A commenter on yesterday’s re-squeeze hand remarked that even at high stakes he felt like Villain would pretty much always have AK when he overcalled the first pre-flop raise and then shoved over a re-raise and a call. Having just played this hand, I couldn’t resist posting it:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($400)
BB ($400)
UTG ($385.80)
MP ($484.40)
CO ($515.90)
Hero (Button) ($421.90)
Preflop: Hero is Button with K
, 10
2 folds, CO bets $12, Hero calls $12, SB raises to $52, 1 fold, CO calls $40, Hero raises to $421.90 (All-In), 2 folds
Total pot: $160 | Rake: $0
Results:
Hero didn’t show K, 10.
Outcome: Hero won $160
Granted I wasn’t an overcaller, which means I can rep a monster more credibly, but then the pot’s also a lot smaller, meaning my risk: reward ratio is greater and I shouldn’t be light as often.
Maybe that’s a stupid question, but what kind of information do you need to make a play like this one. Are the positions enough and you’d consider doing this on a table full of unknowns or do you look for an aggressive SQZer or just an aggressive dynamic in general before you pull a move like this?
I’m also not sure how much I should be thinking about my own range in a spot like this. I think suited Ax would be the best hands to 4b bluff, but if I’d do this with all the suited Ax I call with preflop then I probably shouldn’t add too many “weak” hands to that or I risk having a pretty weak range. Then again this is a spot that doesn’t come up all that often, so I’m not sure if my range even matters in that sense, or if I should just do it whenever I have a hand that has some equity against a calling range and I think it’s a good spot. I’m pretty confused there…
The better my hand and the bigger the pot, the less I care about strong reads. Like Greylock said, I’m not too worried about CO. Even if he calls, he’ll rarely have me in terrible shape. I do like to have at least an inkling that the squeezer is going to be squeezy, though.
Range still matters even if the situation only comes up once. I’d say though that KTs is better than some Axs, because you’ll probably get called by AQ but not KQ. Against a range of {TT+,AJs+,AQo+}, KTs performs about 3% better than A2s.
I made the same move last night. It didn’t work out as well…..
I didn’t say “pretty much always” but no big deal.
To answer Christoph, I think with the great majority of 2/4 players, once CO calls the three-bet rather than four-betting himself, you can assume CO doesn’t have enough hand to call a four-bet shove. So it comes down primarily to what you think SB’s range is.
Sorry grey, I know I should have checked your exact wording, just being lazy. Sorry for slandering you…. 🙂
Hey Andrew, sorry for the unrelated question. Would be very curious to ask you a few opinions about the current seasons of High Stakes Poker on TV (assuming you watch it). (a) what do you think about Negreanu’s play? (b) In general, what do you think about the level of play? Is it possible that old-timers like Elezra/Esfandiari/Hansen go through any of ‘higher’ level thinking that online 25-50/50-100NL pros do? what about dwan/manieri? Thank you!
Actually I don’t watch HSP, but FWIW I’ve heard some well-respected online cash players say surprisingly flattering things about Esfandiari.