villain is 28.97/19.64/1.97

Limit Holdem Ring game
Limit: $3/$6
6 players
Converter

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with 8 8
4 folds, Hero raises, BB calls.

Flop: 6 9 3 (4SB, 2 players)
Hero bets, BB raises, Hero calls.

Turn: J (4BB, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.

River: 7 (6BB, 2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: 8BB


Woudl you play it differently? Anyone prefer to 3bet and fold to a raise on teh turn or river depending on the card?

My thoughts...

As always, Blind Battles are extremely read dependant.
And my path will change 180 degrees depending on the opponent.

BB will be raising us on the flop with a huge range of hands.
Any pair.
And maybe even as a complete bluff.
So our 8's are still ahead here a large amount of the time.

But the problem is, I feel that my 8's are too vulnerable to just check-call down.
Because even if we are ahead, the odds of being drawn out on are high.

I 3bet the flop for value and protection.
My hope is that Villain will continue to call me down with a lesser pair.
And will fold his overs on the turn.

Against a tight opponent, I will fold the turn if he raises again.
And this is probably the correct play for many players.

But with the LAG image I often carry at the table, Villains tend to play back at me a number of times in these blind battles with lesser hands.
So if my 8's still look good relative to the board, I may insist on seeing showdown regardless of Villain's actions.


Let's look at this example without the flush hitting the turn on OP's hand:

Pre-flop: (6 players) Hero is SB with 8 8
4 folds, Hero raises, BB calls.

Flop: 6 9 3
Hero bets, BB raises,

What does this raise represent?
The 9 ?
The 6 or 3 ?
Flush draw?
A positional bluff?

We don't know yet.
But we are ahead a lot here, so we raise again.

Hero raises, BB calls.

Turn: J
Hero bets , BB raises,

Now on first impression, this 2nd raise seems pretty darn strong.
And it's hard to imagine we are ahead.

But let's take a moment and put Villain on a hand here.
If his flop raise was genuine and we were behind, his most likely hand was the 9.
But then why would he raise the turn again now when the J hits and his hand goes down in value?
His turn raise tells me that he likely did not have the 9.
My read is that he is either very strong here (2 pair) or he is still bluffing.

I hold 3rd pair in a blind battle.
There are 7 bets in the pot already.
In my opinion, there is still a decent chance I am ahead.
I will often still call down here.

But while this loose play works well for me,
it should only be done against a loose opponent who thinks you are a LAG as well.


--CM