Hey folks,

how would you play the following hand at river? Leading again or check-calling in the hope, that if he has a great hand, that he would bet less than the pot and you would save some bucks?



$20max (0.10/0.20 blinds) GCP

I had in MP. It's folded to me, I open-raise to $0.80. The next player calls, everybody else folds. (Both had around $20.)

Flop:

I like that flop and so I bet it, $2. He calls.

Turn:

I also like the turn card, so I bet again the pot $5. He calls. Hmm... I don't think that he would call raises with 3-5 or 5-7. With a set I assume, that he wants to find out as soon as possible if it's still good, 'cos I could hold a set of Aces or Kings. So what is good enough to call pot-sized bets on flop and turn??

River:

I thought about checking, but I decided to bet myself, because I would call a bet from him. So I bet $12.75 all-in..... AND HE CALLED!!

I showed my , he showed . DAMN!!

In this case your river bet is fine because most people would raise the turn with a set.
When you said "whats good enough to callpot bets on the flop and turn?". I thought he had AQ or AJ. Its just bad luck that he had [Jc].

You dont always have to bet a hand that you would be willing to call a bet with though. There are lots of hands where HE wouldnt be willing to call a bet, but he might bluff at the pot. Thats not the case here though.

The river bet is fine, as Iceman said, but I did want to comment on the sentence:

"but I decided to bet myself, because I would call a bet from him"

This isn't correct poker logic. When you have a hand like TPTK it is often the case that people won't *call* bets with weaker hands, but may bet the weaker hands themselves (often bluffing with missed draws).

So if you bet and they call you are losing, if you bet and they fold you've gained nothing. If you check then call a bet, you will often be ahead.

You should in general only bet out of position if you can think of a plausible weaker hand that would call: eg with AK and an A high flop you're OK because AQ and AJ will call. With position you can value bet a bit more "on the off chance" they call, since people don't tend to check raise the river much at our levels.

Bab situation for you, you had him in big trouble on the flop drawing at 3 outs or runner flush. The card that made you stronger also gave him more outs. You cant think he called with a runner flush draw.

The only thing I have to comment about is, I would have check called all in on the river. I know you usually want to go out gunning if you are going to lose, but I dont think so in this situation. A call here on the turn means one of tow things to me, two pair or an open ended straight draw. The 7 on the river hits one open ended straight draw, but if he has 75 he makes a pair which he knows is no good, and he thinks he may be able to bluff you out. Also if you check here there is a chance he may value bet $6 and you can call and save somemoney. If he checks behind you, you still win a decent pot.

Thanks for your answers....

I'll think about your comments.