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This hand is from a live mix game at borgata where I played a bunch of mix the last week. I'm posting it because I think most people think TD is kinda a mechanical game but I think the diff between "good" TD and "great" TD is in the weird spots where you have to make adjustments. I am really confident in the way I played this hand but hopefully there is some discussion about the "why". It's also obviously a brag because I played a memorable hand in a big game...

villain is an experienced high limit mix player, TD is probably not one of his best games but he is a thinking LAG and a winner in the lineup at the table.
Hijack opens, villain coldcalls in small blind (2 chip / 3 chip structure), I call in BB with 6 4 3

villain draws 3, I take 2, HJ takes 2, I catch 9 and a King. SB checks, I bet, HJ calls, SB raises, I call, HJ calls.

villain pat, I take 1, HJ takes 2. I catch K now, villain bets, I raise, HJ folds, villain 3 bets, I call.

villain pat, I'm pat, villain bets, I call.

If someone wants to try to discuss my thought process on all streets I think there is a lot of cool stuff happening in this hand...

I assume we raise turn to bluff his bluff. But standing PAT on river to steal pot, when he stays pat is wrong IMO. Especially when he bets and you call instead of raising. You beat A high, and pairs only. Why not raise there, would look stronger IMO.

Also since he drew 3 and stood, he likely drew a miracle. Or is going for stone cold bluff whole way. Also possible he has 9 or 10 high.

If we figure odds say he likely did not hit a monster drawing 3, than have to assume it is 10 to 9 high or a bluff. So why not draw on river, only a A or pairing hurts us, but any 8,7,5,2 likely gives us best hand. But a K,Q,J, 10 does not change our hand. So only A9643 are bad cards.

I think drawing on river is better than standing pat, IMO.

i think you have the perfect hand to make this play because all the key blockers are available for him to catch and snow. im guessing we try to snow the turn because his 3-pat range is wide and weak and we've taken a strong credible line. once he 3bets his range instantly turns superpolarized to maybe #5+ (possibly wider or narrower, i know some 3b like #7-8 and it can be good, but some call down #5) and unbreakable 9's and snows.

we pat behind because that way we can bluff the 9's with a bet otr when he cks and we expect him to continue a bet with enough snows that we can profitably call down when he bets. drawing to improve this hand or to make our hand look stronger would only give him a good reason to bluffcatch with his 9's, which we can bluff out anyway. raising the river as bella suggests also seems kinda reduntadant to me because he's unlikey to fold a value hand and we beat the rest.

i just hope you didnt get owned by a better snow lol

How'd i do?

PS. we can probably add some T's to the hands he tries to force a break with, but its not too important.

villain coldcalls in small blind (2 chip / 3 chip structure)

Sorry for posting this off topic question, but what means 2 chip/ 3 chip structure?

Regards
Gaston

it means the blinds are 2 chips and 3 chips, so if you're using $5 chips (as in a 15/30 game) the blinds are 10/15. here i think its 200/300 blinds and 300/600 limits with only $100 chips on the table.

Ah makes sence... But why does one play with only 100rds?

because its a limit game they may use $500's too tho.

I think HJD's assumption that villain will only 3-bet like #5-#6 or better is a little too tight in this scenario giving villain's description. DD should be raising his entire pat range on the turn in this scenario force out the HJ and charge SB's weak pat range, so SB should realize this and 3-bet a wider range for value.

That said, DD seemed to put SB on at least a somewhat polarized range once he 3-bet the turn. I imagine your (DD's) thought process here was I'll pat and Bet if checked to, to bluff all his semi-bluff weak 9s & Ts that we're trying to induce a break. Once he bet, you probably put him like #9 or better or a hand with all/most the deuces as he CC SB draw 3 pre is almost always 2wxxx and 222xx is about the only pure bluff hand that makes sense here vs a thinking opp. I hope you didn't call and get shown a bluff like 98762.

I guess the other possibility is you felt SB would just call Pat all his weaker pat hands and force you to pat behind and bet the river, in which case his 3-bet range is like 86s or pure bluffs of which you should always beat with your king and its just a matter of how often he is bluffing in this spot.

I think the decision to semi-bluff the turn is interesting. Clearly villain is the type capable of spewing off a bit in situations like that which is a good argument to not make this play in the first place. I think the only reason I could see myself making this play is if I knew villain played very honest on the river against a Pat opponent.

I also think if we give SB a credible pat range in this spot, we should probably be dropping the 9 again as its really tough to continue on the turn once we brick.

Considering I can't play TD anymore, reading analysis of stuff like this is enjoyable/helpful. Thanks for posting.

I'll defer to others, but will say that raising the river seems pointless to me vs. a highly polarized range.

When you flat the 3b and pat behind, how often do you think villain expects you to fold the river?

Right, so HJD pretty much covered it in his first reply, Slide also added some nice further points and some accurate criticisms of my play and assumptions.

I would add that my bet out when I catch the 9 is definitely up for debate, but part of my plan was to draw once at the 9 and/or snow if I brick, which I think is a better plan than to just bet and draw at the 9 all the way. Once SB checkraised the plan when out the window and a new plan to fight for the pot on the turn was hatched. Then he 3 bet the turn and super polarized himself and my call down plan was hatched.

Part of the reason I pat the king instead of drawing was that I felt a likely snow hand he could hold was one pair of 2s (with some junky side cards and one other wheel card) and I didn't want to risk catching a pair on the end and then having to hope he folds to a bluffraise instead of 3 betting me or even calling with a pair of 2s.

Another thought, is 643/653xx a standard defense in this spot predraw. I find its really tough for us to catch well and we're going to be making a lot of really rough draws postdraw. Maybe in the 2/3 structure its better as the SB should have a lot more 3-c draws in his range, but in a 1/2 structure I've been folding 643xx in this spot lately.

It's marginal for sure, but I felt I had a big edge in the TD rounds and was going to play any close decision, also the blind structure played a factor as you noted

Part of the reason I pat the king instead of drawing was that I felt a likely snow hand he could hold was one pair of 2s (with some junky side cards and one other wheel card) and I didn't want to risk catching a pair on the end and then having to hope he folds to a bluffraise instead of 3 betting me or even calling with a pair of 2s.

I think ditching the K and snowcatching up to A is better - sure sometimes u pair up, fold and lose a hand you'd have otherwise won but this is not actually that great a tragedy because the flipside is you lose one fewer bet when he actually has it, which is likely most of the time. Furthermore:

1) If he has a rough made hand he'll almost always check the river to a perceived break so you avoid losing an extra bet the times he decides to bluff a 0:0 river w 98762. It's also conceivable that you actually get there...

2) If he has a snow he bets the river 100% of the time vs a break so you can gain an extra bet vs the times he would otherwise have given up a 0:0 river.

Hmm I think you make some really good points but they are based on the assumption that he has it "likely most of the time" - I would disagree with this. Knowing the player as I do perhaps this is somewhat unfair for me to claim as truth, but I think he would snow this spot *a lot* and at the same time his value range would be relatively narrow (maybe all 86 or betters), and I think he would have very little incentive to reraise something like 98762 because he would instead prefer to either break/fold the hand himself or call down. I guess what I'm saying is if he is bluffing here, its with a hand that is always a bluff (pair or worse). Maybe that assumption is incorrect but a lot of my play in the hand was based around that notion.

Something i remembered that slide brought up earlier: would you be raising most if not all of the hands you intended to pat ott? i feel like there is merit to freezing/calling down some hands even with a player behind still drawing, but would like some input, thanks

also, results or GTFO!