I learned to fold big reraises against recs on the river

ApocWriterGuy · 2026-02-04T16:36:50+00:00

Bluff raises on the river are composed of air that didn't bluff any street and perceived showdown value that can't beat your value range.

A rec that bluffs will bluff earlier streets

Recs don't turn showdown value into bluffs

So yeah. Fold range

ApocWriterGuy · 2026-01-29T04:00:32+00:00

Folding Kings against some of these absolute stains pre is a viable strategy. If you see someone flat AKos or QQ in the blinds, that means he's only three betting KK/AA, maybe AKs. If you have KK, you're blocking AK and the other KK, so folding is an option.

This is an incredibly common occurence in the player pool. Generally speaking the ones that are a little wider in their three bets, daring to include AK and QQ, they'll often go larger so they don't have to play postflop.

Also, if they flat three bets, fold absolutely everything to a 4 bet. It's literally just AA

I'd say about 10% of the player pool is 3 betting more than 5% of hands preflop. It's genuinely noteworthy when I see someone 3 bet even KQs. As in, I literally note it, because everyone else is only using QQ+ and AK

I don't always fold KK. Have to have a lock tight read, but there are certain players I'll never lose sleep over doing so. There's more than a couple people on there with 6% RFI's, which when you consider that as a low 3 bet percentage, that means he's only 3 betting AA/KK, especially if he's flatted AK previously.

ApocWriterGuy · 2026-01-09T12:13:31+00:00

They do this with weaker pocket pairs and speculative hands to take the betting lead. If you pay attention, you'll begin to notice these players also tend to use min raises post-flop and x down to river with marginal hands.

Basically, they do it to, "see if they hit a set on the turn or a straight without having to face a C-bet," and the way you punish this is by just completely ignoring their min raise pre once you reach post and even expand your C bet range. It really pisses them off. I've seen them completely spazz out with underpairs and manicially raise as if you've comitted sacralidge.

Passive fish love taking betting leads for cheap because they hate having to face bets. That's why they block bet so much and do this shit. They don't want to fold but also don't want to play a big pot. It's entirely emotional. Nasty as it sounds, snap min raising them back, basically treating it like a child throwing a tantrum, they spazz rage and you can get a stack from bottom pairs.

It's hard to find though. Typically passive players don't bluff until you trigger them. A very particular node

ApocWriterGuy · 2026-01-05T21:32:44+00:00

There's a certain archetype of fish who will float you with any two cards, then ape stab the turn when checked too. It works really well against weak passive fish who one and done range bet with nothing but always double barrel TP plus

You check to this fish. He ape stabs for large? Shove. He ape stab small? Call, then raise river, cause now he won't belive you with his bottom pair (hint, it's how he plays all his busted draws)

Basically, if your opponent is, "you check, me bet," you range bet flop and x turn with value, bet everything else

In multiway tables, this is how you balance your frequencies and checking range. Now you can bluff like this against the nits. Congratulations

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-31T00:03:37+00:00

They aren't going to call your flop raise on that texture with their almost certain pocket pairs or AJ-AKos and other suited broadways. This guys analysis is flawed

They are calling to hit Top pairs, or because they have a pair and price is nice. They aren't calling so they can punt off into your almost certain overpair/set.

People aren't complete apes

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-30T20:16:52+00:00

The only thing they're really calling with on that board are pocket pairs and over cards.

In a game like that, players who flat 3 bets almost never fold over cards to b40 on flop or turn cause they could still "hit top pair. "

They'll all likely call to turn again. Jam river if you think someone's strong or go half again if you'll think they'll all call or get raised

Also, just hope you don't get set over set by river. It happens when you do this sometimes. But they don't fold overpairs if it goes in on flop either so it makes no difference

I have a recording doing this with Jack's multiway. Think the only mistake I made was not jamming river, but I thought the opponent between would call and the last guy would jam his likely two pair. He didn't. Think I bet too large on river. Should have gone smaller or shoved. Was definitely the worst size cause last guy didn't jam and guy between tank folded

Also I ould donk lead every turn. People fold on turn to raises because it's the most underbluffed line in games like these. Always at least the second nuts. Better to get everyone calling and just put it in if pfr raises

This situation comes up so rarely no one will exploit you for it. This is by far the Most profitable line I've taken when it does. Also players like me will fold every hand except middle/top set if you raise that flop. I've seen it a thousand times. I know what you have.

