Quote:
Originally Posted by pauper
In the context of a live setting, 1/2 pot is small on the flop. Also felt like if I bet small OTT I would get x/r 100% of the time (even tho he did it anyway). Checking back turn to prevent getting bluffed means that I'm almost giving villain direct pot odds to call flop with ATC. As an aside, it seems like the super crushers I see don't shy away from betting in these spots and they win heaps when they call down in a 6k pot with one pair type hands.
I've played a lot of live poker, and yes, 1/2 pot is considered small, but that's a big leak by a lot of players. Sometimes it is appropriate to bet small, and this is one case. What happens to your opponents' ranges when you bet 1/2 pot vs. 1/4 pot on the flop? Are you happy when your opponents don't fold?
Of course it is difficult to play the hand once the pre-flop raiser calls the flop. He has a big range advantage over you on this board texture. You shouldn't be going ham against him on the turn like this in a spot where he can confidently raise many hands for value and bluff fearlessly against your weak, capped range. Betting so large is lightning money on fire and serves no purpose. There's no need to pretend to have a strong hand in a spot where you almost never have a strong hand.
Why are you playing so high anyway? 5|T is often the biggest and toughest game in most rooms.