A player who is a bit too loose and a bit too passive raises UTG and there is a cold caller in MP. It's folded to me and I raise red AKo on the button. The blinds both fold and UTG and MP both call. 3 ways for roughly 10.25 SB.

Flop A Q J. UTG donks, MP calls, I call.

Turn 9. UTG leads, MP calls, I call.

River 4. UTG checks, MP checks, I bet for value but am not quite sure what hands I'm targeting.

Nh.

Agreed. And I don't think it's that weird.

I think it is weird action here. I'm not sure that I would bet the river. If UTG is passive he might have just been afraid to bet his two pair or set again after two people called a scary turn card. It depends a lot on that player really.

Well played

Possibly, but most players I'd classify as passive would still bet 2 pair on the river here (and not donk it very often on the flop), so I think hero has the best hand often. I like betting and letting UTG find a way to pay off.

Would a passive player donk the flop with AT?

Seems like a very clear check back. Passive player is terrified of the board with a hand that either chops or beats you.

The bet is more of a bluff than for value and you aren't folding out worse. Other than AT in 2 spots, what hands do you beat that call?

Is the passive player putting us on QQQ/JJJ that decided to not raise flop
Or turn or is he scared of the river 4?

checking here would be terrible. Passive players donk mediocre strength hands here all the time on flop becuse that's how they keep pot small. They can easily show up with A4s or AT

UTG bet the turn. You think he all of a sudden got spooked by an innocuous 4? If it were a good player, I'd be more worried about him trying to x/r better hands than being too scared to bet them. But this shouldn't be a concern given OP's description.

I don't get it. That's kind of the point of betting, isn't it? Why would you want to fold out worse?


KK, KQ, A8s come to mind, but even if utg is giving up on a bluff with no intention of calling a river bet, MP still has a sizable range that's available for targeting.

I find it's usually a mistake to underestimate the imagination of opponents when it comes to finding reasons to call instead of fold (if only because calling is so much more often correct than folding, especially at almost 10:1).

I agree with betting, especially where villain is described as being a bit too loose. NH.

Betting the river seems pretty standard. Not raising the flop does not seem so standard.

Hf

No one else had a problem with not raising flop.

Lp raises UTG then donks into the pf 3bettor on a board that smashes our range...

He also bet a scare card on the turn...

I think I like a check on the river. This seems like two pair or chopped AK more often than something else we can get value from. Described player likely limps ATo pf.

Remember, we need more combos of weaker hands villain can have than combos beating us to make betting profitable. Villain conceivably plays AQ/AJ/QQ/JJ/QJs/KTs this way; can we think of that many combos of hands we beat?