$2 NL HE 6-max: Tough decision pre-flop and on flop

Vilain had a vpip of 12%, a pfr of 0%, ats of 0% and 0% 3 bet percentage

What should I have done ? Folding AKo seemed to nitty so i felt compelled to call but the flop turned really ugly

Also is there like a program or a community where I get a 1 on 1 coaching session, get learning objectives and then have access to coaches that review hands related to said objectives for an affordable price ? I'm quite bad at learning stuff on my own







Poker Hand #HD2934560925: Hold'em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02) - 2026/07/01 16:59:34
Table 'NLHWhite80' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: c4a31b71 ($1.43 in chips)
Seat 2: 24c6776b ($2.68 in chips)
Seat 3: d4cfee65 ($2 in chips)
Seat 4: Hero ($2.51 in chips)
Seat 5: 2609135 ($2.03 in chips)
Seat 6: 76e375cd ($2.08 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind $0.01
2609135: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to c4a31b71
Dealt to 24c6776b
Dealt to d4cfee65
Dealt to Hero [As Kc]
Dealt to 2609135
Dealt to 76e375cd
76e375cd: folds
c4a31b71: raises $0.04 to $0.06
24c6776b: folds
d4cfee65: folds
Hero: raises $0.18 to $0.24
2609135: raises $0.54 to $0.78
c4a31b71: folds
Hero: calls $0.54
*** FLOP *** [7c 3h Qd]
Hero: checks
2609135: bets $1.25 and is all-in
Hero: folds
Uncalled bet ($1.25) returned to 2609135
*** SHOWDOWN ***
2609135 collected $1.52 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1.62 | Rake $0.08 | Jackpot $0.02 | Bingo $0 | Fortune $0 | Tax $0
Board [7c 3h Qd]
Seat 1: c4a31b71 folded before Flop
Seat 2: 24c6776b folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: d4cfee65 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Hero (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 5: 2609135 (big blind) won ($1.52)
Seat 6: 76e375cd folded before Flop (didn't bet)

When you 3bet raise to 12bb and get 4bet raised 39bb by someone with such low VPIP they are almost always telegraphing AA or KK. Your options are to commit suicide by jamming all in or to fold your hand. Calling and seeing the flop is another choice, which I don't like much in this situation, but you now see a Q high flop and get jammed on. If you call you are hoping your opponent overplayed JJ or something else unreasonable for this type of player. No A or K on the flop is even more reason for them to hold AA or KK. I would be surprised to see anything else here.

With those stats,( assuming there are enough hands to be valid), I wouldn't have called the four-bet....

Preflop
There is a concept called the preflop threshold, which mean, that if you put in more than 30% of your chips, you are committed and should not fold. And personally I would even put that a bit lower like 25%. So assuming an effective stack of 100BB, the cold 4-bet to $0,78 (39BB) is breaking the preflop threshold, which mean, the guy has essentially jammed on you. Which mean your options here are to 5-bet jam (and except zero fold equity) or fold.

And I know, it feels very tight to fold AKo preflop, but a cold 4-bet is a very strong action, and there are plenty of spots in cash games, where stacking off with AKo preflop for 100BB is actually a leak. The realistic best case scenario is, that you are a slight underdog to his JJ or QQ or chopping with another AK, but more often he actually has KK or AA, even though you block those hands.

Many players have a cold 4-betting range of just KK and AA, and then holdning AK does not change their range at all. Instead it mean, that the cold 4-bet will happen half as often, as when you hold for instance TT, JJ or QQ. But when it does happen, there range is still KK and AA. So without reads I think, the best decision here is to let it go.

As for the HUD-data numbers like 12/0 for VPIP/PFR is a further incentive to fold, although I do suspect, that it might be 1 hand called and none raised over a sample of just 8. And then you basically know nothing about this player and need to treat him like an unknown. But even without HUD-data or other reads I would still fold here. I would need to opposite in the form of loose stats like 38/34 and perhaps not starting with a full stack for me to be willing to get it in and gamble with him.

Flop
You should not have seen a flop here, but since you did and missed, I agree with your decision to check and fold. I dont think, there is any point in running a stop-and-go (open jamming the flop after just calling preflop), because I expect minimal fold equity and very low equity when called.

Should perhaps add, that when I started out with microstakes cash games on PokerStars back in the day, it also took me a while to learn to not always stack off with AKo for 100BB or more. So I think, this is something, nearly all players go through, and you should just view this hand as part of the learning process. After all, this is why, you begin at 2NL, so that any kind of mistake is less expensive.

