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So normally I play pretty straight up. Friday night however there were 2 situations where I made peels and ended up turning great.

Normally I'm not trying to float most of the casuals live because it doesn't work. So how light do you guys peel?

I figured these were 2 spots where I was getting great prices to see a cheap turn.

First hand
Villain looks just like Harry Potter (glasses, stupid haircut, and a dragon Tshirt). He's been playing 1-2 hands per orbit, had been making abnormally large raises (8-10bb, not getting any action). When he was the PFR he was cbetting about 100% of the time.

Hero: 450ish (150 bb)
AKs in the BB

Harry: 200 (66bb)
Raises to 15 in MP

2 calls right after him.
I flat.

Flop: ($60ish)
9,4,4 no flush draw.
I check.
Harry bets 15, 2 behind fold.

Now I think it's possible Harry can have a pp, but anything else he raised with I'm probably ahead of.
I think if he had 10s+ he wouldn't have made such a small cbet. To me this just seems like a whiff, or a sub 9 pp.

Turn: K (90)
So I ended up turning great.
And the rest of the hand I'm not concerned about. Thoughts on the flop call?

2nd hand:
Villain 1: Guy to harry's left. Playing a ton of hands, and VERY stationy. He's been raising a good amount too, seems oblivious to position. If he gets to the river he's seeing a showdown, regardless of board texture.

Villain 2: Fish eye guy. His eyes are creepy, they go in 2 different directions. I can't look at him in the face. Playing a ton of hands, mostly garbage. He showed down a few made straights with stuff like 8/5.
He's also been making plays (when he has a made hand) BUT he always bets 31. He mentioned something about it being his favorite number. On one of his made straights there was probably 150 in the middle, but he bet 31

V2: about 360 (120bb) in the BB
V1: around 300 (100bb) EP

Villain 1 raises to 15.
Guy to my right calls.
I call in the HJ with 10s
V1, 3bets 31.

call,call, to me, I call.

Flop$124ish)
K,7,3 rainbow.

V2 checks. Now this is pretty indicative that he missed. I think if he got a piece of this board he'd bet 31. He hasn't check raised at all.

V1 bets 25.
Random guy folds.

Now here I'm thinking that I'm still getting a good price to see a turn. Although I still have V2 to act behind me, i'm about 100% certain he's not going to check raise. V1 was the original preflop raiser, and he cbet a ton of the time. Although I think I have less equity here then the other hand, the pot is 50bb, and it's 8 for me to call.

I definitely think this hand is much lighter then the first, but the awful bet sizing to me was too good to pass up. What do you guys think?

I think in both of the situations you described floating is fine, although in hand 2 I would be done with it if there is any more action on the turn. It's tough to float when a lot of players see the flop.

Off the top of my head; In general the factors that are good for floating are:
- You are in position
- There is only 1 or 2 villains
- The main villain knows how to fold (so you can bluff on the turn/river and win the hand)
- The villain C-bets a ton AND is unlikely to barrel.
- The flop texture hits your range and not his.
- You have some equity (2 overs, backdoor straight or flush draw)

There are probably more things that I can list but I can't think of them right now.
You don't need to have all of these factors in your favor, but the more the better.

The villains' general "player type" and tendencies are the most important factors to consider. (which I think you did in both of your examples)

Well the first hand I think was pretty standard. Giving the guy pairs and broadways, i'm showing 61% equity on PS. It was just a good read on my part (that he was opening wide, and I'm ahead of most of his range), and that his small bet was a weak attempt to take down the pot.

However the 2nd hand I think was actually -EV, despite getting 7:1. I'm looking to either spike a 10, or get to showdown cheap. But I thought it was a decent sized pot, and the bet was very weak.

Do you have reads on how frequently Villain 1 double barrels postflop and what kind of range he does it with?

Do you have reads on how frequently Villain 1 double barrels postflop and what kind of range he does it with?

Hey SJ, haven't seen you in a while!

V1 (in hand 2) was pretty passive post flop with the exception of he did cbet regularly. He did more check/calling, then betting/raising.

