Enough with the AA hands, guys. Let's get more of these...


Bodog 1/2 NLHE (9-handed)

Cobalt $250
MP1 $220

Cobalt is BB w/ J 3 . MP1 has only been at the table for a few rounds, so no significant read (he's done nothing to really stand out). I've been playing TAG.

Pre-flop:
2 folds, MP1 calls, 2 folds, Button calls, SB calls, Cobalt checks

Flop ($8): 6 5 3 (4 players)
SB checks, Cobalt bets $4, MP1 raises to $8, 2 folds, Cobalt re-raises to $24, MP1 calls

Turn ($56): 5 (2 players)
Cobalt bets $40, MP1 calls

River ($136): 6 (2 players)
Cobalt bets $80 ...

Is it me or did you just bet into a fullhouse? Hopefully you're folding the nut flush draw here which is the best case scenario here you and consistent w/ the min raise to get a free card. Besides that, I think you bet into a fullhouse tho.

What house are you giving him credit for that merely calls the turn?

Let me add that his flop and turn calls seemed somewhat hesitant.

Hey I only play AA..now what?

The guy probably will fold all the other FDs except for the NFD in an instant. I must admit, the minraise on the fop suggests he has one, and was trying to take a free one on the turn. Hard to believe he will minraise you there with a set on such a draw heavy board. 65 or something like that seem unlikely for the same reasons.

Against a guy that hasnt done anything out of line I think your move is ok. IF he however made more minraise like this, I think you should just c/f that river.

Somehow this looks like we are giving money away, but I can't pinpoint where exactly. I need to think about this.

Does the call by MP1 on the turn concern anyone else? What hands would he have limped with? Ad xd, Ad 4d, PP TT-77. The only way he's folding is if he's on a busted draw as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see the $80 called on the river.

Its not u or Mp1 who already prob had a straight or trips.... lol
you're hoping to hit a flush and didn't there on the turn .. I would have checked the turn and see what he does..

You want to go broke in an Unraised pot





Its not u or Mp1 who already prob had a straight or trips.... lol
you're hoping to hit a flush and didn't there on the turn .. I would have checked the turn and see what he does..

You don't want to go broke in an Unraised pot

the turn was a very bad card!!

Yeah, but the chance that he is on a busted draw is significant when you look at how the hand played out. A pp is defo in his range aswell, and he will probely fold those at the river too, since he got counterfeited. But yeah, the bet is designed to take the pot away from a higher FD, and not get bluffed by pp's and lower FDs.

Does that make any sense Cobalt?

A6, k6, q6, 67, 68, 69, 56 call the turn. And I most certainly include all of these in the villian's calling range if he's the type of player to utilize a min raise. The min raise to me makes

An unremarkable villain won't have a 6x (other than A6s or 66) in MP1. And I might be mistaken on his position. He might've been UTG+1.

This board certainly did not cooperate. I guess you could be representing 6-3, 5-3 or more unlikely, 6-5 here but you certainly played it aggressively for just a six. I don't think I'd put you on that.

You obviously get a higher flush draw to fold. You probably get a hand like 77 to 99 to fold, although the villain hasn't shown much of an interest in laying down his hand if he has something bigger. There's a chance that you get a flopped straight to lay it down.

My buddy tried to carry off a similar bluff in a cash game recently and when the opponent called with AJ on a J-high, double paired board, he was shocked. I told him the same thing...if you represent a flopped set, it's going to be difficult to sell that if the board keeps pairing. That's similar to here...you're representing something bigger than one pair but the cards that come out keep making what you're selling less and less likely.

Uhh...I bet and re-raised him on the flop...and you want me to check the turn?

I'm not planning on going broke in an unraised pot. It's not like if he pushes the river I'm going to call him with J-high.

The turn was an excellent card. It's much more likely to hit a strong BB hand than an EP hand.


Granted...but there are still two 6s and two 5s (and a possible straight) left in the deck...and I've represented strength the whole way (my story...though slightly more unlikely by the end...still makes sense). He certainly won't have an easy time calling with ace-high.

I agree, but personally were I the villain, I would find it curious that you were betting 80 dollars at me on the river with a straight when the board has gotten to be as depressing as can be for a flopped straight.

Yes, there are two sixes and two fives in the deck and the villain doesn't have the luxury of thinking this through for as long as everyone on here has, but you haven't represented a hand like A6 or A5. The weakest hand you've represented here is a flopped two pair. I probably fold here if I'm the villain, but I seriously consider calling with a lot of the hands he plays like this just because each card made your hand less believable.

On the other hand, looking at the way this hand played out, I think you might've been ahead the entire way.

He limps w/ 65,68,56, and k6s every once in awhile.



I have no idea why we would ever check this turn. If we're up against a made hand, we probably found a somewhat decent card to bet again at.

I will say that you are coming very close to going broke in an unraised pot by playing this so aggressively to the end.

While tricksters/loose players/calling stations might play those hands, an unremarkable opponent doesn't come in with those hands from earlyish position.


What other recourse do I have on the river? He almost certainly has me beat (~95% of the time), and I can't stand to call a bet. Hard to just concede a pot this large. I'm not pushing in...which might look desperate. Based on my bet size, I only need to fold a busted draw or middle pair a little over 1/3 of the time. I actually think that I'll fold one of those far more often than that. Without a 6 (possibly a 5), the opponent certainly doesn't like this board. Unless he's tricky (and I don't think he is), his hesitancy is testament to that. And, he has enough behind for this to be a significant decision.

