some confusing spots at 2nl/5nl

Hey all-
I just moved up from 2nl to 5nl and im getting used to the play. I had a couple questions because I don't feel like i played the below hands well. My PT3 isn't working right now so I will do my best to describe the villains. Also, apologies for posting non converted hands! I need to post more. Thanks in advance for your help.


Full Tilt Poker Game #19586918437: Table Azalea (6 max) - $0.01/$0.02 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:58:21 ET - 2010/03/26
Seat 1: Hero ($3.01)
Seat 2: koval art ($0.04)
Seat 3: huta89 ($2.10)
Seat 4: shaxbeard ($2.06)
Seat 5: bay-bay69 ($1.81)
Seat 6: mynameisstan187 ($0.57)
marie_422 posts the small blind of $0.01
koval art posts the big blind of $0.02
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [3d 3s]
huta89 folds
shaxbeard folds
bay-bay69 raises to $0.04
mynameisstan187 folds
Hero calls $0.03
koval art folds
*** FLOP *** [5s 2h 3c]
Hero checks
bay-bay69 bets $0.04
Hero calls $0.04
*** TURN *** [5s 2h 3c] [9c]
Hero has 15 seconds left to act
Hero bets $0.14
bay-bay69 calls $0.14
*** RIVER *** [5s 2h 3c 9c] [4d]
Hero has 15 seconds left to act
Hero bets $0.46
bay-bay69 raises to $1.59, and is all in
Hero???

Flop: I was thinking of raising here, but based on his bet sizing I thought just c/cing would be better and hopefully I could get more money on further streets. I felt like a c/r just seemed like an obvious set.
Turn: I took the iniative here to bet for value.
River: Once again I bet here for value, and I certainly overlooked that a 6 would have me beat. Looking back, I should have noticed how passive the villain was previously and reconsidered the worth of my set. Based on how I had seen the villain play, I thought this might have been a busted draw or Ax trying to get me off my hand.
What do you guys think?





Full Tilt Poker Game #19588856396: Table Garwood (6 max) - $0.02/$0.05 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:21:28 ET - 2010/03/26
Seat 1: FoxyTerry ($1.25)
Seat 2: Filterun ($5)
Seat 3: dudu_sgo ($3.50)
Seat 4: ZORG1 ($7.11)
Seat 5: Hero ($5)
Seat 6: rebel_m00 ($9.95)
rebel_m00 posts the small blind of $0.02
FoxyTerry posts the big blind of $0.05
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [9c 9s]
Filterun folds
dudu_sgo raises to $0.10
ZORG1 raises to $0.48
Hero calls $0.48
rebel_m00 folds
FoxyTerry folds
dudu_sgo folds
*** FLOP *** [6h 3c 2d]
ZORG1 checks
Hero bets $0.75
ZORG1 has 15 seconds left to act
ZORG1 calls $0.75
*** TURN *** [6h 3c 2d] [7c]
ZORG1 checks
Hero checks
*** RIVER *** [6h 3c 2d 7c] [Jd]
ZORG1 bets $2.63
Hero??

PreFlop: Normally I would not call a 3bet with 99 but I had seen the villain 3 betting very light previously and figured I was ahead a lot. I thought his range may have been something like Ax, 77+, J10+...
Flop: Made what I thought to be a pretty standard cbet for value. I figured my hand still had value with 3 undercards on the board.
Turn: In retrospect maybe I should have double barrelled here, because now I can be taken advantage of on the river, which is what happened. I dont like my line here because what would I be repping? So if I could do this over I would make a 2/3 sized bet to also chase out any flush draws.
River: When the J comes on the river and villain makes a sizable bet I wasnt sure if I was being bluffed off my hand or if he had hit something.
What do you think?


In addition, please let me know if this is enough information and if not tell me what I can do to help you help me so I can improve!

hand 1 i would either lead close to pot or check/raise a decent amount on the flop. typical 2nlers do not spot sets, and tend to be focused on their own hands. i doubt he folds any of 66-AA, or any Ax he has in his range to a lead or a check raise on the flop. actually i think i prefer the check raise because he's going to be betting this flop a heap and your hand is very strong compared to his range. your turn lead is good, but would have been better had you been able to bet 24 into 30. river as played i dont like. he's probably not calling a potsized bet without a straight, 44,55, or 99. i think i'd bet something like 30 hoping to be called by 77,88,99,A9,TT+ (if he ever has them) and folding to a raise because i doubt he's turning anything into a bluff here.

i'm too tired for hand number two at the moment. i'll come back to it. oh, and in answer to the last bit, the more information you can give people on your opponents, the better they'll be able to try and help you determine the right play. any reads you might have from past hands they've played, or their stats from your tracking software, how much they bought in for/whether they top up when they lose a pot (regs typically do this), anything which might be slightly indicative of their playing style/tendencies. i understand your PT3 wasnt working for these ones so thats fine. just for future reference.