As for cheap or free coaching, I dont think, that really excist anywhere, and the cost of proper coaching is way out of proportion with playing 2NL. So I would just continue to share hands here and then also soak up as much free training material as possible. Here are some good content creators on YouTube, you can begin with:

* Bart Hansson (CrushLivePoker)
* Jonathan Little (PokerCoaching.com)
* Bencb (Raise Your Edge)
* Doug Polk (Upswing Poker)
* Collin Moshman (CC 30 day course and others)

Thank you everyone for your replies. Just goes to show I gotta stop being scared of being ''nitty'' and to stop listening to reddit.

I subscribed to all these channels and will keep posting hands then, you guys have been really helpful.

In GTO low stakes, this is BB 4B range here (from optimuspoker online solver)




and this is what you are supposed to do vs BB cold 4B :



GTO starts folding AKo.

Given that Villain VPIP is 12%, much less than GTO classic VPIP, you can fold more AKo

Villain is only 70bb deep to start and this is an anonymous table, meaning you just don't have enough hands on V to put him only AA-KK. You are correct that folding PF is too nitty but that doesn't mean that calling is better. If EF were deeper, say 200bb or more, you might be correct to call and evaluate on the flop, or you could 5! to something like 2.1x-2.5x and fold to a 6!. Here, being so shallow this has to be a 5! jamb.

What would you be doing with AKo in an MTT? I'm assuming you would just Jamb and be prepared to rebuy, which would be correct because you would understand that his range is wider than QQ-AA and AKs; this is no different. Don't be that "I put him on this" or "I put him on that" guy. You can never be that certain of someone's range and even if he were the the posterchild for nits, you might even get something like JJ-QQ to fold. I literally had a player fold KK face up last night in a $500 pot when I 4! him with AQs. Just pull the trigger and say "Good hand" when he shows AA.

Four Dogs said:

Villain is only 70bb deep to start

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Villain put in $0.78 preflop and $1.25 on the flop. This is a total of $2.03, meaning he was 101.5BB deep to start the hand. This does make a difference, and if it was true, that he only started the hand with 70BB, then I would also 5-bet jam.

Four Dogs said:

and this is an anonymous table, meaning you just don't have enough hands on V to put him only AA-KK.

Click to expand...

We dont know the sample size, but it is likely, it is small, since nobody literally have a PFR of 0%. But even so I will argue, that a solid population read is, that this oversized cold 4-bet, which commits a 101.5BB stack to the pot, is somewhere between KK+ or at best QQ+, AKs.

Four Dogs said:

You are correct that folding PF is too nitty but that doesn't mean that calling is better. If EF were deeper, say 200bb or more, you might be correct to call and evaluate on the flop, or you could 5! to something like 2.1x-2.5x and fold to a 6!. Here, being so shallow this has to be a 5! jamb.

Click to expand...

I agree, that 5-bet jamming is better than calling, but I think, both are losing money, and than folding is the best play against the population in microstakes games.

Four Dogs said:

What would you be doing with AKo in an MTT? I'm assuming you would just Jamb and be prepared to rebuy, which would be correct because you would understand that his range is wider than QQ-AA and AKs; this is no different.

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It is different, because we are 100+ BB deep, which is rarely the case in an MTT. And we also have HUD-stats giving at least some suggestion, that the Villain is tight. Would be crucial to know the sample size, but at least there is nothing, that indicate, this is a loose player.

Four Dogs said:

and even if he were the the posterchild for nits, you might even get something like JJ-QQ to fold.

Click to expand...

Probably not since he already put in 40% of his chips.

Four Dogs said:

I literally had a player fold KK face up last night in a $500 pot when I 4! him with AQs.

Click to expand...

That is obviously incredibly poorly played by him. But maybe the key here is "$500 pot". $500 is real money, that can actually buy you something, and this create a fear factor among players, who are not properly bankrolled. But for obvious reasons this does not exist at 2NL. Nobody are folding a big hand, because they are thinking about, what those $1.2 could buy them.....

fundiver199 said:

Villain put in $0.78 preflop and $1.25 on the flop. This is a total of $2.03, meaning he was 101.5BB deep to start the hand. This does make a difference, and if it was true, that he only started the hand with 70BB, then I would also 5-bet jam.

Click to expand...

You are correct, i was looking at the OR who started the hand with $1.43. But all the same. 100bb is not deep enough to call, it's 5! or fold and folding is always -EV and I'm just never putting such a narrow range on someone I have 100 hands on. The guy might just be going stir crazy with AQo because he's been card dead for an hour.

fundiver199 said:

That is obviously incredibly poorly played by him. But maybe the key here is "$500 pot". $500 is real money, that can actually buy you something, and this create a fear factor among players, who are not properly bankrolled. But for obvious reasons this does not exist at 2NL. Nobody are folding a big hand, because they are thinking about, what those $1.2 could buy them.....

Click to expand...

True, and $2 is not, so just drop it in.