How should play a weak showdown value hand, when you are in position, without the lead, and your loose-passive opponent checks on a wet flop?
This depends on the player. You need to identify what categories of hands this player c-bets. Once you can identify villain’s c-betting range, you can deduce what his checking range is. These players are all different. Some will c-bet with strong hands and showdown hands and check their draws and junk. Others will c-bet with strong and junk hands and they will check their showdown value hands. Some bet their draws, while others check their draws. There are many combinations and permutations to a loose-passive villain’s c-betting and checking range.
So, let’s break down the ranges and figure out how we should play against them when villain checks.
Hero is in Position/Without the Lead/Wet Board
We are using the same situation as in Hand 14 of this series. The hi-jack is a loose passive player. He raised 3BB and hero just called in the cutoff with 9♦9♠. The flop comes up K♥8♠7♥. Therefore, the loose passive player has the lead in the hand and hero is in position.
In Hand 14, the loose-passive player c-bet the flop. In this example, the loose-passive player checks on the flop.
How to Play against Villains who Check-Raise Draws on the Flop
Draws will often be a part of villain’s checking range. At microstakes, many players unconsciously play each type of hand the same way. Your job is to get reads.
An important read is to identify whether your opponent check-calls or check-raises draws on the flop. If your opponent check-calls his draws on the flop, you have a choice whether to bet or check back the flop.
You don’t want to be check-raised, when villain has a draw. This is because he might use the same line with 2 pair and sets.
In order to avoid getting check-raised after villain checks, you should just check back the flop. If he bets on the turn, you should call. If villain bets again on the river, you should fold. When a passive villain bets on 2 consecutive streets, he is not usually bluffing.
If villain does not bet on the turn, you should bet the turn. The aim of this bet to prevent villain from bluffing on the river and to get value from his draws. Loose-passive villains are unlikely to check-raise a draw on the turn. They know that they are a big underdog to hit their draw when there is just one card to come.
If villain raises your turn bet or bets on the river, you should fold.
If you don’t have information on whether your opponent check-calls or check-raises his draws, you should use the above line.
How to Play against Villains who don’t Check-Raise Draws on the Flop
Let’s assume that we don’t have any detailed information regarding your opponent’s flop c-betting and checking range.
You may have information on your HUD. If your opponent has a high c-bet%, it will usually mean that your opponent c-bets his junk hands. Therefore, when he checks, this could mean that he is trapping.
Different players have different ranges, even within the loose-passive player category. In this section, I will look at the different flop checking ranges and discuss how you should play the hand post-flop.
In the following examples, I will assume that your opponent will c-bet top pair on a wet board. Therefore, I will remove top pair from villain’s checking range.
1. Flop Checking Range: Draws, Junk
Villain will have more junk than draws in his range. For every suited connector that picks up a flush draw on the flop, there will be 3 other combos that missed the flop. For example, on a K♥8♠7♥ flop, Q♥J♥ will have a flush draw and overcards. However, Q♠J♠, Q♦J♦ and Q♣J♣ have all missed the flop.
Against a loose-passive player, we could bet on the flop. The junk hands will fold, while the draws will pay.
It might be right to check back. For example, if you think villain will bluff at the pot on the turn with his junk range, you may make more profit.
It’s only worth checking back, if you think villain will bluff on the turn. If he is not going to give you any money with his junk hands, you should just bet the flop. If the turn card does not complete any draws, you should bet again. However, don’t bet the river. Busted draws won’t call a river bet, while made draws will raise.
Therefore, you have nothing to gain and something to lose by betting the river.
2. Flop Checking Range: Showdown Value, Draws
We’ve seen similar situations in previous hand examples in this series. In Hand 13 of this series, we looked at this situation. The only difference was that villain was checking to the pre-flop raiser.
The strategy was to check back the flop. Then, we call the turn if villain bets. We bet the turn if villain checks.
However, this situation is slightly different to the situation of villain checking to the pre-flop raiser. When a player checks to the pre-flop raiser, he is checking with his whole range.
When a player checks away the lead, he is narrowing his range to specific hand groups. In this case, the hand groups are showdown value hands and draws.
The strategy here is to check the flop. If a heart comes on the turn, villain’s whole range is ahead of us. Therefore, we check/fold on a heart. However, if the turn card is not a heart and villain bets, we can call a bet. If villain bets on the river, we would have to fold.
If villain doesn’t bet the turn on a non-heart, we can bet. If villain raises our turn bet or bets on the river, we must fold.
3. Flop Checking Range: Showdown Value Hands
We are beaten by all showdown value hands, apart from 99. We can’t bet here or call a bet. If you were playing against a NIT, you could barrel him of his showdown value hand.
However, it is risky (but not impossible) trying to do this against a loose player-passive. I haven’t discussed trying to barrel loose-passive players off their showdown value hands in this series of articles.
