Monday, April 13, 2009

Value Betting a Scary Board

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
BB: 167.36 BB
UTG: 98.60 BB
MP: 93.56 BB
Hero (CO): 134.52 BB
BTN: 100 BB
SB: 100 BB
Pre-Flop: 9 9 dealt to Hero (CO)
2 folds, Hero raises to 3.4BB, 2 folds, BB calls 2.4BB

Flop: (7.2BB) 3 9 Q (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 5.8BB, BB calls 5.8BB

Turn: (18.8BB) 3 9 Q [ J ] (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets 14BB, BB calls 14BB

River: (46.8BB) 3 9 Q J [ 8 ] (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero?

The new me looks for more far spots to get extra value on the river than the old me. But is this a good one? Boils down to a few factors, I would say:
1) Are there enough hands that I am ahead of that will call a value bet on this board?
2) Would a rivered straight check to me here, knowing that I'm unlikely to fire a 3rd barrel on a board that has become pretty darn scary?
3) Is my opponent capable of bluff-raising this board?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would fire for about half the pot on the river. Someone with a straight isn't usually going to check the river and just hope that you bet again. And even if he does have a solitary 10, he appears to be scared enough of K-10, that he would probably just smooth call you, instead of coming back over the top and giving you a tough decision. On that board, there are a ton of 2-pair combinations that will call your value bet on the river, plus other one-pair hands like AQ, KQ, KJ, AJ, etc.

Hef

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I agree - but I'm going to assume he's folded just about anything that would have flopped 2 pair (how loose are these tables?). He's likely not going to check raise you on the river, so it's worth the value bet. I don't know much about the dude, but I figure he's probably got AQ/KQ, maybe even 33 and he thought he was slow playing. He may have slow played KK or AA, but he's gotta raise that at some point, right?

I think the only hands you lose to are 1010 or maybe J10s. MAYBE QQ, but I'd be astonished if he played them that weak on turn. Pre-flop bet should push out Q10 and K10 (J10 too, honestly). Post flop bet should push out A10 and K10. Can't account for bad play though.

Gun to my head he has AQ/KQ.

Scott

noldmax said...

I'd say my opponent's C-bet calling range is AQ/KQ/QJ/QT/JT/TT. A float with a gutterball hand like KT/T9/T8 is not out of the question. A lot wider than maybe you're used to seeing in tourneys, Scott. In a pot with one raise PF, opponents will pretty much always call a C-bet, and sometimes call a 2nd barrel. With 33 or QQ, I expect to have seen a raise either on the flop or turn, so we can rule those out.

Mark, I don't think villain is every sweating me holding KT, since it's such a longshot. If he's checking with a T, it's not out of fear, but because he knows how obvious it looks to lead out on the river, and he's hoping I'll value bet a set or 2-pair and won't be able to get away from a raise.