shadowjack

Which hands do you consider raising in this spot? I recall doing analysis on this several years ago and found that a tight range worked best, but now I can't find my notes and I can't seem to configure the HEM2 filters to analyze this. I also don't have piosolver or anything like that so it's a little tricky to study.

Currently I raise 99+, AJ+, ATs+, KQs. I would like to know if I'm missing out on profit. I know a lot of players raise pretty liberally in this spot. Does anyone have solid information on which hands can show a profit here?

According to my database from 2 years ago I was losing money when 3betting AJ, KQs, KQ, KJs, KJ, QJs, QTs. Since my new database was started in late 2016 I have not been 3betting these hands very much from the small blind and my play has improved a bit. Even though I had a pretty good sample size I think a combination of running bad in this spot with these hands and occasionally playing poorly in large pots may be the primary reasons for the deficit. I am also pretty certain that I was 3betting too often because I didn't want to cold call and probably ran into a lot of bad spots because of it. But mostly I would 3b those hands against a late position open.

Do you guys 3bet these hands from the small blind? Are you profiting? I'm really considering going back to 3betting these hands because I think I can show a profit with them now, but I would love some feedback before I give it a try.

Anyone here showing a profit flatting 3bets vs the blinds when you're on the button? I am mostly concerned about non-premium hands. If you're showing a profit I'd love to know how. In my database I'm losing about double the amount I would have lost by folding and I have a deficit with many different hands. My current database only has 65k hands but the other one with 200k hands showed similar trends.

I used to be very deadly in this scenario about 5 years ago but now my results are not good. I'm doing pretty well 4bet bluffing and trapping big hands vs OOP 3bets but my flatting non-premium hands is simply not looking profitable. I understand how to employ many different strategies in this spot and used to pilot them to a nice win rate but now I don't seem to know what I'm doing.

Generally what I like to do is evaluate the flop and determine how well it fits my opponents range. If they check I will often stab if the board misses their range but if otherwise I will take the free card. Versus a cbet my floats are doing very poorly and my opponents usually barrel the turn or look to check raise the turn, overall I'm getting punished in this regard. I sometimes raise the flop as a bluff, particularly on ace high flops so I can attempt to bluff out KK-99 and that play used to work very often for me but now it seems that players are very aware of it and they usually call or raise back. Are there any flop textures that work well for bluff raising the cbet? Maybe something like 854? I even wonder if they would fold to the raise with AK or AQ, I find my opponents to be very sticky and hard to move off of a hand. I have also tried calling the flop with light/medium strength hands and then if I bet the turn they often call or raise, but usually they just double barrel and I call again, and then they often shove. I have also tried repping big hands and getting very aggro post flop but that has gotten me into trouble as well. Ofcourse I still do well when I can flop draws and generally play them for stacks, but most of the time the flop misses me and I need to bluff or give up.

I'm at a bit of a loss as I feel I have a wealth of experience and my win rate in this spot used to be enormous, but after a two year absence from the game I feel that I went from strong to weak in this regard. Most aspects of my game are very strong still and my win rate is quite good, but losing more by calling than folding with decent hands is unacceptable. I should note too that I have experimented with calling a wide variety of hands and generally tailor my calling range to their 3b%.

Any advice or insight is greatly appreciated. I really need to plug this leak. Thanks :)

I'm on a pretty bad run of losing with AK and AQ, but especially AK. I 3b most people with it both in and out of position and I tend to cbet flops where I have decent equity or when I think it misses the bulk of my opponent's calling range. If a good turn card comes I will barrel and I'll often barrel on a turn card that is unlikely to change the strength of my opponents hand, largely because people seem to call the flop nearly every time there is not an ace or king on board. The problem is that people never seem to fold when I cbet or double barrel, it's as if they expect me to have big cards and won't drop there hand unless I triple barrel all-in. I don't mind doing that but when it is practically a necessity to win the hand at this point I think I must be doing something wrong.

I do have extensive experience and strong results throughout my career, but I'm pretty sure I'm unaware of some aspect of playing these hands and it's not just a bad run. I've tried check calling when OOP and it rarely ever leads to me winning the hand. Usually they bet the flop because they think I'm weak and then they bet the turn, but if an ace or king turns they shut down and I don't get paid. I have considered check raising missed flops on reasonable boards as it looks incredibly strong and punishes loose 3b calls and flop stabs, however, I have not tried this yet. I have tried checking back in position and that has yielded some pretty good results. I often check back the flop and then call or raise the turn or fold if the board is very unfavorable.

I'd love to hear your opinions on how to handle these spots.