However, it is important to identify those players, who will never fold a showdown value hand. I will be writing a series of articles on playing top pair. If you can identify the player, who will never fold a showdown value hand, you can make them pay heavily when you have top pair. You can let this type of player win with his showdown value hands when you have a weaker hand.
If an opponent will fold his showdown value hands to pressure, you will not get much value from him when you have top pair and he has a weaker hand. Therefore, it is essential that you get added value by getting him to fold his showdown value hands when you have a weaker hand.
The mistake most players make, is treating loose-passive players as though they were all the same.
4. Flop Checking Range: 2 pair+, Draws, Junk
In a loose player’s range, there are very few combos of 2 pair+ hands compared to junk. Therefore, you can play this hand, as you would, when villain has just draws and junk in his range.
This strategy would be betting the flop and turn, if you don’t think your opponent would ever bluff his junk range. You don’t want junk hands getting a chance to draw if they are not going to pay you as a bluff.
The Flopzilla screenshot below is in combo mode. This is a 30% range, which is a conservative range for a loose passive player. You will see that 2 pair+ hands make up 17 combos out of 47 that will call or raise a bet. This works out at around 36% of his range. If villain’s range was wider than 30%,
If you bet ½ pot on the flop, villain is likely to raise with his 2 pair+ combos. Therefore, you will get away from your hand for just one bet. When you bet ½ pot, you are encouraging villain to raise with his strong hands. He will be looking to get value with these hands. In addition, he will want to protect his hands from draws.
You don’t want to bet more than ½ pot because villain might be tempted to slowplay his hand. If he slowplays, you would lose your flop and turn bet.
Range 1: Villain’s 30% Range after he Checks away the Lead and folds his Junk Hands to a Flop Bet
So, when you bet ½ pot on the flop and villain calls, you can remove the 2 pair+ combos. This just leaves draws in his range. If the turn card is not a heart, you should bet ¾ of the pot. If you are called, you should check/fold the river. Occasionally, you might get caught out by villain making his open-ended straight draw (OESD) on the turn. Generally, you will get draws to pay on 2 streets using this strategy.
If you know villain will bluff busted draws, you should bet ½ pot on the flop. If villain checks the turn, you should check behind. If a heart comes in on the river, you should fold to a bet. If the river card is not a heart, you can call a river bet. Villain’s river bet is likely to be a bet with a busted draw. Notice that when villain hits his draw on the river, you save a turn bet using this line.
Again, you will sometimes get caught out by OESDs that got there. However, you can’t have everything.
These are your options, if the turn card is not a heart. If the turn card is a heart, you are losing against villain’s whole flop-calling range. In this situation, you should just give up on the pot.
5. Flop Checking Range: 2 pair+, Showdown Value, Draws
Against this range, you should just check the flop and try to get to showdown for one bet. Villain has you beat with all his made hands. If you had the best pocket pair below top pair (QQ), you could play this hand in a similar way to the previous hand.
Range 2 shows that QQ is just losing to 16 combos of 2 pair+ hands out of a total of 74 combos.
Range 2: Villain’s 30% Range after he Checks away the Lead and folds his Junk Hands to a Flop Bet. In this instance, hero has QQ and not 99.
Against a player, who bluffs busted draws, it may be best to bet the flop and river in this situation. Even if the turn card is not a heart, villain might not call 2 consecutive bets with a weak showdown value hand. However, if you don’t bet on the turn, he may call a second bet on a non-heart river card. This is because, your line will appear as though you took a stab at the pot on the flop. You gave up on the turn. Then, you decided to take another stab at the pot on the river. A player with a busted draw might take this line.
Talking about busted draws, if you bet the flop and check the turn, villain might bet on the river with a busted draw. Therefore, you don’t necessarily miss out on a bet against villain’s draw range. In fact, you might save a turn bet against draws if a heart hit the board on the river.
6. Flop Checking Range: 2 pair+, Showdown Value
You should just check and fold your 99 against this range. You are losing to all of villain’s combos.
However, if you had QQ, instead of 99, you should bet ½ pot on the flop and as much as you think you can get from JJ-99 on the river. The idea of checking the turn, is so that villain doesn’t believe that you have a made hand.
Conclusion
These hands are easy to play. However, you have to pay attention to the game and get the reads on your opponents’ betting patterns. It’s not difficult if you are not playing on multiple tables.
Most reads are gained by deduction. You don’t need to see villain’s hand. For example, let’s say that you see a hand where 2 players see a K♥8♠7♥ flop, as in the current example. The player out of position and with the lead is a loose-passive player. The other player is a regular.
On the flop, the loose-passive player checks away the lead. The regular bets and the loose-passive player calls. The turn card is a brick. The loose-passive player checks and folds to a ¾ pot turn bet.
What did the loose-passive player fold? These players won’t fold a draw in this situation. They won’t fold top pair. Therefore, it only leaves a weak hand. The chances are that the loose-passive player folded a showdown value hand or middle pair. Some might have played this way with a pocket pair below middle pair. However, that will only help your strategy.