Definitely try to post more reads on the villains involved.

Hand 1 looks like a bet/fold, or a check/fold if you don't think you have the discipline to not bet/call a shove. The obvious draws got there. Definitely raise the flop and raise it big, villain isn't going anywhere if they have an ace, 6 or overpair. If villain doesn't have anything they can continue with you were only going to win a small pot anyway, and if one of the biggest leaks at these stakes are people call/chase too much, start taxing as early in the hand as you can.

Hand 2 fold preflop, this is such a high variance spot and you're going to be lost on so many flops. As played either check back flop or bet smaller, bet/folding the turn to avoid river spots like this - if you're raised you can fold, and villain may check the river to you allowing you to show down for free. Betting the flop smaller would also let you bet less on the turn than your chosen bet would have meant. Without reads I fold the river and don't feel too bad about it, we just don't know enough to call.

Thank you both I really appreciate that. Since my PT3 is still not working, and im struggling with support to get it fixed, I find myself having trouble when I am looking at my hands after my session. I cant exactly remember my reads on every person, and yet I am trying to put them on a range to figure out if I should have played it differently. Then when I try to post a hand I am not really sure what to say unless I very specifically remember who I was playing. Maybe its just because I am inexperienced, but does anyone have any thoughts or advice on that?

Originally Posted by FMLwin422

Thank you both I really appreciate that. Since my PT3 is still not working, and im struggling with support to get it fixed, I find myself having trouble when I am looking at my hands after my session. I cant exactly remember my reads on every person, and yet I am trying to put them on a range to figure out if I should have played it differently. Then when I try to post a hand I am not really sure what to say unless I very specifically remember who I was playing. Maybe its just because I am inexperienced, but does anyone have any thoughts or advice on that?

While you're playing, if you are involved in an interesting hand, copy it and save it in notepad or something. Include some observations on villain made at the time of the hand and any previous notes you've saved on the villain. I have Holdem Manager and I still do this.

Okay great, thank you, Dex.

Originally Posted by Dex

While you're playing, if you are involved in an interesting hand, copy it and save it in notepad or something. Include some observations on villain made at the time of the hand and any previous notes you've saved on the villain. I have Holdem Manager and I still do this.

this is what i do too. saves fishing around in a database for the hand, also lets you take notes on reads that the HEM stats dont give you - tilting opponents, gameflow etc.

Thanks! Do any of you know good programs like PT3 OR Holdem Manager for macs? I know pt3 just came out with the mac version but its not working out so well...

I think Poker Office is the one for macs...no actually, it's Poker Co-Pilot.

Hand 1 You really should c/r the flop. I understand you're concerned that you look strong doing this but 99% of players are gonna pay you off with pretty bad hands. If you do find this player is playing very tight postflop, you can just start c/r bluffing him and going crazy. Because if you felt you couldnt c/r a set here for value it means he's playing so tight that bluffing anything would be good.

Hand 2
This is kind of a weird spot because i could see a player checking this flop with AA or some nut hands and then slowplaying. I'd be much happier if he bet. Just a weird hand, i expect to be behind a decent amount of the river i may not fold though. I think you should consider checking the flop.

Thank you for taking the time to respond that is really helpful! I am starting to realize a leak of mine is that I sometimes ignore making a play on my moves because I am "afraid" I cant get the villain to call my bets when I have the nuts. Which is obviously a terrible way of thinking, but in a way you kind of reminded me of that.

Originally Posted by Numbr2intheWorld

I think you should consider checking the flop.

Are you saying I should check the flop because his range is ahead of mine, regardless of the flop being 3 unders?

I think once he checks there's a good chance he's beating you. Even if he isn't, he could make some weird play with AK or bluff you somehow and you end up getting in a spot like you did where its unclear whether you should call or not. Checking also controls the pot size.

Then again, this is 5nl and you may find that players will call it off here with tons worse. If that;s true than you should be betting the flop. The above analysis is assuming that if he has AK, AQ or a pair worse than yours he's calling 2 streets maximum.

Okay, that makes sense. Most of the time I am finding that 2nl/5nl players are calling me down with bottom pair, and have no sense for what my range could be, so I dont really give them too much credit. So on the flop I felt okay about betting. However, it was a 3bet pot so it changes the situation a bit even though I had seen the villain 3betting light previously.