What’s Your Play? Heads Up With Liv Boeree

20 thoughts on “What’s Your Play? Heads Up With Liv Boeree”

1. 1444. We don’t need to bet large to fold the hands we want to fold and this isn’t a runout texture or stack situation that is going to allow for an easy rebluff.

   • What are the hands you want to fold?

     • I guess the one she has.

       Without thinking about it at length I would say king high and worse. She folds better hands than king high with a nonzero frequency, which is probably bonus.

2. I worry that betting small will induce calls from anything better than Q-high or so. If Liv thinks Andrew is not great, she probably thinks that Andrew would shut down with lots of his one-pair hands here. So she could easily think that Andrew has lots of whiffs and lots of hands that want a showdown, so that plenty of his bets will be bluffs.

   That said, I really don’t know how best to think about this decision. In particular, I don’t know the frequency with which Liv would just call on the turn with a set (I suspect it’s high) and with which she would call the river with an A7-type hand (I also suspect it’s high and is fairly sensitive to bet sizing). I’m also having trouble figuring out how Andrew’s hand looks. My best guess is that no bluff size will work enough to be effective, in part because she’s not likely enough to have busted diamonds for Andrew to be targeting no pair. But I have only had a little bit of time to think about this hand. Tough one, IMO.

3. The call on the turn seems to indicate that villain is worried about hero having a straight. River card and villain check seems to confirm this. I think villain is going to fold to any decent sized bet, however I’m worried that a small bet will get auto-click called. I bet 3000 – I think that is sufficient enough to get a fold.

4. I get the feeling that you and Liv are playing a significantly different game than the micro HUSNG’s I play. Given the strength she’s shown check-raising the flop and calling the turn raise, I think I check back the flop and cut my losses.

   I’m interested in getting Andrew’s (and other commenters’) thoughts on how the impact that firing a third bluff here would have on his tournament life has on his decision-making. Giving up here leaves us at a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage, which is painful, to be sure, but probably manageable. Further losses by bluffing would put us anywhere from a 3-to-1 to 6.5-to-1 deficit (based on the bet sizes mentioned in this thread), a hole that would seem much tougher to climb out of. How much, if at all, does that affect your thinking in deciding whether to bluff a third time? Does the position a successful bluff puts us in outweigh the risk, given that we would be in a tough 2-to-1 deficit by giving up?

5. Can we convince Liv you have a backdoor str or a set?(Ignore when she has a backdoor str8)
   Honestly I like 2222…it looks like you are begging for a call and trying to get the most value from villain weak hand….not totally surprised to see a set. Hopefully she says, if he had a missed semi-bluff hero would bet more and she folds.

   Is it just me or has your blog image progressively moved from standard regular to solid aggressive regular to creative aggressive regular to loose manic 🙂 …probably just a function of updating a blog!!!

6. The fact that she raises the flop is quite normal to me, you are supposed to c-bet, she’s got a chance of pushing you out of this hand now. Why would she overbet is weird for me, can it be a set ?
   If I take that line, I understand the stab/call at the turn.
   The fact that you 3bet the turn means that you are pretty much showing nothing less than a set of 3.
   But I’m worried, how many hands are coherent with that betting pattern ? 45, 55, 66, 77, 33. It’s really thin to value bet out of these hands.
   To be consistent with that line I think we should not bet too much to make it look like a set or a straight wanting to be paid. Let’s say 2734 which is more than half and means that if she wants to earn this money, she needs to go all-in?

   • But playing that way is committing you to put the rest of your chips with air, that’s really tough.
     Knowing my way of playing, I would prefer to check and see what she had to get info. I don’t care losing this pot and having 5k to fight my way back to the top.
     I’m beaten anyway, she has a huge chance of knowing it and I feel like I was too bold on this hand already.

   • Hey Luis! Yeah I had a great time in Montreal and a good trip home. Thanks for commenting.

     Why would a bet of 2734 force her to go all-in? Or commit me to put the rest of my chips in with air (I certainly would fold to a check-raise)?

     • This is a good question.

       I do feel that this kind of bet is like saying “Go all-in, I don’t care, I will call since I will have only around 2500 left” which is representing a lot of strength with such a narrow range represented.
       Since you both know that you have not that much combos that are credible, she must have a hard time just calling with the middle of her range in my opinion (Top pair, overpair…).
       That would leave her with only two options :
       – Fold (With some hands as strong as 33 or two pair) or
       – All-in (with only the actual top of her range because your range is too narrow and strong, it’s quite possible she pushes also her total garbage here ?).

