I'm just starting to focus solely on HUSNG and have had moderate success so far. I'm at the $6 turbo level, and I was just looking for some thoughts on this hand I lost and wondering if it was the right play or not. If the feedback is good, I may be interested in buying some coaching lessons. Here's the info: We were only about 10 hands deep, but this guy had raised the button 4BB every time and I had folded each time so far. We are now at 1400/1600 in chips, me to him. Tired of getting my blinds taken, he raised the button again and I decided to call with J9s, flop comes 6 8 9 rainbow. I check the flop, he bets 100, I min raise back making it 200, and he immediately goes all in. I called quickly only to see him turn over pocket Q's. So now I'm left wondering if calling the all-in bet was the right play with top pair medium kicker? Based on his aggressive style early, I couldn't really put him on a high pocket pair like that, and I really thought he could potentially be bluffing. Just looking to see what more experienced players think of this play, and again, if the feedback is good and helpful I could definitely be interested in some coaching, as I really want to improve my game and bring in some extra income. ThxRaekwizzle (PS)
It's too early. Lots of players raise 60-100% of their buttons (just check the coaches on the site)You have no postflop reads whatsoever at this stage and you dominate next to nothing with TP medium kicker.Obviously if he was on monkey tilt it could be resonable to call, but you don't really know that at all, his first few raises could just be a good card streak.
Remember that a loose raiser is not always a loose caller.
OK, i see a few things here to say...(And yeah it always sucks when u decide to play back into a aggro opponent only to find you picked the wrong hand! 10 or 110 hands in)1) Why did u insta-call? [ie why didnt you think about it first? If you still call it makes no difference if you let the clock run down to 2seconds, does it? - And if u fold, atleast your opponent thinks you were considering a call, which is good if they were bluffing]2) What were you expecting to see (in his hand)?3) Why stack off with such a marginal hand so early?Often just being patient and waiting for a big hand/draw can be a good way to play opponents like this. Almost nothing should be a snap decision at this stage of a game. Yes some players will do this to discourage you from playing back at them early, so just fold and wait for a much better spot to get it in. Also, sometimes (after a hand when they shove, to pound you into submisssion), YOU make a play like this... ie chk-raise opponent allin (cos most often he wont be able to call) sending HIM the message "OK, Im quite happy to play for stacks this early to!". Often enough this will slow them down a little bit (alot?), as they are not used to be pushed back.Well, that seems to work more times than not for me, and times where I start a match like this (him), and a few hands later my opponent shoves on me, it will definitely make me think twice about shove bluffing them next time (although clearly he wasnt bluffing here).Rememeber the adage of "What is the very thing my opponent DOES NOT want me to do?" - and do it. Against aggro foes, this means (usually) getting aggresive yourself. like I said, it often pays to wait for the right board, where you are pretty sure your opponent can't call, and push on them. They mayk know or suspect its a bluff (but still cant call), and actually its better if they do! It sends a stronger message - "YOU CAN'T BULLY ME!"And bullys hate this! ;-) That said, it also entirely possible your opponent just had a great 1st ten hands, and that they werent always going to be raising 4x every buttion. Hence you need to play more hands before you categorise ppl as 'LAG" (here). Conversely because a player folds the 1st 10 buttons, doesnt mean they are tight, they could have just been dealt 10 horrible hands (althogh you would still expect them to raise 1 or 2, to be testing YOUR waters to) - In a normal speed game, I would prefer to play a full level against them before even beginning to seriously try to categorise them. 10 hands is no where near enough (and here you see why)
What exactly do you want to accomplish with min-checkraising on a board like this ?And do you see what a donkey this guy is ? Jamming over the "fish value line" first time, no reads at all, on a board like that is just absolutely terrible. These are the kind of guys who constantly whine about bad beats and suckouts - fish does hit two pair or sets on connected boards like this quite often and fish do like to check/minraise those. Seeing something like this is an indication that the guy might be overvaluing hands, so if you're patient and wait for a hand then he'll pay you off. Watch out how he's playing his draws, you may even be able to "fake the fish value line" against him and trap him with your monsters this way.Ok, so much about your opponent, now to your hand ...First time you see a flop against him, I wouldn't even check/raise with this. This board is way too connected, in addition to better made hands such as two pairs, sets or made straights, he can have a bunch of pair + straight-draw combinations which all have some very good equity against your hand. And think about which hands he might be jamming over your check/raise - there is no flush-draw, so he can't have any overcard(s) + flushdraw (and even this is a coinflip against your hand).Since you misplay your hand by check-minraising, he's getting great odds to just flat with any kind of a straight-draw - and your "fish value line" should make him worried that you have some kind of a monster. It costs him 100 to flat for a pot of ~450 with ~1200 behind - so think about any worse hand that he's shoving. There aren't any worse 9's that don't have some kind of a gutshot, so for him to have a worse hand he must be shoving with middle pair or less.I would just flat with J9s and reevaluate turn. A mincheckraise just doesn't make any sense at all and with a normal-sized one you're just turning your hand into a bluff since there isn't anything worse that may call you.Btw. another option for this hand would be a small 3bet pre-flop, but I wouldn't recommend this unless you're feeling very comfortable in reraised pots, and it's also not neccessary on lower stakes. It's just something I'd consider on my level ($55).