Villain: A passive preflop player who is aggressive post flop. Likes to talk a lot and always appear relax when in a hand regardless of what he has. He is one of the most aggressive post flop player in my casino. Played many hands tgr but the only big pot (almost a year ago) is when I called his huge river bet with sets but he had straights.

Villain view hero as a good player who is capable of either bluffing or folding top pair hand as he has seen me doing so.

OTTH

Hero ($1500) raises $35 at MP with KJo, villain (covers) at BTN suddenly says "it has been a long time since I play with you" and he then call the raise.

Flop: Jc5s7d (~$80)

Hero bet $55, villain snap call.

Turn: 2s (~$200)

Hero paused for 3-4 seconds and then checked. Villain checked holecard again and then bet $180. Hero paused for a few seconds and called rather quickly.

River: 3d
Hero checked...Villain paused for a short while (abt 3-4s) and then push $550 into the pot. And he looked at me waiting for my decision. (Note that he does this staring regardless of strong or weak hands).

Hero?

What useful tells can I derived here?

Regarding the 'checking hole cards right before betting' behavior, here's a thread I made about it recently: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/24...p-bet-1566774/

Having said that, players can switch it up or be balanced (and check their cards occasionally, randomly, to cover the times they really need to double-check).

Couple of observations. Some of this hand depends on villian's image of hero as a player. If Villan sees hero as weaker post-flop, then it makes sense for Villan to bet rather large post-flop to try and bet hero off the hand. Also, the bet sizing appears to be somewhat on the larger size and perhaps outside of value range, which could suggest a bluff. If he flopped a set, or turned a set, and also put the hero on a hand like One Pair, then his bet sizing wasn't necessarily asking to be paid off. The "tell" in the form of the Villan double-checking his cards before making a three-quarter pot size bet on the turn was probably meant to mislead; but I don't know how Villan plays and did not see it. All in all, without knowing more, I might be tempted to call in this situation .

You called and V had 46s? Maybe he was checking to see if he had indeed turned a FD with his OESD. He sounds like the kind of player who would bet when he picks up equity - have you seen him do this, or would he take a free card in this spot in position?

The only hand that would call on the flop, bet big on turn and river that you beat is 86. Unless you think he'd float you with complete air and double barrel. I lean strongly towards a fold.

I would focus on the verbal tell preflop. The explanation of why he is calling represents strength. I would put him on a pocket pair. Me, personally, I will sometimes doublecheck my holecards when I have a monster pair just to make sure I read them correctly. I am putting him on TT+, and you can only beat TT.

V is basically firing a full psb on the turn and river. Most players do not do this. I would not be surprised if this player has an epic bet sizing tell: 1/2 psb with value hands and full psb with bluffs. Personally, I would focus more on his bet sizing than his card checking behavior.

As played, I would call. It looks like V wants you to fold.

Your mistake was checking the turn.

Yes .. but not the question Hero is asking. I would also recommend donk betting the River for pot control. V may raise, may not .. don't know the history well enough. Hero could also 'handcuff' V by c/r Turn since Turn card probably hits V range more than Hero's. This also allows Hero to lead River without it looking like a blocker bet.

OTTH ...

1) Comment about 'long time' ... Lets Hero know that V remembers history. This does set up V full range of holdings. My uneducated guess is that V thinks that Hero thinks V is very loose ... AND that Hero is willing to play big pots (and possibly make Hero calls).

2) V Flop insta-call ... no biggie here. This board is all over the place and V would probably call whether he hit or miss the board IMO.

3) I think the checking of hole cards on Turn and the bigger bet is a show that piggy backs the 'long time' comment. In most cases you would think 1pr weak kicker/draws here with V creating both FE for AK and his own implied odds of hitting his draw on the River. This 'information' means nothing unless you press the issue, which is why I can c/r here some of the time.

4) The River is interesting since I now think V puts Hero on weak Jx or less and has the memory of Hero making a Hero call the last time they played together. It is difficult to give the V credit for relying on Hero to 'know' that the last time this scenario happened that V showed a very strong hand, thus V think Hero will fold. But the opposite could be true as well, V image of Hero is head strong and is going to make this call. I think the reference to 'history' leaves both doors open but was definitely part of V's plan for the hand.

Am I calling? In the moment I have to take a look at how much V thinks Hero would check Turn with Jx. This is the most important factor ... but could be no factor at all if V solely puts V on Jx/TT/AK by c/c the Turn.

I don't really like a delayed check on the Turn by Hero (unless it's part of setting up V for bluffing opportunities). By studying the board and then checking it tells V that Hero is weak and/or that the board favors V. If Hero is going to check Turn I would like to see it as an insta-check and then pause when calling (or of course double barreling/raising).

I don't have the whole history that Hero has with V, but I think this comes down to V image of Hero. In V mind, does Hero want 'revenge' from the last hand or will Hero 'remember' the hand and lay it down. Sprinkle in a dab of Hero acting weak with top pair and this is a tough decision.

I think V range is wide enough (9T/QT/A7s) that we can make this call. I am assuming that Hero's range misses this board quite often. GL

AJ of spades doesnt make sense... he would reraise on the flop
JQ JT J9 of spades makes more sense because he calls and your check on the turn gives him the impression that you dont have a J and thats a green light to fire up a bet for 2 reasons..

1) his jack is good or..
2) he wants to end the pot with a small pair... BUT he checks his cards again to see what? he knows the pair.... so he might want to see if he has a blocker of spades (is he on that level???)

your call suprises him... your check gives him again the green light to fire up a bet...

the problem here is the size... you called pot size on the turn... so why not calling one more pot size on the river...

As well said above the problem is your check on the turn.. or its not a problem if you induce a bluff....

Also, the tells you give us are not tells :P :P as fas he is doing in several cases. but there is a history between you and him...

i dont know.. thats a tough exercise.... I think he made a set while he was floating and he checked the blocker... or he he has a suited jack with banana. So he doesnt remember the banana (he knows jack flush) and he checked if the banana is paired or the banana gives him straight draw ...

your consequent calls makes him believe that there is a high chance to call him again OR he does have JT JQ and wants to kick better kickers becasue i dont see how he can get value there with worse hand, except he puts you on TT, but as you said he bets extremely strong when he is good regardless if gets value from worse hands.

I think he had J with paired banana...

let us know what happened