       You are right about the second point, if she check-raises you, you are beaten and should fold. I was just wondering what is the percentage of chance that she would actually fold to a 3rd barrel. After writing the first part of this exact comment I’m writing, I feel like I would try this 2734 bet because it has a higher chance of making her fold because it looks more like a value bet than a desperate steal?

       Would you go all-in here ? It can even more look like you are value betting your hand ?

       Hm, I’m torn between these two options.

7. I give up. Villain has made three strong actions. The check raise on the flop could just be a move, but shows strength a higher percentage of the time than check fold, and probably than check call. Then the turn she bets and calls a raise. Almost has to have something strong. I doubt she folds to a pot size bet or less, except with her air, and even with that, she may shove.

8. First, I generally open bigger than a minraise this deep, but that’s a pretty minor detail.

   Second, I’m not really a fan of the turn raise. Would Liv expect you to b/c a set or 76 instead of b3b on a somewhat drawy flop? I dunno, but I would expect you to b3b flopped monsters more often than not (I could obviously be wrong). So, if your value range is going to be constricted, you can probably narrow your semibluff range to hands that have more equity against her calling range. Meh.

   This river spot is really tough; I agree with Nate insofar as your range will be perceived as polarized, and there are sooooooo many combos that whiffed that you’re probably not getting folds from 2p (or A7 or whatever bluffcatchers she may have) no matter what you bet. Still, I’m tempted to bet for a couple reasons. First, I think sometimes she gets here with some sort of overcard+diamond combos that don’t want to hero-call river. Second, I think it’s easier for you to have a 5 in your hand than it is for her (if you had opened for more than a minraise, this might be more true) Perhaps it’s optimistic, but I bet something like 1986 to commemorate the year the Mets last won the World Series.

9. What is her hand for calling preflop and Check/rasinig flop?
   – 98,T9,T8,76,45s
   A7,K7,
   22,66,77,88-99 (maybe somestimes TT+, when slowplayed)
   + random overcards
   What does she bet/call Turn but do not push?
   – made hands: 76, A7,88+,22
   – draws: mostly nut-fd+overcards or FD+str8 draw.

   What does hero represent after turnrasie?
   – sets, twopair and 45.
   – Draws/semibluffs

   On the river has villian either a bluffcatcher (that means no weaker hand will bet for value) or a slowplayed hand on the turn( because villian thinks there is no sense in raising).

   After all, imo, villian will have bluffcatchers by the river and missed combo-draws.
   The question is does villian give us credit to fold most of her bluffcatchers or not? and how do we accomplish that?
   If I bet i would go for 30-40% potsize. Villian is def. thinking and will give it respect, if villian wants to give respect to any bet at all. a big bet will make us look more polarized, which means we will rep a thinner value range. Finally I cannot answer wether we are supposed to bet or not, because i have to less information about villian gameflow… .
   By the way, how would you play a hand like AA, 72,76, set of 22 on the flop and the turn after electing to call flop.
   What do you expect Liv to think how you would play those hands?

10. Take a last stab and bet 2000 expecting to fold out unimproved high-card and “weak-fit” hands. Liv’s turn bet-call action is in line with too-good-to-fold, too-weak-to-shove made hands, combo draws (pair and FD), and high-card hands. He are hoping to get a fold from:

    – missed diamond draws: Adxd, Kdxd, QdJd-Qd8d, JdTd-Jd8d (many of the suited Q and J hands may have led the river as a bluff so we should discount this likelihood)
    – TP unimproved: A7, K7s, 87, 97, T7s
    – 2nd pr unimproved: A6, K6s, 86, 96s
    – bottom pr unimproved: A2s, K2s

    With near-zero showdown value, and the chance that Liv will fold weaker hands including bottom pair, Ace-high, King-high to a final barrel that we should risk the chips to be the river. It *may* be possible to get Liv to fold a hand as strong as TP in view of the very strong line we took on turn. The river bet of 2000 may be slightly large, but since we are attempting to get folds from weak-fit hands, it is better to err on the high side rather than to induce a shoulder shrugging “I’ve got pot odds” call.

    We will always get called by straights, sets, and two pair. We are not scared of Liz’s (unlikely) river re-bluffs because we beat so little of this range — specifically only the sixteen combos of 98 and four T8s.

11. I expect the bulk of her range here to be one pair hands (mostly 7s) and busted flush draws. I would bet big enough to get a pair of 7s to fold. Maybe 3500? If you don’t think she will fold a 7 (to any pot-sized or less bet), I would check behind.

