The scene... 2/4 NL, about an hour into play, I got a fairly good feel for the player I am up against....

Pimpy ($510.63)SB ($392)BB ($628.18)UTG ($58)MP ($573.95)CO ($514.55)

Preflop: Pimpy is Button with 4c, 3c. SB posts a blind of $2. 1 fold, MP raises to $15, 1 fold, Pimpy calls $15, 2 folds.

Flop: ($36) 6c, 7d, 5h (2 players)

MP bets $15, Pimpy raises to $30, MP raises to $60, Pimpy ???

I know people wont be crazy about the minimum raise here but I figured myself to be waaaay ahead. My read was for MP to be on somewhere between JJ and AA as he had not raised many pots, was often loose passive and had certainly not gotten out of line up until now... The raise was intended to a) find out if he definately did have an overpair and possibly induce a bigger push.

What do you guys figure to be the next move here. I have position. Were both stacked. He has not taken the lead in many hands and I fancy this to be my best shot at getting paid off here. I have a lot of thoughts but am interested in what you see as the optimum move here.

Straights do not improve, especially the ignorant end. You're good here 95% of the time and you only risk getting outdrawn, push here.

Have to push here. Make him pay to catch up.

i agree that you have to push here. make him pay for his draw

Limited information, but the $15 preflop raise could also be with 7-7, 8-8, or 9-9, in which case you're ahead, but he's drawing (even if he doesn't realize it yet). Push.

Really? Noone gets creative here?

Im up against the person at the table who I have pegged as most likely to double me through here and im pretty certain that if I push he passes most overpairs. Given I have position and my read of the player's hand range, does anyone try anything else here other than push which I dont think is the optimum move...

I think you just call here if you have his range narrowed to JJ-AA and think he lays down a big pair on the flop to heavy action. He needs to go perfect perfect to catch up. I bet half the pot on the turn if he checks to me. If he bets, I probably raise the turn, but if it is a complete miss I may just call. I am looking for his whole stack on this hand if I am sure he has a big pair, and pushing on the flop is not going to get it if he is as weak/tight as your present him.

If you want to get creative and gamble, seeing a turn card may be a good deal (but risky). I generally use the turn as the street I like to attack on. But this is expressly a function of whether you can put down your straight if a 9 hits or the board pairs. There's 13 cards that can hurt you on the turn so it's a pretty big gamble to let cards come but it sounds reasonable that you might double up if the turn bricks.

I think a check is an okay play assuming a brick turns. But unfortunately to me his hand smells like it has numerous outs. I put him on AA, KK, 88, 77, 66, or 55. Only two of the six are way behind. Given this liklihood I think pushing is the better of the two options.

He raised to find out if you have the straight. If you push you tell him that you do and he folds. Just call and keep him guessing. I think there is still some value to be gained in this hand and if you push you lose that value.

OK... The interesting thing for me about this hand is fourth street. I did just call the flop, and if anyone is interested I can put up the rest of the hand later.

I genuinely believed him to have AA-JJ and consequently wanted him to hang himself on 4th street before I put the big raise in to finish the hand. However...

When thinking over the hand afterwards, I thought about what provided me with a 'safe' turn card... I wasnt worried about being outdrawn due to the hand range but then I thought about the possible cards on the turn that may slow him down and this is where it got interesting, for me at least.

With a board of 567, conceivably any 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 would slow him down for fear of the straight/trips... If he had JJ for example you can add any Q, K or A and it was with this in mind I began to contemplate my best shot at breaking him...

I am still not convinced pushing on the flop is the best move here although, in the example above you can see an argument for it... there is virtually no safe turn card for me, unless he has AA/KK.

Any optimal strategy suggestions at this point?

Pushing on the flop is the move. The most likely way to get doubled up is to push then. As you seem to understand, a lot of cards will hurt you not that you'll necessarily be outdrawn, but you won't be able to value bet. If he's going to rule out you hitting a set on the turn if he holds AA, he'll do it on the flop. You push the flop for value and hope to get called.

My concern with the turn card is not my opponent catching up but, rather, scaring him away.

It seems to me like a 2 and a J are the ultimate turn cards for you. I don't think a 5 or 6 would be horrible since it might look like you're pushing a scare card.

Personally, I would raise the flop and try to get money in now. I wouldn't push. I'd value raise and then bet out the turn. I think it'll be hard to get doubled up unless the J or 2 comes on the turn, though, unless he pushes back on your flop raise.

I'm definitely interested in how this plays out.

For Naismith and anoyone else who gives a monkeys...

Flop: ($36) 6c, 7d, 5h (2 players)MP bets $15, Pimpy raises to $30, MP raises to $60, Pimpy calls $30.
Turn: ($156) Qd (2 players)MP bets $168.98, Pimpy raises to $400, MP calls $231.02.
River: ($956) 2s (2 players)MP bets $44.69, Pimpy calls $35.63 (All-In).
Final Pot: $1036.32
Results below: MP has 6s 5c (two pair, sixes and fives). Pimpy has 4c 3c (straight, seven high).


I was absolutely shocked to see him flip over 56 and it kinda explains his play... I would probably have gotten action regardless of where I pushed as the hand panned out but I thought it was interesting none the less, more to do with the damage the turn could do to the potential of my hand rather than the strength of it and I have not often seen that come up in conversation before...

See? I was right. Neither a 5 nor a 6 would've scared him off on the turn!

I was sticking to the JJ-AA range. Never even occurred to me that villain might be outside of it!

i agree. Reading that I was firmly planted to the idea he had an unsure overpair. to me, this was a definate call and try to make the villain feel more comfortable about his hand and hit him on the turn. a 8, 7, or a 4 would be a real scare to AA and it cuts your action, but I honestly would have thought with this sort of action that AA was ready to let this go on the flop if you raised again anyway which makes it better to try to dodge a scare card on the turn then pushing. But boy was I way off on his range.

Yeah me too and I had been playing with him an hour or so... I was absolutely shocked to see him flip over 56...

I dont think there is much more to say about the hand... I wonder whether he calls a big push on the flop with bottom 2 as the only hand he will be really worried about is 77 or 88 but ultimately, I think he probably goes broke regardless (given he wasnt a great player).

Just good to consider things from a different perspective occasionally.