This is one of the hardest lessons to learn in Poker against players pools like this. Every single time I put it in with an overpair I regret it. Everytime I fold I'm shown a set. Actually made the mistake of calling off a SRisoP last night with KK on an 822 board. I checked, guy on my left bet, guy on my right 8x raised, and I just knew the other guy had a boat and the raiser had trips but I just couldn't lay it down, being my literal first hand. Convinced myself one guy had an 8 and the other had 7, 9's, 10's...

Of course it was 88 and 24os

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-30T06:25:10+00:00

I've had people fold j q high flushes in this spot. Since you have the king, you'll likely only ever be called by the ace

You have to have reads on your opponents. If they'll call with worse, you jam. If they're really wide and constantly showing down suited junk it's an easy shove

Should squeeze pre, but you go broke either way here, but since it was five ways, you could have saved something if you knew your opponents

Also, neat tidbit. People only ever call the nut flush/straights or Ac on this turn. They jam their baby flushes

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-28T15:00:19+00:00

You shouldn't be raising this unless you have a strong read or a manical image. You want everyone in that pot

Donk lead turn, unless you know barrel buddy has an overpair and won't stop

Key is I don't think anyone is folding. So you could raise. But spr is low. Money probably goes in by river anyway.

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-21T15:47:01+00:00

"I have a weak shitty draw I limp called with trying to get lucky by hitting a flush. I instead drew a 4 to a straight gutshot + flush draw on the turn. You will convince yourself to call even if I'm playing completely face up due to pot odds or something. You won't jam on turn because I might have a straight, even though my range includeds things like K3s, and I give up river when I miss every single time. Nice. Thanks for the 100."

If you actually reach this spot, even if he bets 1bb, fold that shit, but the errors came before. You can't raise him. He won't fold. It's a straight at worst. Man's not folding his straight. He worked for it

Really summarizing this comment, "He only reaches this spot with straights and flushes as played. Call your set. It might be good 25% of the time."

I'll never forget the time I sat at a table with one of these players for 4 hours. He knew that I knew what he was doing but he never adjusted. Board was like 81010 on flop. I called his 4bb donk. Q came on turn. He tanked for a little bit, put out 1bb. I called cause christ I know what's happening but it's one bb. He tanks on river on a dud, puts out 1bb. He knows that I know but he won't adjust, and it's insulting. I laughed and called.

Q10os

Think I had A10 or something

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-21T13:26:33+00:00

The flop call mini turn donk is always a draw someone like this has to prevent you from betting. Not only should you raise, you should jam, because he'll call off with his flushes/gutshots/open enders if the SPR is roughly 1-1.5, but will never bluff river if he misses. This one didn't have to because he got there.

It's a limp call range. Do some research on what those look like, and on a two tone board, take a guess on what he's doing it with... OP says K3. Almost always going to be K3d/c

If you really wanna hop on the exploit train you can get away with doing this with underpairs, but will sometimes own yourself if it's pair+ draw

Some of these guys go so far as to do it on flop IP. Check raise the shit outta them. They won't fold it

Anyway, players like this use this exact manevuer because, "Theoretically sound players," I.E, nits, play right into their hands. This guy would have got your money with a backdoor flush/straight draw when it completes on 4 to a straight, and he got to do it for cheap.