    • Interesting. This suggests a case for jamming. If Liv’s range is mostly medium-strength hands, and if our range before we bet has plenty of nut hands (fives, mostly) and air hands, then you might think that Hero should jam with any hand he bets. I’m not saying all those assumptions are correct–I’m just saying that _if_ Hero’s betting range is a set of nut hands and the resulting set of bluffs, the game theory suggests that Hero bet as much as he can. I’m not convinced, but that might be the best model by which to think about the situation.

12. Based on action on turn and river it is hard to imagine villain is here with pure fd. When he calls turn raise and checks river he often has at least a pair most probably going along the draw like fd. On this flop i expect him to raise set, fd, combodraw, cutter+ocs, 2p. On this turn i expect him to fast play 2p, set and call with combo draws like pair+fd. I doubt he is ever calling turn pure draw except maybe oe+fd against which we have blocker. Given the action, i think she most probably has one pair hand at best and possibly ahigh, khigh.

    Then what andrew has. Problem is that also andrew 3b flop some amount with sets, 2p and calls w draws, op, tp. However, on the turn andrews range polarizes a lot. Given you line on flop when y raise turn you basicly often have a draw, good overpair that raise for protection or sp set, weak draw almost a bluff. If she thinks you are capable of playing this line with all these hands, you have better bluffing opportunity. Given the entire range of yours in this river spot you are in absolute bottom and therefore y should bluff.

    River is interesting card. You can have had this draw more than she, so you can rep it more easily. I think much goes behind the fact is she capable of c_r bluff or turn mp into a bluff. Does she have enough hands to rep? Given you balanced holding in given spot he basicly cannot call profitable, but she might be able to cr profitable. If she cr what hands from our range we are calling is there enough?

    I would bet 1850 and fold to a shove.

    J

13. I feel like we’re representing a very small range of hands based on our line so far, and a big bet on the river won’t rep anything. On the turn, our range is: 66, 77, 45 and flush draws. I like the turn play, and it allows us to bomb most rivers, but the 4 on the river is terrible for us. It makes our 45 hand even more unlikely, and we can no longer rep a set on such a scary board. Any big bet is going to look like a missed draw. We can check behind and lose or take a small stab and hope she levels herself into folding. But I really think any bet looks like a busted draw and her A-hi or small pair will call.

14. Without reading other responses…
    The pre flop call leads me to discount the strongest hands from her range with the assumption that they are usually 3-bet.

    Her flop c/r on 267ss seems like it would be her line with a mix of value hands like sets (all sets seem likely with her pf call) and two pair (only 76 seems likely) and semi-bluff hands like overcard diamonds. I think that over pairs are also taking this line for value, but 88 is less likely because of card removal and 99+ I’d expect 3-b pre usually.

    The turn lead/call seems to discount the part of her value range of sets/2-pair because with the pot reaching 3300 and several draws on board I would expect her to pull the trigger unless she has reason to think her 2p is always beat(?). Her calling the turn raise (after she saw you call her flop c/r) indicates that she has some kind of showdown value. This is the part that is confusing and suspect though. All that’s really left are her over pairs which I am discounting a bit and maybe 76. Other than that we have overcard diamonds that are not really getting odds. Possibly a hand like 86dd or 65dd could have gotten this far and decided to call and evaluate river.

    With the river card her occasional overpairs don’t look good, her 2 pair is probably c/c, her 86dd missed and she’s left with 2nd pair on a scary board with lots of action early in a slow structure, and her 65dd made a straight. If she somehow came along with bare FD overs they are now high card hands. Of course you beat none of her range so deciding to stab again seems dependent on how much she will fold. I think this depends on what hands you can have as well. You would certainly bet river for value with straights and sets, but possibly not any 2 pair combos given the action. Because you are Foucault, we know you also want a bluffing range here which might look like your hand here! I don’t expect you’d raise turn like that with overs and NFD and I imagine you’d be playing overpairs less enthusiastically on turn here too. So that means you’d bet sets, straights, maybe whiffed non nut overs and hands like your actual hand.

    Given that there is a part of your range that is a real threat if you bet river, I think she’d be folding anything but her straight and possibly the two pair since its HU and “I’ve got two pair!” So I will say bet. How much? Enough that she can’t easily call with the marginal value hands. She has about 5k left which is the pot…1800 seems about right to risk to accomplish folding out the marginal stuff.

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