No reads on Villian. My goal was to try for a cheap showdown. Standard? Anyone think I played this too passively?

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (10 handed) from (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

MP2 ($13.55)
MP3 ($24)
CO ($34.80)
Hero ($97.25)
SB ($54.59)
BB ($38.55)
UTG ($22.35)
UTG+1 ($13.75)
UTG+2 ($33.02)
MP1 ($95.35)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, J. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50, UTG+2 calls $0.50, 2 folds, MP3 calls $0.50, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, SB (poster) completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($3.50) K, J, 9 (7 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, UTG+2 checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets $3.5, SB calls $3.50, BB folds, UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP3 folds.

Turn: ($10.50) 3 (2 players)
SB bets $5, Hero calls $5.

River: ($20.50) 8 (2 players)
SB bets $5, Hero calls $5.

Final Pot: $30.50

I don't see what raising to $15 on the turn does, except give him 3-1 odds in a growing pot where he may easily have 12 outs. I'd say either raise big or call to keep it small.

I too think you should just call the turn. Raising only pushes out hands you beat, and if he misses his draw he'll usually try to bluff the river and hope you were on a draw.

If this was my hand I would so badly want to raise the turn, his bet looks weak like a blocking bet... to me it sceams or a weak hand like KQ... maybe KT.

Could also be a total donk trying to get no value what-so-ever out of a flopped straight... or if he is totally weak tight he could have a set of 9's... that is quite likely.

I would assume my two pair is good until he does something to show me otherwise. I'm raising the turn becasue he looks scared and he can probably fold.. IF I am even behind.

I can see raising the river, but I'm not raising the turn very often. Even though his bet is just 1/2 the pot (i.e., weak), it's actually an increase over the 3.5 flop bet. Increasing bets are often strength from a dumb player who doesn't know you need to bet close to pot to really be strong.

However, that river bet is pretty weakass so raising it is fine in my opinion.

Good discussion.

After he flat called the flop and led out the turn (not a large bet but as T-Rod points out but larger than the flop bet), I had an inkling I was behind. Draws aside, there's a number of made hands that crush me. Villians at $25 NL / $50 NL generally make VERY weak blocking bets (i.e. the minimum). This just seemed rather large for a blocking bet.

Let me elaborate a little more on my thought process during this hand:

I actually was debating on raising to $18-20 and folding to a push/RR, and would have done so if the board wasn't so scary, and checking behind on the river if possble, or calling a moderate sized bet. My rationale was that if he calls flop (with five others still to act after his response to my bet), leads out on turn, calls a turn raise, and leads again on the river, I'm in a very difficult decision depending on how he sizes his bet, almost certaintly beat but getting a great price to donate some more money to him. Thus, the cheap showdown.

Villian had Q-10 for the poorly played flopped straight.