What you're considering unremarkable also doesn't min raise this flop either.



You have absolutely none. I was just citing your comment that you don't plan on going broke in this unraised pot. Calling off all your chips on bottom 2 isn't the only way we can go broke in an unraised pot. Getting uber-aggressive is another way to go broke in an unraised pot.

Here's the fundamental problem w/ this bluff against no face villian. Villian showed a donkish quality on the flop and therefore his actions and holdings are less predictable than we like. Fine we can still get agressive here at the flop.

At the turn you bet again and get a call. Now what type of villian is he? Do you ever bet this with a 6? Maybe, but with him cold calling you're probably hesitant about putting more money in and you gave off so much strength that it's hardly ever a 6, do you bet with 33, yep. 56, yep. So betting isn't that awful. But at that point, why are we calling if we're a semi competent, unremarkable player? Are we drawing to a flush on a paired board against a probable made FH? no. Can we think an overpair is still good? maybe if we think heros on a bluff. Maybe we're a donk and think our 6 is good.

On the river, 33 seemed like the most likely made hand. No one is going to give you credit for 55, 66, and 56 anymore. unremarkable villian thinks, wouldn't the 6 scare his 33 if he hat it? (Yes it would). Putting together the hand, he never plays a naked 6 on that board that hard on the flop, he most certainly doesn't bet it on the turn, and the 33 probably c/?'s on this river. So unless you have caught a flush draw (which the unremarkable villian should not have given the turn, and if he does have it, is completely capable of being calling station 6-8 from early position and calling down until the river), the competent unremarkable villian should call.

Edited for marginally more clarity.

Ignore my convoluted posts above. This is exactly what I was trying to say.

I wouldn't call this particularly "uber-aggressive". I'd call this selectively aggressive in a interestingly developing board. Certainly I can't recall the last time I've had to fire off a bluff on the river with J-high. The situation just happened to present itself.

I do agree with you that the min-raise on the flop is slightly donkish and makes villain slightly less predictable. The thing is that even though I don't have a particularly strong general read on the player, something about the way this hand developed screamed middle pair (99-77) to me (with a slight chance of a flush draw). I tried to "persuade" him to fold it on the turn, and I'd felt that I'd come close. When another scare card peeled on the river, I knew that I had a really good shot of taking him off the hand. There are a number of rivers where I think I'd have to concede to checking and possibly calling, but this wasn't one of them.

I probably should wait a bit longer before posting this, and I hestitate to post results cause it'll look like a brag, but villain did actually fold in this spot and resignedly chatted that he had 77 "and probably should've dumped it earlier". Cobalt replies, "Good fold."

I wouldn't consider myself to be a frequent "bluffer", and I certainly don't make a habit of bluffing "big" on the river in large pots, but I believe this hand is instructive because it illustrates recognizing opportune situations and the importance of putting your opponent on a hand.

Yes, this seemed like middle pair to me as well. My thought on the river was that the pair has more reason to call at the river than any other card. I am not sure why you think the 6 is a good card. A deuce would have been a better card because you can still sell a higher pair/set. At the river w/ a 6, you are selling 56 and that's it. If you had any of the stronger hands that you were beating him w/ at the turn, that river slows you up tremendously. betting this river looks like a bluff (granted I know the hand, but there's very little you play this fast that bets the river). Which leads to the second bolded point, a 5 or 6 are in fact two of the the only cards I think you concede on the river for all the reasons stated above. which leads to the third bolded point. Villian played this bad. If he's not calling this river, then he shouldn't call the turn. Sorta going w/ his donkish tendency that he did not think this hand through at all. This is a difficult but standard call against a (bolded point 4) Taggish,infrequent bluffer. It just doesn't make sense for you to bet this river.

I believe you ended up folding this player w/ 77 (if he did have that) because you placed such a blanket of confusion around the hand that he just had no idea what to do. Amen to confusing opponents w/ aggression and keepin 'em guessin. But I do believe, given time to think, (which is questionable online), that you should find a call here most of the time against decent players. and you're not running this line on weakish calling donks either.

Interestingly, when my buddies came over last night or Monday Night Football, I proposed this hand to from the villain's perspective with the question, "what would you need to have to call here?"

His immediate response was either the 5 or the 6. He figured you for a straight. A couple of non-poker players debated it for a while (I guarantee they would've caught you...LOL...they wanted to call with any pocket pair including deuces). About twenty minutes later, my buddy changed his mind and said he'd call with any over-pair or the nut flush draw. I didn't tell him the result because I was going to play the hand out for another buddy that was supposed to be by later, but given a lot of time to think it through, he decided your betting didn't make much sense and put you on a flush/straight draw combo.

Thank the poker gods for that quick timer.

Oh, I agree that villain played it badly. If he's willing to call the turn, he needs to call the river. I was just glad that I could make it a tough decision. Also, I agree that we concede with a check if the third 5 comes on the end. I don't see why I have to specifically have 65 to bet this river...I could've also had 64/63...or even be betting my 54/53 for value. Heck, I might even be betting a straight for value since I'm so convinced that he doesn't have 6/5. =)

As for the last point, I'm certainly not running this line against someone that is incapable of folding.

actually you're right about 64, 63 type hands. I totally missed those. the 54, 53 maybe less so.

I disagree with this. I think the line you took is more likely 54 or 53 than 63. That turn card is horrible for 63, or at least that's how I would've evaluated it.

Yeah, it would be horrible, but it doesn't mean I'd just shut down with the lead and a big pot.

A lot of boats just call the turn because they want you to hit your draw.