Button - 27/10/2.5 (at the time anyway)
SB - 25/13/4
UTG + MP - 50/5/1 kind of loose passive fish

This was my first proper hand at the table (I started a few hands earlier but UB crashed so I had to leave and come back and wait for a bit).

What is the most optimal play here? I'm thinking button and SB are raising reasonably light, is a shove +ev? Or just fold?

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of Poker coaching - Get a free online poker lesson - texas holdem strategy for real poker

CO ($101.60)
Button ($190.10)
SB ($102.80)
Hero ($101.35)
UTG ($38.75)
MP ($291.65)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
UTG calls $1, MP calls $1, 1 fold, Button raises to $9, SB raises to $30, Hero ????

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Wtf at button opening to 9bb... no idea what SBs range is, punishing button for weird opening raise with less than premium? Calling turns it into set value and you're not getting implied odds for that plus you might not even see a flop so it's shove or fold. With 2 passive donks and the weird button behind you may get called, probably only by KK AA.

I probably fold...

My thoughts on this:

- A standard button raise would probably be to $6, so 9bb is a tad on the big side. This is either a weak hand wanting to take it down or a monster trying to get a HU pot with one of the donks.
- SB has a pfr of 13 which is very similar to my own. I think I can roughly guess his raising range (although 3betting is hugely player dependent) and I wouldn't be surprised if he is raising light alot of the time here.
- A shove looks really strong and I think it's a spot where only better hands call and obv KK/AA ain't folding.
- By shoving, if they fold I have created a fairly aggro image early on in the session, and while I wouldn't 4bet bluff or anything for a while I should get action on big hands.
- Does a limper call my shove with 99-JJ? They're passive enough to limp these hands.

As you can see I'm torn between the two options, so more thoughts would be great.

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lol? im a lag 31/22/3.5 but even i would fold this in an instant...

My instinct said fold but actually fuck it, stick it in and scoop the pot.

Buttons range is very wide and sb knows this. Sb's range for reraising is therefore so much wider than AA/KK. After sticking in $30 I think we can expect him to call our shove with under pairs to our QQ.

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IMO that's the deciding factor on the hand. The money is coming from them since you're probably folding around SB and BTN. I think if they're stupid enough to limp JJ they're probably stupid enough to call a shove with it.

They may have been going for the limp/min re raise with JJ

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hmm this is a very weird spot..

i probably would fold it to be honest. I just dont really see the value in pushing in there, as your only going to get called by AA/KK, and AK.

Foldings ok, because u have so little invested.

I guess if u wanted to you could cold call sb's 3bet and stack off as an overpair, but then what happens if u cold call, and button pushes?

I agree that shoving limits the hands that call to AA/KK and maybe AK, but I think this only applies to button and sb. The 2 limpers are bad enough to do it with 99-JJ and call a shove imo. Also, even if you do think we're only getting called by AA/KK, do we not get enough value from the dead money in the pot when they fold (I'm too lazy to do the maths just now)?

I think cold-calling isn't a bad play at all. Am I right in thinking that looks incredibly strong, especially if the other 2 have some sort of respect for me (which they probably do)?

fwiw I folded.

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