Kate & Walter: Feeling lost in a 3-bet pot
After bluffing pre-flop, our heroine Kate ends up in a difficult bluff catcher spot on the flop. The turn brings a good card, but was Kate's play correct? Walter knows more...
Kate: Hey Walter!
In this hand I felt a bit lost and alone in a 3-bet pot. I would call pre-flop with AJ or better, consequently I'm bluffing with AT.
On the flop my hand has the same relative hand strength as KK and QQ. Additionally, it's impossible that my opponent is holding any hands containing the Aor A. Therefore, my hand is perfect for punishing opposing bluffs and I decide to play check/call.
I'm able to improve to two-pair on the turn so I'm now beating AQ und AK. I don't think it would be profitable to bet AT in this spot on the turn and river yourself. Too often my opponent could be holding sets, stronger two-pairs and the straight with KQ.
In hindsight, though, I think I should have gone all-in on the river myself. Even when I have less than 50% equity against my opponent's calling-range, I should get better results than with a check/call. What do you think, Walter?
Walter: Hey Kate!
Phew! That's really not an easy spot. To start off, I think you are a bit too wide pre-flop. ATshould still be a fold. I would suggest the following strategy when you are in the Small Blind and confronted with an open-raise from middle position:
Simply call with yellow hands and 3-bet with red hands in spots like that.
On the flop, two defined ranges clash. Just like you I would play a continuation bet with aces and partly with AK. Additionally, I would bluff with any flush draw, backdoor flush draw and KQ.
My check/call hands would be AK, AT, QQ and KK. I wouldn't want to bet any of those myself on the turn, except for AT, and would therefore just play check/call at that point, too.
The river is interesting and you should play it like this:
AK and KK should be checked and folded in case your opponent bets. With ATo, a direct all-in should indeed be most profitable.
That's because your opponent wouldn't bet AQ and AK on the river himself, but could sometimes call your all-in with the following hands:
The advantage of a check is that you could sometimes catch an all-in bluff. However, in practice, that should occur way less often than a bad call by your opponent with AK or AQ when you go all-in yourself.
By the way, not that it's any of my concern, but what actually happened to Tony? Lack of chemistry?
Kate: Unfortunately, Tony got sick during our parabolic flight. Afterwards, the butterflies in his stomach were apparently gone. However, we decided to stay friends. What are you up to this weekend?
Walter: I've already made plans for a cooking evening this weekend.
Do you agree with Walter and Kate? Is a direct all-in on the river the best move with ATo?
Previous episodes
- Kate & Tony: Check-raise on the flop a good idea?
- Kate & Tony: Is her huge bluff an overkill?
- Kate & Tony: Is her hero-call with K2o too insane?
If you're interested in playing with strategy, feel free to take a look at our best beginner strategies!
