Light 3betting villain, weak made hand.

[BorisTheSpider]

CO ($9.65)
Button ($24.98)
Hero (SB) ($30.20)
BB ($18.66)
UTG ($28.23)
MP ($25)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, J
1 fold, MP bets $0.75, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.65, BB raises to $3.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $2.75

Flop: ($7.75) 5, A, K (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $4.50, Hero ???


Villain is 27/24, 3betting 17% and cbetting 85% of flops.

What's your play?

Also, are you leaving the table with this kind of villain to your left, or are you stationing down to wait for him to 3bet a nut hand you open?

[bikes]

c/c

[BorisTheSpider]

Then if he shoves a brick turn?

[bikes]

c/c.

[BorisTheSpider]

What about the table selection issue. Would you advise staying to learn how to play in this kind of environment, or leaving since he's making my life hard? A fish to the right, but he was 3bing a load of my isos earlier. He seems a little more in line now.

[bikes]

really depends on your tolerance level, you will have to learn how to play against aggro 3bers sooner or later

[Icanhastreebet]

I'm confused why we are flatting in the SB here instead of just 3bing ourselves.

[MadMojoMonkey]

I'm confused why we are flatting in the SB here instead of just 3bing ourselves.

I keep thinking this. Playing from the LB is always a risky move, doing it without initiative is spewy at best. I (almost) never call from the LB. The LB is a raise or fold spot on the table for me.

KJs is a great hand to see a flop with, so I'd rather not fold to 1 raise here. A 3-bet lets me rep AQ+ on any flop, and forces the villain to make another (maybe bad) choice pre-flop. PLUS I get to know whether his range is call 3-bet or 4-bet. This is more narrow than PFR range.

I'll hit the "pot bet" button, and think about which line I'm most likely to take:
1) villain calls: b b/f ; b b/c
2) villain 4-bets: b/f ; b/c c/f ; b/c c/c
The decide if it's worth risking that amount for the chance to see the flop.

Position is so important, and I remind myself that I'm not trying to win every pot, or even every pot I might have won if I didn't fold. I'm trying to find spots where I have an edge and then I press that edge.

[BorisTheSpider]

Position is so important, and I remind myself that I'm not trying to win every pot, or even every pot I might have won if I didn't fold. I'm trying to find spots where I have an edge and then I press that edge.

Thanks. This is golden.

This kind of spot, with an aggro villain, is a mental game issue for me. There's plenty to be learned in terms of the poker, but more to be learned in terms of the mental game and bigger picture. This quote is now filed away.

[BorisTheSpider]

I'm confused why we are flatting in the SB here instead of just 3bing ourselves.

Thanks for the input. Had the BB not 3bet here, it's still a bad play.

I can't actually remember, but I'm going to guess I maybe flatted because I expected it to get 3bet behind me, and it didn't want it getting 4bet behind me instead, and ending up with the alternatives of being OOP in a 4bet pot with a marginal hand, shoving with a marginal hand against a villain I wasn't sure would 4bet light, or 3bet-folding. Really weak. If that was what I was thinking, I should have either folded or come out betting. Probably folded, since you can't win them all.

SB is now raise-or-fold for me, at least for the time being. I'm not sure if there is any value in ever flatting here, but if there is it's beyond me for now to realise that value, so it's designated a raise/fold zone.

[Icanhastreebet]

I don't think cold calling v a weak range or with a weak opponent in the big blind is a bad play at all in the small blind. This hand is just a little too weak v a lot of MP opens to be defending from the SB when coupled with the fact we have a 3b monkey who is in a position where he is going to 3b and probably squeeze a tonne. Just lighting money on fire in this situation.