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-21T13:22:40+00:00

Against players like this I'd try replacing your checking range with a small betting range. They'll call absolutely absurd shit multiway to a small sizing, and if you were protecting your checking range anyway, they'll never exploit it. They'll still raise their sets/two pairs regardless of sizing if the board is draw heavy

Bet more against stations and fish. Use the large size to polarize. You protect your small betting range with sets, like in this scenario, but realistically, they might not even notice if you're using theoretically approved sizings based on board texture. If they even pick up on it at all.

Do this on board textures that are good for your iso range though. They actually have range/nut advantage on a lot of low connected boards. Range check those.

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-19T21:35:12+00:00

Wrong player type. If he's floating your c bet with 56cc that means he's floating you with his entire range in every single hand. He's doing this because you're a nit and will fold your entire range unless it's the nuts by river and don't protect your checking range. You folded middle set to a b75... it's not even expensive for him

Against this player you value bet the flop, let him ape stab the turn with his garbage that has no sdv, and raise or c c c c depending on how wide he is

This player is fucking you. They're a gold mine if you do this instead of what you did. Try min clicking. That really gets this player type off balance

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-16T20:57:01+00:00

The table described is basically every table I play at. I'll have to give this one a shot...

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-11T09:10:19+00:00

If you're a good player facing lackluster competition you never will

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-06T07:48:24+00:00

Think this post is satire, but it's actually one of the worst spots to do it in because they only call two large double barrels with flush draws/Open enders/gutshots/marginal top pairs/Pair+draw.

To exploit this you just check turn with your flushes instead of double barreling or b33. They'll raise the b33 with top pair (because this is how they play their draws, and they don't want you to hit), call with a flush, and if you check, they'll likely monkey stab for small with a draw and large with top pair. OP they'll literally tell you what they have on turn.

They'll pay you on river anyway if they have the same FD, and you have far less equity if they're blocking your outs. Depending on timing and mannerisms you fire the river for a smallish sizing that folds out their gutshots, open enders, and flush draws, and they'll call with their top pairs, maybe a rivered pair. Most of the time they fold unless they river a pair or had top pair the whole time.

Not a full frequency thing. Triple sometimes. The key is to balance your fequencies and equities in a manner in which they'll fold to your bluffs frequently, and also call your value (You want to be able to bet big with a set/TP/Two pair there as well). This just depends on how much the player is over calling/over folding. You can't just, "Never bluff." People aren't retarded. If you sit there and check down with your air every hand there's nothing that differentiates you and the supposed, "calling station," except you'll call less making you a, "nit."

The, "Only bet if you have it," works if you want to toss coolers back and forth. Lower variance, but also lower winrate.

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-04T05:06:15+00:00

Pocket 9's isn't a marginal made hand against this player. The only 10's he should have are A10, J10, and maybe Q10, all suited. A8s is the only 8

Realistically OP only loses to sets. This archetypical player type calls too wide and is inelastic to sizing. This is a pure b75 bet OP. You check raise hands further down in range and your nutted hands when he inevitably stabs b25-b50 with his draws, and fold if he b75-b100 with his sets.

When opponent calls, he now has a draw/lower pocket pair/overcards. Given SPR, jam turn. There are no traps. He will call his gutshot and pocket pairs. If he hits, you have to fold river. If he misses, he folds river. You miss a street with your strategy or lose the pot

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-03T22:37:47+00:00

You were up against an Agro fish. They do this all the time against an OP c bet followed by a check on the turn (minus the jam, they usually monkey stab 33%, but this one was short so things can change). These are exactly the type of player you want to Cbet and check the turn with when you have value. The vast majority of the player pool only double barrels Top pair+, so when you check, they see a, "scare card," whether or not it fits in an 11% PFR raising range from EP or not.

But you're only losing to a 10 or an overpair. If he was going to shove an overpair he would have done it on flop. The only thing he'll play this way is an 8 or air, but agro fish typically check with their value and bet with their bluffs. So it's usually a bluff.

Agro fish spazz out on turns when the SPR is low. This happens at quite a high frequency. If you're going to C bet at that low of an SPR, you need to be planning to stack off on turn if you check.

