Call 3Bet A9s, flop a gutter

Boss, I'm not sure you want to be calling this pre. I would 4bet bluff.

OTF I wouldn't fold. Imo this hand would be great for a raise but since BB's 3betting range hits this quite nicely, I doubt we will have that much fold equity -> I would call.

Its a call for me on the basis that we have only 3 clean outs and the board is too wet for a raise.

A9 suuuited looks so good but i think most flops we dont like but you are the BOSS so you want to outplay him so floating to make a move at turn

Fold or 4bet pre. This hand has reverse implied odds vs his range.

As played i would raise OTF, board hits our range better than his. We have all sets, probably 89/T9/TJ and puts him in a tough spot with most of his hands. Whereas if we just call we'd be in a tough spot OTT.

This is an easy one. We have POSITION so we call pre. Even if 4-bet is profitable, it isn't as profitable as calling because we have POSITION. No RIO because we know how to not lose all hitting an A (but we know how to take the pot away from villain if he has a moderate pp or a higher A). On the flop, villain is polarized (monster/missed) with that bet size; an overpair reasonably bets more due to draws or not at all. Raising is madness versus polarized range (we'll steal the pot later if steal-able). Folding means your preflop calling license (you called to steal the pot!) is revoked for a while.

Originally posted by YohanN7
We have POSITION so we call pre. Even if 4-bet is profitable, it isn't as profitable as calling because we have POSITION.

Damn
I have to admit that I didn't think this one completely through... I just blindly trusted the ranges I got from w34z3l
I don't know what he has been thinking when he marked the lower suited aces as 4bet bluffs.. He must have forgot that it is more profitable to call with a super wide dominated range because we have POSITION

But seriously, I think when we are in position our bluff range should be more merged.. More equity, easier to play and blocks villains value 3bet range. When OOP having a polarized range is imo better because we don't have to make difficult decisions with dominated A9s OOP.
What hands would you 4bet bluff here if not something like A9s-A2s?

The answer lies in where you think you have a skills advantage (if any) over your opponent. Is this preflop or postflop? Since this is NL10, I don't want to gamble much (i.e.4-bet) versus a bad player. If it were NL50 I'd definitely think differently. And yes, then using your ragged A as a blocker (i. e. 4-bet) is fine. (Like I said above, don't worry too much about domination if you choose to call. Potential domination is much worse OOP.) Then again, if we are deeper, say 150+ bb, then it is back in calling mode, precisely because we have POSITION.

I haven't played with fixed ranges for some time now. I do what feels right at the moment. This includes some very unhealthy 3-betting that no sound fixed range contains. I also 3-bet bluff less OOP, and call and check more on BB than most ranges recommend. I have often written here that I think this preflop (near-) hysteria is a waste of time, and that the postflop game should be the main focus all through the micros. I stand by that. It is also damned hard to figure out good ranges, because what is "right" with 100 bb may be wrong with 90 or 115 bb, and downright stupid with 50 or 200 bb. Too much work for me.

So I am the wrong person to ask about preflop strategy. But yes, the hands you mention (esp A9s-A6s) are definitely among the first candidates, but so are KQo and similar, and there are plenty of those.

As a natural corollary to the preceding paragraph is that I shouldn't ever post my opinion on preflop:f_biggrin:

He doesn't have moderate pp, that would mean he would 3bet hands like 77-99, which would be awfull.
So all his pp's are premium, if we don't flop an ace, these pp's are most likely overpockets. How happy are people on micro's to fold an overpair? Not that happy -> not much FE.

When we do flop an ace these pp's he has are 2nd pair, we only win a small pot, whereas vs the stronger Ax in his range we'll lose a medium to big pot.

Besides if we don't raise this hand, what do we bluffraise on the flop? This is a very nice candidate /w gutter, backdoorflush and perhaps an ace as out. I'd say if we hold hearts they are better to just call because they have more equity.
I'd also raise my sets/2p for value here because there could be alot of action killers OTT.

Still i'd say fold pre, people on micro's 3bet way too tight, BBvCO is probably less than 5% and a9s just plays shit vs that range.

Nice
These hands are getting even more traction than I hoped boys and girls!
See you tonight 20:00 CEST at https://www.twitch.tv/pokerstrategydotcom

Originally posted by Varune
Fold or 4bet pre. This hand has reverse implied odds vs his range.

As played i would raise OTF, board hits our range better than his. We have all sets, probably 89/T9/TJ and puts him in a tough spot with most of his hands. Whereas if we just call we'd be in a tough spot OTT.

+1