Calling instead of raising pre in hand 1 seems really awful? As played folding that flop would be criminal. Hand 2 it just seems like people would be scared of the preflop re-raiser checking, and wouldn't bet without having it, you can't beat "it", and you don't have near the right price to spike a ten

Calling instead of raising pre in hand 1 seems really awful? As played folding that flop would be criminal. Hand 2 it just seems like people would be scared of the preflop re-raiser checking, and wouldn't bet without having it, you can't beat "it", and you don't have near the right price to spike a ten

I actually stopped 3betting AK all of the time, because it seems like I pick up more money from worse aces when I simply flat. People will play Ax for 15 (about the standard raise at 1/3), but usually fold it for 45-60.

#1 Post flop, I'm calling here 100%. Pre, I agree that we can make some solid money flatting AK in certain spots. However, OOP I much prefer 3betting it. Yes, it will fold out some of those worse Aces, but one of the biggest leaks that live players have is calling 3bets too often. This is why we don't 3b light nearly as much in live poker, and conversely, why we should 3b for value with more confidence, especially OOP. I was on the fence about this for a while, but I'm now strictly in the 3b camp OOP, and 3b IP most of the time simply because so many people call 3bs, especially if they were the one who originally raised. This is somewhat player dependent obv. If they simply don't call 3bs, then I am fine with flatting AK IP against them assuming it is HU. I would also 3b them light though.

#2 I fold. It's simply too light given the price we are getting and the strength of ranges presented.

In hand one, floating is totally fine as long as your have a plan for all the good cards. What's your plan for another blank (2-8)? C/F? What's your plan for a scare card (T-A)? If you're confident you can take the pot away from villain without necessarily hitting your ace or king you're fine.

Hand two, I'm not so sure about. Really depends if V1 will try to steal a multiway pot. Readless, I assume live players are almost never doing this. You might try calling the flop and evaluating V1's action on the turn but I don't think you're in a very good spot here and will find yourself c/f'ing a lot on the turn.

Hand #1: I'm 3betting this preflop a ton of the time. The guy has been fairly active preflop, you have 2 cold callers, and you are out of position. I also think this is a good spot to squeeze with a lot of weaker hands. In my experience at the Rivers you are going to take the pot down often.

As far as postflop is concerned I'm calling as well. He's cbetting 100% of the time and his sizing is very indicative of unimproved overcards. This is also would be a great spot to X/R a weaker hand imo. I'm not really sure how to handle a turn barrel if I didn't improve, but I'd likely fold. However most of these guys won't double barrel so I don't think you'll be often faced a turn bet.

Hand #2: I'm just folding.

Luke: On a blank card I'm still probably going to c/c, because I think I'm way ahead of his range at this point.

I'll try incorporating more 3betting into my game.

Honestly I'd say 3betting and raising are some of my weaker areas. A lot of the time when I'm raising for value, I end up pushing everyone out. It's somewhat of a rarity that I'm actually able to play for stacks.

A lot of the time when I'm raising for value, I end up pushing everyone out.

If people fold to your value 3bets, then 3bet bluff them Easy game. In my experience, people call way too many 3bets, so I skew my range to value. But if the players in your game are different, then that's an easy adjustment to 3betting light with the top of your folding range and flatting w/ your good hands.

Hand #1: in position, flatting with AK with the intention to use positional advantage and outplay opponents po-flop is fine (3! is fine, too, though). But, out of position, when opener has 66bb and there are dead money callers in the pot just go ahead and 3! now with intention of getting it in.

*If* villain flats your pre-flop 3! preflop, then being first to act is actually an advantage (open shove if you miss, check to induce if you hit).

Well my 3betting range pre I do get calls from.

As far as raising I was talking about postflop play. Almost every time I've raised for value postflop, it's folded everyone out. Which is exactly what I don't want in those cases.

As far as raising I was talking about postflop play. Almost every time I've raised for value postflop, it's folded everyone out. Which is exactly what I don't want in those cases.

If your table image is so good that the table folds very frequently to your action po-flop, then:

1) re-think bet sizing -- can you make smaller bets that they may be more willing to call (while still getting appropriate amount from the draws in their range)? We want to actually get value from our value betting.

2) ummm... bluff more, duh. (then lol inside when they fold).

3) slow play more often when you have a monster.

(side note to #2: showing a bluff once in a while can help get your value bets paid, too... just be wary of bluffing often after you've shown a bluff).