I see this play sooo many times that I don't know what to make of it. Example:
Full Tilt Poker $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
The Official
2+2 Hand Converter
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BTN: $10.58
SB: $14.87
BB: $5.61
UTG: $11.60
UTG+1: $7.59
UTG+2: $8.86
MP1: $10.19
Hero (MP2): $20.77
CO: $4.22
Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP2 with A
J
UTG calls $0.10,
3 folds,
Hero raises to $0.30,
1 fold, BTN calls $0.30,
2 folds, UTG calls $0.20
Flop: ($1.05) A
2
2
(3 players)
UTG checks,
Hero bets $0.50, BTN calls $0.50, UTG folds
Turn: ($2.05) 9
(2 players)
Hero checks,
BTN bets $2.05, Hero folds
Of course, he's not really betting for value here if he does have that two. Maybe he's just worried about a potential flush draw, but it feels like he's making a move.
I see this play ALL the time in Rush 10NL and I blame Full tilt Academy. they have a Power of Position Challenge where they have the player flat call in position, and then bet the turn if OOP player checks.
I notice this play a lot in situations where I have top pair med-worse kicker. Does he have me out-kicked? Is he making a move? Or does he have an even worse kicker and he interprets my check on the turn as proof that I was betting the flop w/ 2nd pair or a draw?
I guess the only lesson I could tell myself here is control your betsizing, so maybe bet less of the pot? The problem is that when I have top pair a good little-more-than-half bet size is usually good enough to take down the pot. What are your thoughts.