How would you play this flop? HJ vs BTN with K♣ J♣ on K♠ 10♦ 3♠

babyrosejr

babyrosejr

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Hello everyone!

I would like to discuss in more detail the handout I played in the NL200 cash game on pokerstars. After a limp from HJ and a cola from MP, I was on a loaf with K ♣ J ♣ and decided to make a rise to 4BB. All refused until HJ, who barricaded. The flop came:

K ♠ 10 ♦ 3 ♠ — lime/cola bank, about 10BB.

Here's the situation: I have a top pair and a gatshot with the potential for backdoor flash droves. Given the size of the bank and the position, I was thinking of a cont-bet of about 5BB.
But I tear up:

1. Should I bet on the flop when HJ may have a draw (e.g. A ♠ Q ♠ or Q ♠ 9 ♠)?


2. What if he checks out? Can we play against AK, KQ or even a set?


3. How do we act on the thorn if we dropped J or we increased the equivalence?



Thank you in advance for your thoughts. Would love to hear how you would “read” the opponent and what range you would assign in this situation.

Good luck at the tables!
 
CRStals

CRStals

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OK so let's break this down:
Pre-flop - The MP & HJ limps so you are raising into a pot with 2 players already with KJcc - if you are going to enter the pot, raising makes more sense than limping so I'm OK with that, and getting a fold from the MP was nice, so getting heads-up is ideal.

Flop - Top pair, OK kicker + a backdoor straight draw is a tricky flop IMO. You have what looks like a strong hand, but you are vulnerable to flush draws and better Kx hands like KT, KQ, and AK potentially, as well as hands like TT and 33. Your read on the HJ is key here - have you seen them limp mosters before and trap often when OOP? I feel given you hit the flop but are at risk of being beat on a later street, knowing there's 10.5BB in the middle, this might be a spot to size up to get your opponent to fold, but I would be careful doing this if you don't know how they play when limping / calling a raise pre.

I can't tell if you were on the button or in the blinds, so if you are in the blinds you really need to size up, maybe as much as 2/3 pot because you need to know if the HJ is willing to play. There are so many hands that they could have that have you in big trouble, and if a spade, a Q or a J peels off on the turn, you are in a real tough spot and depending on how they act, you may have to fold your top pair
 
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fundiver199

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PokerStars provide hand histories, so next time please find the hand history and use the free hand converter here on CC. The information, you are giving, is incorrect, since you say, you have a BDFD, but you dont with the suits shown. And we dont know anyones stack sizes, which is also important. Also are people really limping in 200NL cash games on PokerStars? Its sounds more like a 2NL hand, and your questions are very basic. I would assume, someone playing 200NL would know these things already.

Preflop
You can isolate a bit larger against two limps, especially if this is 2NL and not 200NL.

Flop
In GTO you are supposed to check back this hand a lot and then use it as a bluff catcher or bet for value on the turn and river. This would be the best strategy at 200NL. However at 2NL, which I think, this is, you should just bet for value and fold, if you get raised. This is because, people are calling to much and rarely raising as a bluff. Bet-folding for value is the bread and butter of soft cash games.
 
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fullorfold

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I asume you're IP this hand.

Flop: If he checked, you should Cbet both 50% and 25% are fine. If possible flushdraw like this and or QJ for a straight i would probably bet more towards 50%. If he raises (but not over agressive) i would call.

Turn: if he check and no spade or other scare card (completing a straight like A or 9) bet 75% pot if reraise time to let go of hand.

River: If blank and check again, i guess check is fine two streets of value with medioker hand. Would be hard to call a reraise here if you go for valuebet and gets raised... If blank and big bet from VI OP it could easily be a bluff since all draws is missed.
 
eetenor

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Hello everyone!

I would like to discuss in more detail the handout I played in the NL200 cash game on PokerStars. After a limp from HJ and a cola from MP, I was on a loaf with K ♣ J ♣ and decided to make a rise to 4BB. All refused until HJ, who barricaded. The flop came:

K ♠ 10 ♦ 3 ♠ — lime/cola bank, about 10BB.

Here's the situation: I have a top pair and a gatshot with the potential for backdoor flash droves. Given the size of the bank and the position, I was thinking of a cont-bet of about 5BB.
But I tear up:

1. Should I bet on the flop when HJ may have a draw (e.g. A ♠ Q ♠ or Q ♠ 9 ♠)?


2. What if he checks out? Can we play against AK, KQ or even a set?


3. How do we act on the thorn if we dropped J or we increased the equivalence?



Thank you in advance for your thoughts. Would love to hear how you would “read” the opponent and what range you would assign in this situation.

Good luck at the tables!
HJ limped a wide range but not AA KK AK QQ JJ most often--the few times they would limp these hands is if there was an aggressor behind them---even then they seldom flat a raise OOP in a cash game with AA KK or even AK

Take the time to build a range for that action in your games then refer to it often in spots like this. Consider your bet size and how your v react to it in determining the HJ call range OOP.

1 We bet flop when we have the stronger range-- We have AA KK AK KQ TT AJss AJss We have far more nut hands than our V so we bet
1a V has a lot of draws on this board and when we have nut advantage and V has a lot of draws, we bet
 
Grzegorz00pl

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I play alwayse the same way: FLOP: rise 100% pot; Turn: rise 100% pot; Riva: all-in. Alwayse the same way - nevermind what hand I have got.
 
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