Posts Tagged ‘squeeze play’

This is one of the most complex (some might say FPS-y) plays I’ve ever made. Just to give you the situation, the Button, with whom I’m 200 BB’s deep, is an extremely good player. In my opinion he’s one of the best regulars at 2000NL and 5000NL, and I have no idea why he’s playing 1000NL. The UTG player is not nearly so deep and also is a pretty big fish.

On this flop, I want to put money in the pot with UTG, but not with Button. I’m probably ahead of Button’s flop calling range, but he’s going to outplay me on the turn and river even with hands like 86 and 87 that I’m beating.

If I just bet the flop, I put the squeeze on UTG, making it harder for him to continue. That’s just the opposite of what I want. Ideally if I check, he’ll bet, and then it will be Button who has the hardest time continuing. If he folds, then I can stick the rest in against UTG. Basically I’m hoping UTG will bet for me and improve my relative position by forcing Button to act before me.

If UTG doesn’t oblige by betting, oh well. At least I’ll play a smaller pot against a wider range from Button by check-calling or seeing a free turn.  Read the complete post...

Different opponents, but similar mistakes:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($2300.05)
UTG ($1358.40)
MP ($1222.80)
CO ($616)
Hero (Button) ($2405.20)
SB ($3304.20)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, 9
1 fold, MP bets $12, 1 fold, Hero calls $12, SB calls $9, BB raises to $72, MP calls $60, Hero calls $60, 1 fold

Flop: ($235.20) J, 8, 4 (3 players)
BB bets $144, 1 fold, Hero calls $144

Turn: ($523.20) Q (2 players)
BB bets $332, Hero raises to $890, BB calls $558

River: ($2303.20) 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1298 (All-In), BB calls $1192.85 (All-In)

Total pot: $4688.90 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 10, 9 (straight, Queen high).
BB had K, K (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: Hero won $4685.90

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($1581.60)
Hero (Button) ($1492)
SB ($1638.40)
BB ($585)
UTG ($1694.15)
MP ($1012.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, K
1 fold, MP bets $14, CO raises to $48, Hero raises to $150, 3 folds, CO calls $102

Flop: ($330.20) 9, 5, 2 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $222, CO raises to $444, Hero calls $222

Turn: ($1218.20) 9 (2 players)
CO bets $210, Hero raises to $896.80 (All-In), CO calls $686.80  Read the complete post...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($3733)
Hero (BB) ($2918)
UTG ($2394)
MP ($2100)
CO ($2000)
Button ($5294)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 8
1 fold, MP bets $60, CO calls $60, 2 folds, Hero raises to $240, MP raises to $480, 1 fold, Hero calls $240

Flop: ($1030) 3, 2, 3 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $220, Hero raises to $2438 (All-In), MP calls $1400 (All-In)

Turn: ($4270) 10 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($4270) 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $4270 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had J, 8 (flush, Jack high).
MP had A, K (one pair, threes).
Outcome: Hero won $4267

Yep, I’m ahead post-flop:

Board: 3s 2c 3c
Dead:

equity     win     tie           pots won     pots tied
Hand 0:     53.283%      52.83%     00.45%                523             4.50   { Jc8c }
Hand 1:     46.717%      46.26%     00.45%                458             4.50   { AdKh }

To be honest, I think Villain’s getting a little carried away with trying to induce action from me pre-flop. He’s a little on the nitty side, so I don’t think he’s folding to a 5-bet often at all. At that point, all he’s doing is telling me he has a monster while pricing me in to see the flop. I’ve written before about the importance of charging for information. Can’t fault his call on the flop, though. I think bet-calling is far and away his best option on this flop.

It’s not really fair to call the Villain in this hand a nit, but he’s one of the tightest winning 5/10 regulars anyway. That’s part of the reason I bet the turn against him, rather than just check-calling the turn as I might against a more aggressive player.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Hero (SB) ($2982)
BB ($970)
UTG ($969.50)
MP ($200)
CO ($275)
Button ($3271.65)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A, 9
1 fold, MP bets $20, 1 fold, Button calls $20, Hero raises to $90, 2 folds, Button calls $70

Flop: ($210) 3, 9, A (2 players)
Hero bets $177, Button calls $177

Turn: ($564) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $388, Button raises to $880, Hero calls $492

River: ($2324) K (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2124.65 (All-In), Hero folds

Total pot: $2324 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button shows 4, 4 (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Button won $2321

I told him in chat that 4′s were the best hand, but really even Kdx beats 44 by the river, so I doubt he believed me.

