Hi guys,
First hand eval post. I know - no software yet - I promise I will install it before the next eval.
Firstly, i posted it here cause I cant post in the NL5-NL10 forum?
Pretty basic hand: at NL5 6 max.
Stacks all close to 100BB table is seeing the flop at about 40%
I am button, villain is M2? (to the right of CO). I have been raised off the button a lot of times, my range probably doesnt open up enough here.
Action: (Hero AQs)
fold, M2 raise to 15, CO fold, Hero raise to 30, SB fold BB fold, M2 calls..
pot 67
Flop:
8d3hQh
M2 bet 65, hero calls...
pot 197
Turn:
3d
M2 bets 190, hero calls
Pot 577
River:
Qc
M2 bets 2.94 all in, hero calls.
Now before I post the result, I want to see what you guys think of the showdown, not to be a smartarse at all but to get an idea of how better players think.
Here is what I was thinking:
Just moved up from NL2 and surprised at how the balance between preflop and postflop play has changed. Appears (from one night....) that preflop action is muted, although with more blind stealing/protecting to some degree and button protecting. But post flop action is "heavy" almost like push/fold.
That was my mind set so I was a little nervous about getting overcommitted without a big hand but couldnt seem to get away from the fact that a defending raise was 3 betted more often than not and now the pot is big already and I'm either in or out and down a chunk of my stack.
Hence the "calling affliction" in this hand. I thought my initial reraise was ok since villians first raise was small in my experience (3BB). I was actually thinking that maybe I was being soft........
So he just calls........
The flop comes. TPTK, good, not great but I'm interested. He bets pot sized. Well what can I do? I want to be aggressive, I'm not overly worried about 2 pairs but a set or overpairs are in play and a raise makes a big pot with only TP. So I call.
How can I fold?
The turn is not a heart - good news as I didnt price him out of that......and the paired 3 is unlikely to be quads so Im cautious of the made FH with 88 although the 2nd D has opened up another FD on the river.
Problem for me is his small opening raise and call give him quite a few hands and I know I am not really strong. So now Im in no mans land.
He bets pot sized again and what can I do? Fold? I will be getting pot committed on top pair if I don't but......
So I call and hope.
And hope appears.....one of my outs for a change......now Im only up against quad 3's which I had pretty much discounted.
He goes all in, not representing the 3's in my opinion at all besides which I'm pretty much committed anyway and I call......again.
Embarrassing. I was previously cautious about exactly the situation I got myself into because I was sick of getting pushed out of hands by bigger bets than I was used to.
How do I avoid this? Similar thing happened on a later hand at another table, except I had KQo and had just called to see the pot (3BB I think), I bet the flopped Q was raised by the button and I folded as I thought AQ was a hand he could have (not QQ - again the preflop action seemed dull) but again I felt pushed off the pot especially when I see the showdowns of other players and what crap they cbet with etc.
I cant help but feel that if I am more aggressive I will lose money by creating big pots I have no right to be in, especially since it seems like 3 betting is something that gets done much more often than not. 4 bet? and really go down in flames?
Anyway - long winded but appreciate your time and thoughts.