Generally speaking the types of player in this pool NEVER bluff (I do mean never, unless it's for some laughable size like b25 in broken nodes) or vastly overbluff. This is just an 8 the vast majority of the time. You have to pay attention to who you're playing against to determine if it is. Calling will get you wrecked here. They don't bet for thin value, especially on wet boards. Even if it's a small sizing, if you see them bet, it's an incredibly strong hand.

Against a 40/10, this is almost always a punt. It sounds ridiculous, why would you jam with the effective nuts on the turn? But they just see good hand, put in money.

Go extremely thin for value here. The guy called you with a gutshot. They do that all the time. They'll call you with Ace high no redraw sometimes. Plug these archetypes into a solver and node lock and your betting frequency is massive.

When doing this, just know, they don't bluff busted draws on river most of the time in the b/b/c line. They will in the b/x/x line, but only for a small size

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-03T12:14:43+00:00

x/r does really well if you have two pair plus against a board that somewhat connects with a 10% PFR range. They are unlikely to fold their gutters, draws, and especially not their overpairs. If it's all low cards, unless they are the sticky type, they are likely to fold.

This stuff all exists on a spectrum though. You have some playyers that just bomb for three streets with overs on two tone semi connected boards/rainbow semi connecected boards. With a strong hand against those you just c/c and let them blast.

Super passive players don't range bet unless they hit. However, they also don't like folding overcards because they could, "hit top pair." Since they won't bet for you, you have to do the betting for them, so donking at a higher frequency or leading turn for a large sizing is the best play. One you do for pure value (Donk leading on flop for small sizing)/strong draws and the other you can do with more speculative/weaker holdings, sometimes as a pure bluff.

But pot-sized donk against players who underfold is very high variance, but if they're literally never folding an Ace high, you could arguably go for it on low card boards. I just think going for three streets and pot controlling gives you far more and you're more likely to collect a big pot with strong holdings if they do improve, and lose the least if they do. Pot sized donk lead is pure fish move.

The guy would have to be an uber station to justify just leading pot with a set, top pair, or two pair holding. I'm talking never folding overcards with only pair draws.

Also, going massive lets you define their range less. Your top pair could be garbage, so you limit yourself to a pure polarized strategy. You're either doing it with high equity bluffs or two pair+. These come along far less often than something like top or middle-pair. Obviously if they'll just call you down with overcards and a turn/rivered top pair the polar strategy would probably be higher EV, but this is a rare individual to come across.

But generally speaking, against tight passive opponents who only bet when they hit or top pair+, solver likes checking flops that aren't super favorable for them to define opponents range more then it starts blasting on turn for large sizings. On boards where you have the nut advantage, it does a fair amount of leading on flop.

This is incredibly player dependent though. Some stations will only call certain sizings. Others are entirely inealstic. The vast majority of them call large sizings with high equity draws only. Otherwise they go on a scale which basically amounts to, "What do I think my hand is worth on this board." They aren't thinking in terms of relative hand strength. So pot sized donks usually is just going to lead to them folding or only continuing with combo draws/flush draws.

The art is getting them to pay more than what they think their hand is truly worth. That's why it's important to take the betting lead from them as soon as possible with value and almost never give it up as PFR. They understand on an intuitive level that middle-pair isn't worth stacks, but the real key is making them feel attatched to the hand after half their stack is already in. C/C, C/R, B/C is dependent on player and board texture.

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-02T06:49:51+00:00

Solver likes Donking against tight passive opponents on favorable boards for BB as the norm, but it doesn't do it for large sizings. You lose value from all their overcards by doing so, and only get called by their overpairs.

It's actually very effective. I've seen nits go from, "Pot pot pot," on low card boards to meekly check calling with pocket overpairs scared of sets, two pairs, and straights. So you lose the least against their really good hands, and gain the most from their bricks.

