($10.21)
MP ($15.46)
CO ($14)
BTN ($22.77)
HERO ($10)
BB ($10.40)
UTG ($10)
Dealt to Hero: 8♦ 9♦
UTG folds, UTG1 folds, MP raises to $0.26, CO folds,
BTN calls $0.25, HERO calls $0.20, BB folds
Flop ($0.92): 9♥ 6♥ 4♠
HERO checks, MP checks, BTN bets $0.87, HERO calls $0.87, MP folds
Turn ($2.66): 9♥ 6♥ 4♠ 4♦
HERO checks, BTN bets $2.53, HERO shoves $8.87, BTN folds
Hero wins $7.59
My Thoughts
On the flop I felt calling made sense — top pair, reasonable kicker, BTN can stab wide.
On the turn, I shoved.
In the moment, I thought:
- I might be repping trips or strong hands naturally
- I wanted protection vs draws and overcards
- BTN “didn’t look like he had it”
But afterward I’m not sure the logic holds.
If I’m honest, the shove was probably more instinct than calculation.
Part of me now thinks:
- Maybe this is minus EV long-term
- Maybe the better line is just call turn, hope no awful river comes, and let villain keep bluffing
I’d appreciate feedback on whether this turn jam is reasonable, or if I'm overplaying top pair and turning it into a bluff when I shouldn't.
4 Replies
- 1. cold calling the open pre is definitely -EV. I'd fold or 3bet. There are very few flops you can continue OOP
- 2. Flop - I'd consider leading or 3betting. You're going to hate most turns, especially OOP
- 3. Turn - I disagree with your logic. You're right; you're repping a lot of stronger hands. So what is your shove achieving? You're only getting called by better, which is exactly what happened. Villain's actions and sizing is polarizing, making draws less likely i.e. I'd expect villain to check back the turn with some frequency w/ draws.
- 4. What informed the "didn't look like he had it"? Can you post villain's stats?
- 5. My line; pre = fold, flop = lead big/fold turn = lead/fold
- 6. For a relatively long post, you've said very little about what you think villain's range is, which is probably the most important consideration
Yeah mid sc's multiway (in position also) are not good calling hands.
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Fold pre. As played, call turn. Main reason you're calling is because of where the flop bet came from and just normal micro stakes betting tells. BTN betting large on flop and turn likely means he has nothing or a very marginal hand (small PP/6). Otherwise MW on the flop, if the bet came from MP you should be folding turn more than not.
I don't like our PF call from the SB here, especially with no reads.
