Irishman07 - $100 NL

[Irishman07]

Video Description: In this video Dan plays 2 tables of $100 NL 6-Max on Full Tilt in real time. Dan stresses the importance of having a general game plan for different situations but also having the ability to deviate from that game plan if the situation merits it.

Video Link: http://www.leggopoker.com/videos/training/831/

Discuss here!

[DRUK88]

Hey Dan (first of all, nice vid I really like your videos, good work).

I have noticed in this video you seem to be 3betting AQ (both suited and unsuited) in position and have not really discussed the merits for it. It is probably a pretty standard spot for you, I just lately have been torn about whether to flat or raise in these spots.

I know that we should be 3betting IP a lot as a standard, and thus should be doing it with value hands like AQ (which is the merits for 3betting). However, against players at 100NL where they aren’t paying too much attention, we don’t need to worry so much about balancing our 3betting range IP provided we have table selected decently. I have started to feel that even at 100NL (and even 50NL) a lot of players are unlikely to raise/call much worse than AQ? Is this incorrect? Whereas IMO flatting IP vs A9-AJ allows them to valuetown themselves when we both flop an Ace and he thinks his hand is best because we merely flatted pre (and these hands will likely have folded pre had we 3bet)?

So, what is your reasoning behind 3betting AQ IP here instead of calling?

Thanks,

DR

[blitzology]

it's pretty rare for both players to flop an ace though

[DRUK88]

^ But when the villain has A high and hasn't been 3bet, he can barrel with the initiative. If we 3bet a hand like AQ (or moreso AJ) I sort of feel we are letting AT and lower fold easily and AQ/AK get value from us?

I don't know, I used to always 3bet AQ and AJ IP, but I have seen some videos where it has been flatted, so I guess there is some room for discussion here.

[Irishman07]

Originally Posted by DRUK88

Hey Dan (first of all, nice vid I really like your videos, good work).

I have noticed in this video you seem to be 3betting AQ (both suited and unsuited) in position and have not really discussed the merits for it. It is probably a pretty standard spot for you, I just lately have been torn about whether to flat or raise in these spots.

I know that we should be 3betting IP a lot as a standard, and thus should be doing it with value hands like AQ (which is the merits for 3betting). However, against players at 100NL where they aren’t paying too much attention, we don’t need to worry so much about balancing our 3betting range IP provided we have table selected decently. I have started to feel that even at 100NL (and even 50NL) a lot of players are unlikely to raise/call much worse than AQ? Is this incorrect? Whereas IMO flatting IP vs A9-AJ allows them to valuetown themselves when we both flop an Ace and he thinks his hand is best because we merely flatted pre (and these hands will likely have folded pre had we 3bet)?

So, what is your reasoning behind 3betting AQ IP here instead of calling?

Thanks,

DR

In one of my older videos I got a similar question and here's my response... I still feel it explains it pretty well but if you want further explanation please feel free to ask more questions.

This is a VERY good question and one that a lot of people struggle with. There definitely is a couple different schools of thought about whats the best play with these hands, but here's my take on it: It depends.

Obviously that's a cop-out answer, but whether or not I 3bet or flat hands like AQ will often depend on some factors like:

1) How often opponent defends 3bets. If opponent very rarely calls 3bets then it can be correct to just flat AQ, because like you said they are not calling with worse so you're basically turning AQ into a bluff and it has a lot of value flatting and playing post-flop vs a weaker range. This is especially true if opponent plays 4bet/fold (i.e. they never call 3bets oop) - if opponent is never seeing a flop when you 3bet them it doesn't make sense to turn AQ into a bluff (if you are folding to a 4bet) when you might as well just 3bet them with 72o - because if you never are seeing a flop it doesn't matter whatsoever what hand you hold.

On the other hand, if they defend a lot of 3bets then it can make perfect sense to 3bet AJ/AQ because they are calling with a somewhat wide range and you can play accordingly. Even if you 3bet AJ and they don't call with a whole lot of things you dominate, I believe it still can be correct if they don't play that well postflop. Lets say they defend pocket 8's and the flop comes K94 - you can most likely take this pot down with a cbet when if you hadn't 3bet and opponent had the initiative it would often be hard for you to continue. So I think it can be nice to have the initiative with these hands if you can take advantage of them postflop because you are creating a bigger pot to win preflop.

2) How likely they are to 4bet/what my plan is when they do. When I 3bet a hand I usually like to have an idea how I'd react to a 4bet. In most cases, especially at smaller stakes, when you are 4bet you can fold AJ/AQ because many players have a fairly tight range weighted more toward hands that have AJ/AQ dominated. It really when I'm up against a pretty aggressive player that I don't have many reads on yet that I'm not sure how often he'll be 4bet bluffing. When thats the case I'll be more likely to just flat AQ because it has so much value and I don't want to be put to that decision where I'm 4bet and don't know what to do. Then there are times when I know someone's got a wide 4betting range or I know they just are so likely to 4bet bluff (perhaps they are tilting or I've been 3betting them relentlessly) so if thats the case I'll go ahead and 3bet AJ/AQ and look to shove over a 4bet.

Interesting thought: I don't usually think it good to bet for "information" but often nits will have a 4bet range that is heavily skewed towards premium hands. If thats the case sometimes I'll just 3bet AJ because I don't mind taking down the pot preflop if they fold and I feel if they 4bet me I can easily fold and possibly save some money if they have AK and an A were to hit. My thinking here is I'm not really going to get a whole lot of value with AJ vs worse Ax's anyway. In this case AJ/AQ is sort of a semibluff because you're not really 3betting expecting them to call with worse a lot, but this just leads to my final point:

3) Playability. A lot of people just aren't comfortable flatting hands like AJ, especially offsuit, and especially oop. While this is definitely something you should get more comfortable with as you move up the stakes and attempt to have a more balanced range in spots, if you are just a small-mid stakes grinder who's looking to 12 table and make as much money as possible, I think that often 3betting AJ instead of flatting it can make it easier to play. You'll have the lead on the flop and often a better idea of what opponent's range is, whereas if you've got a pretty wide 3betting range they often won't really know what you have. With the initiative it is a lot easier to take down pots since you won't have to be the one reacting to cbets and deciding whether to bluff-raise, float etc. So often if I don't have a read on someone's postflop tendencies I might just go ahead and 3bet AJ/AQ (and probably fold to a 4bet, which sucks but it happens) because I think it makes the hand easiest to play.

Those were just some thoughts off the top of my head, if anyone has questions to ask or something to add please do so as this is definitely a good topic.