It’s pretty unlikely that I’ll have a flush by the river, but against a nit I don’t really consider calling with less. That’s the problem with exploitive play: it is itself exploitable.

Villain on my right is kind of a fish, his turn lead is definitely strong. The guy on my left is a pretty decent reg, a bit on the TAGgish side in general but has a propensity to play back at me. I think he dislikes me, I probably said something to him at some point. I don’t expect him to slowplay much preflop or on the flop, but I also didn’t think he would jam too aggressively on the turn since the fish usually has two pair or better.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($1005)
BB ($1000)
Hero (UTG) ($1164)
MP ($1499)
CO ($1015)
Button ($1356)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with A, 10
Hero bets $35, MP calls $35, 3 folds, BB calls $25

Flop: ($110) 8, Q, K (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $77, MP calls $77, BB calls $77

Turn: ($341) 10 (3 players)
BB bets $225, Hero calls $225, MP raises to $1387 (All-In), 1 fold, Hero calls $827 (All-In)

River: ($2670) J (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $2670 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, 10 (straight, Ace high).
MP had Q, K (two pair, Kings and Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $2667  Read the complete post...

A commenter on yesterday’s re-squeeze hand remarked that even at high stakes he felt like Villain would pretty much always have AK when he overcalled the first pre-flop raise and then shoved over a re-raise and a call. Having just played this hand, I couldn’t resist posting it:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($400)
BB ($400)
UTG ($385.80)
MP ($484.40)
CO ($515.90)
Hero (Button) ($421.90)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, 10
2 folds, CO bets $12, Hero calls $12, SB raises to $52, 1 fold, CO calls $40, Hero raises to $421.90 (All-In), 2 folds

Total pot: $160 | Rake: $0

Results:
Hero didn’t show K, 10.
Outcome: Hero won $160

Granted I wasn’t an overcaller, which means I can rep a monster more credibly, but then the pot’s also a lot smaller, meaning my risk: reward ratio is greater and I shouldn’t be light as often.

Villain, a decent reg, ridiculed my call here, but I think he was just tilted. I need less than 40% equity, and while he can maybe have QQ here, I’d say he has KK+ and AK pretty much never (note that he’s the second caller of the initial raise).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($2000)
Hero (BB) ($2000)
UTG ($1890)
MP ($1370)
CO ($2000)
Button ($2107)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, Q
UTG bets $60, MP calls $60, CO calls $60, 2 folds, Hero raises to $300, 1 fold, MP calls $240, CO raises to $2000 (All-In), Hero calls $1700 (All-In), 1 fold

Flop: ($4370) Q, 6, 5 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($4370) 4 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($4370) 6 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $4370 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had A, Q (two pair, Queens and sixes).
CO had J, J (two pair, Jacks and sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $4367

75/150 I limp UTG with Ac Qc. Folds to the SB, who completes, and BB checks.

Flop Js Td 9s. Checks to me, I bet 300, SB calls. I think he can have any pair and even a few draws that I’m beating.

Turn 2d. He checks, I bet 900 expecting him to fold anything worse than a pair of Jacks that doesn’t also have a draw.

River 6h. He checks, I bet 1400 expecting him to fold most of his one pair hands. He calls with J9, which is fine.

75/150, I have been very tight but choose to raise to 450 with Jc9c in MP. Jon calls on my left, bad player calls on the CO, spazzy guy calls on the Button, blinds fold.

Flop Js Td 8s. Checks around to button, who bets 600. I call, the others fold.

Turn 6c, we both check.

River Qc, I check and instantly regret it. He’s probably never value betting worse and doesn’t need to bluff all that often. However, he probably calls a bet with lots of stuff, including any two pair and probably any Jack or better if I don’t bet too big.

75/150, I raise Qc 8d to 400 in MP3, Jon calls in the CO, everyone else folds.  Read the complete post...