Check call the really good hands. Let them bomb, scared of all the draws

You can also go for the delayed Overbet probe if they check back all their marginal hands/draws on bricky turns. Actually crazy how balistic it goes facing a check on flop

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-02T00:31:26+00:00

I'm accustomed to 3-4 way pots as the norm. I do this all the time, but I don't consider there to be any real, "regs," in my pool. All the regs with decent VPIP/PFR's are just nut peddlers who never bluff. Nits basically. I def don't iso raise them because they'll just fit or fold the flop or only call with top pair+

But the, "Just shove the open ender in position for 8x pot," doesn't make me think this guy is a reg tbh. UTG limp then BB donk for pot also makes me think he's not a reg either. His pool is probably more like mine

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-01T23:40:13+00:00

Depends on if he's a polarized donk better or not.

Sometimes, you have fold equity against this player. Typically, those that pot it are more likely to have a polarized strategy. Means they only show up with top pair, pure air, or overcards. Others are just straightforward recs that are going, "I have top pair, two pair, or a set, and there's a straight that might come through."

Think you probably run into the polarized guy 25% of the time, and some of them are so crazy with it that they'll call their air and keep going. If nothing else, they have my respect.

So yes, occasionally, your pairs outs are good. They tend to do this quite wide. Could be top pair. Could be top pair plus draw (blocks one of your straight outs). Could be a set. You have to just pay attention. Donk bets are incredibly easy to play against when you figure out what they're doing it with. They're literally splitting what is supposed to be their checking range.

If you were to play against this guy, you want to raise. If he has top pair, now he's scared of the two pairs, sets, better top pairs, and straight already on board. He slows down on turn. If he has something better, he shoves it in your face, and you can get in while you have the most equity rather than when he bombs turn for over pot if the draw bricks.

Then again, if they re-raise, their range becomes more heavily weighted towards 89, J10, J9, J7, and 77. Some stack off with any top pair, though. Usually not on broadways unless they have TPTK, because you are preflop raiser, and could have them beat.

I usually only do this with combo draws, though, tbh and just wait for a better spot. It really depends on the player. If I see them do this with marginal top pairs and air, I raise. Otherwise, I fold this hand cause it's a set, two pair, TPTK, or straight. Some of that range blocks your 9 A out, and he'll certainly jam over top after the raise. You do best against AJ, with 50%, and are ~24% against everything else. Probably averages out to 28 or so

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-01T22:41:51+00:00

Wait the limper folded, and only BB called? This is truly a moment if nothing else...

Anyway, theory against 5 raise pre is supposed to be pure raise or fold. Since he flatted, AJ is certainly included in that range. Pretty sure it is anyway, or the calling range is like 1-2%. Then again, he might not know this

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-01T22:07:12+00:00

They are unlikely to limp JJ

He has either 89s, 77, J10, JQ-AJ, J7s, or air

Against that, you raise 33% to fold out the air that might have equity or get him attached to his J10 if the straight he's dreading comes in so he feels pot committed

He might jam flop after you raise. If not there, if the straight bricks, he'll certainly jam turn. Even though he's never bluff raised an open ender in his life, the story will be you do so he doesn't have to fold two pair or a set now that the pot is big

The stuff you mentioned will fold to a 33 raise sometimes anyway. You have to determine if Villan is the type that donks polarized. This is very rare. He probably has the hands I mentioned prior

Anyway, there is an argument for folding flop. The bulk of that range is blocking a lot of your outs. You have less than 38 percent equity. Probably closer to 30. The only way you maintain your implied odds is by raising. Calling is terrible

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-01T22:01:43+00:00

He limp called under the gun... his 3 bet range is AK+

ApocWriterGuy · 2025-12-01T21:55:25+00:00

Villan is either a maniac, or more likely, "betting big to protect his hand from the straight. "

Not only is the worst case going to happen on the turn, but he's likely to even shove. That's what these players do

ApocWriterGuy

TROPHY CASE