(FR) AQo - TPTK in HU

Raise bigger preflop.
Flop bet/call.
Check/call turn, check/fold river.

Iso-raise 3x + 1bb OOP. 7x iso to big. Bet Flop ~33%-50% you want to bet a merged range.

By betting turn so small you gave the opp a good price to continue with his flash-draw. I would bet like 30% of the pot on the river and fold to raise unless you know that the opponent likes to bluff-shove.

I don't like this line! You turn your hand face up, not that this particular villain will know that, but still if you want to move up you'll face more regs/good players and less fishes and vs good players you must be unpredictable or they will crush you.

"See I raised big PF, I most likely have high cards, and wow OTF I hit my ace, but the board is dangerous, let's bet big for value and protection. Hmm OTT I still have TP with good kicker but that's still just a pair. If I bet big again I will be commited, so let's bet less than 1/2, if he raises I am folding easily, but lets hope he folds! Damn the flush came!!! If i bet now I will only be called by a better hand, lets check and hope for a free showdown or a small bet. Damn! He soves he can have nothing but flush, I am folding."

Raise bigger preflop.
Flop bet/call.
Check/call turn, check/fold river.

This one looks better.

Check-call the turn i think is very weak here, especially if villain fish. He can able call any Ax, 10x, 9x, so lot of one pairs what you beat and lot of draws, broadway straight, flush draw i bet more the turn less 25BB. And river close but maybe fine just check-fold but this villain perhaps i can try bet 24BB and if he raise i folded.

VPIP, PFR, and 3Bet percentages are too high. In this limit, I'd check call the river. I wouldn't be surprised to see non-diamond J8 or 87. They make much more sense than any two cards of diamonds.

The only hands that beat you were two cards of diamonds that were too weak for him to open raise with but too strong for him to fold to your raise with... cards like 86 of diamonds. I think, there were more hands that you were ahead of. I'd check- call to induce a bluff because he was already rather pot committed. He wouldn't just surrender and check with hands like J8 and 87 that were not diamonds.

Originally posted by semiramiRNMD
I don't like this line! You turn your hand face up, not that this particular villain will know that, but still if you want to move up you'll face more regs/good players and less fishes and vs good players you must be unpredictable or they will crush you.

"See I raised big PF, I most likely have high cards, and wow OTF I hit my ace, but the board is dangerous, let's bet big for value and protection. Hmm OTT I still have TP with good kicker but that's still just a pair. If I bet big again I will be commited, so let's bet less than 1/2, if he raises I am folding easily, but lets hope he folds! Damn the flush came!!! If i bet now I will only be called by a better hand, lets check and hope for a free showdown or a small bet. Damn! He soves he can have nothing but flush, I am folding."

Raise bigger preflop.
Flop bet/call.
Check/call turn, check/fold river.

This one looks better.

Yeah. I think a lot about being crushed by regs. In the end, I guess I fear both equally: overplay my hands/play too fancily against fishes and being easily outplayed by regulars.

The problem is: on this site (at least based on the stats that I have so far) players are more on the fishy side than on the regular/solid side, at NL5 and 10. So my tendency is to try to play straight forward, unless I have specific reads on villain.

That said, sometimes I don't feel like I'm evolving/improving. I mean, I have a reasonable WR at those initials microlimits (not crushing but not being crushed), but my impression is that my edge is more in finding worst players and have position on them than truly improve in my game.

Originally posted by CptJokerFish
Iso-raise 3x + 1bb OOP. 7x iso to big. Bet Flop ~33%-50% you want to bet a merged range.

Yeah. Cbetting on the small side, OOP, never worked well for me. I usually don't know what to do vs a raise OTF or a call and how much to cbet OTT.

I sometimes watch some videos of people playing MTTs and I see a lot of those small raises (2,5bb from all positions) and small cbets.

Thanks all, btw. I don't always understand everything, but I always read and I try to understand everything.

After playing for years you'll realize that your winrate comes from big whales and spazzing players (big pots). That's it.
You get absolutely nothing on the long run playing regulars. If you see, top high-stakes players have 1 or 2bb/100 winrates over monster samples and they are constantly battling against other great players, it is very exhausting.

But you'll have no choice. Even at NL10 you'll face the regulars and you must play vs them, higher gets worse and worse. You cannot win, but you must not lose either.

It's completly fine to play low stakes and make some money without much effort, I am in the very same position, I don't want to play higher, because it will be much more difficult a lot of effort is required, energy, mental energy, bankroll, commitment etc. and I don't want this. It's all about your priority and what you want. If you want to make serious money and climb as high as possible than you need to work a lot and you must use the low stakes to improveyour game, if you want to just make some extra money to have beer or two with friends just rob the fishes and don't think much.

Originally posted by semiramiRNMD
if you want to just make some extra money to have beer or two with friends just rob the fishes and don't think much.

That's my thing now, make some money just as an extra income. There was a time where I wanted to grind hard and climb, but now I just want "easy" money if you get what I mean.
On the other hand, I'm so tired of cash...

Originally posted by zetozinho

Originally posted by semiramiRNMD
if you want to just make some extra money to have beer or two with friends just rob the fishes and don't think much.

That's my thing now, make some money just as an extra income. There was a time where I wanted to grind hard and climb, but now I just want "easy" money if you get what I mean.
On the other hand, I'm so tired of cash...

Tired of cash games or cash in general?

We can probably agree that vpip 85 player open limping BU is unlikely to be decent reg. So considering that preflop raise seems fine exploit though normally it would be too big. Flop sizing fine on drawy flop with hand that is most of time ahead and situation wont change on blank turn really. So bigger sizing on turn would make sense.

On river completing flush your hand is not that great anymore. Sure you beat some busted straight draws from sensible hands but having Q decrease those somewhat and not having diamond as blocker wont block any of his flush combos. This is also probably one of your weaker made hands on river so I dont see problem in check-folding it as default. Though exploitative river lines can be fine versus whale like this.