Villain just joined the table with $300.

First time I've played with him.

Hero has $250.

I'm in middle position with 10J and it's folded to me.

I raise to $10 and get called by Villain who's on my left and the small blind.

Flop: KQ3 (Pot $32)

SB checks.
Hero bets $20.
Villain calls and SB folds.

Turn: 9 (Pot $72)

Hero bets $55
Villain calls relatively fast.

River: 4 (Pot $182)

Hero ...??

I have $165 left.

Shove. If he backdoored it, good for him.

i think V is having Kx/2prs/sets here. All of which you beat expect the Kh Xh. You have most of his range beat here.
Also if you check and he has KhXh he will bet for sure and prob put you all in...in which case are you going to call? If you plan to call....then you should bet all in so you get value from the part of his range that you beat.
If you plan to fold to an all in bet then you can check.

I would probably check and call most any bet. Shoving isn't optimal because I think it allows him to play perfectly. Villan will most likely only call with a flush since we don't really have a read on him. Kxhh is def in his range especially due to his quick calls.

Since you led both streets pretty well your hand is well disguised. We may even get a crying call from top pair or two pair if you check shove river.

Yeah, you basically set up an easy shove here and hands that beat you are a pretty narrow range to any non-maniacs.

As described the hand I would fear the most is JThh. Other hands in his range that beat you: AKhh (but unlikely as played, because why wouldn't he raise flop or turn for stacks?) or A3hh. Possibly AJhh or AThh some sort of Kxhh but KJ/KThh

You're chopping a few combos of JT and beating all non heart KQ, AK, AQ, K9, Q10, Q9, KJ, JJ, TT, 99, 33. I don't see V flatting KK or QQ twice but maybe?

This is assuming V is somewhere between decent to loose-passive, basically standard for bottom limit live tables.

If you got backdoored, so be it. You played fine.

Have to bet, so the question is how much? While you have <PSB left, I don't think V will call $165 unless he has a set. KK/QQ unlikely given the flat pre. KQ might, AK may not.

I'd opt to bet $95. If raised, make crying call vs. unknown V.

I think OP's play here represents TPTK or AA a lot more than the made straight given his line, so I feel like V calls with a lot of 2 pair here.

If I do anything less than shove this river I have every intention of calling a raise.

those who are saying this is a check are insane. of course V could have backdoored hearts here but that is just a small portion of his range when you look at all of the Kx, and 2ps he would have likely played the same way (V can also have sets in his range but i think these are less likely as we probably would have heard from KK/QQ PF. 33 is certainly in his range, though). that being said, i think this is a pretty clear value bet. typical 1/2 players are close to incapable of folding sets, so if they made up a bigger part of his range, I'd say shove. however, since i think his range is more weighted towards Kx or 2p, I'd bet anywhere in the realm of 85-115, obv with the intention of calling off if raised

Agree 2-pr calls most of the time, however I also believe the same hand raises the turn. There are also more remaining combos of AK than KQ, which may not call AI but something less.

B/F river is a definite.

Thanks everyone.

I shoved and he called with K6

Would you guys check the river if the flush draw was available since the flop instead of the turn?

Gii.

I can't imagine what amount I would B/F here given SPR. $65? Interested in your point of view on this.

I assure you that bet/folding river here to unknown villains at 1/2 is beyond insane.

Look, it's not shocking that he showed up with a flush, but it's nowhere near likely enough to do anything that crazy. Only question is whether to shove or bet smaller to target the likely not-very-strong hands in his range. I think there's a case for both. But you're not doing the smaller bet to fold

Do you know what optimal means?

AP OTR with your line, GII OP.

I'm interested in responses to this question. Mine is, dude, you got coolered. You were looking to play a big pot and he luckboxed. With stack sizes the way they were this hand more or less played itself on your end. On his, I guarantee his thinking was "well, I got top pair, oooh, I picked up a flush draw, my hand is really improving now!"

He never had direct odds to call two streets whether he had the flush draw on the flop or the turn. He played the hand poorly.

To answer your question, I'm going to ask you a question: what's the intent of your check? Would you actually fold the straight to a bet in this spot?

They don't always have it, especially when "it" is such a limited part of a villain's range. Sometimes they do. That's poker, you will lose more money succumbing to Monster Under the Bed Syndrome than you will folding in this spot.

Nope. Stop being scared of flushes

Nope. Well played. My only criticism is to bet slightly more on the turn.

Yes, of course, Dr. Freud, that's exactly what insane people do: They log on to 2+2 and suggest that hero check his str8 in this spot.

OP, this is entirely villain dependent. Since villain is unknown, it's nearly impossible to outplay him. Therefore you should just bet for value. The result is irrelevant.

Unlucky.....I don't think you are folding a straight to a BD flush since its only such a small part of V range.
Check river here has so little benefit such that you should bet 100% of the time in this spot. You need to maximise value for the majority of the time you will be ahead.