MP ($200)
MP+1 ($200)
LJ V1 ($135)
HJ ($200)
BB Hero ($200)

I've been at the table around 45 min, table is passive with a lot of preflop limping.
V1 is in his 20s who seems to usually call preflop after limping in.
The other players are mostly old; OMC type players.

Hero: K T

Preflop
MP, MP+1, LJ and HJ all limp (4 limpers)
CO, BB and SB fold

Hero raises to $15, MP and MP+1 fold, LJ and HJ call $15.
Most of the players seemed to limp and call way too frequently so I thought KTh would be a clear iso raise.

Flop (~$50): A K T
Hero bets $40, V1 calls $40, HJ folds.

Turn ($130): Q
V1 has around $80 behind, Hero covers.

Hero?

With 2 pair and a NFD, obviously Hero has a strong hand, but is it better to jam here on the turn or go for the check/jam intending to jam on the river if it checks through?

I ended up going all-in immediately on the turn because the stack sizes were so short that I had enough equity to call any bet so I thought I might as well bet myself. I'm no longer sure if this was the best play because I think it's hard for any better hands to fold. Any Ace that has a good kicker has a better 2 pair or a straight and it's possible villain folds a weak Ace when I jam on the turn. Instead if I check and he bets I can comfortably call/raise all-in and if it checks through, it's more likely I get called by worse on the river.

How is my reasoning, and what is the best play?

If you're going to raise preflop make it enormous to like $20. I wouldn't raise this every time fwiw.

Flop is good. Go all in on turn and it isn't close. Your reasoning is mostly correct. It's ok for V to fold a weak ace since he has plenty of outs to catch up that you want to charge him for.

Preflop is ok, your sizing could go a bit bigger, maybe 18 (4x +1 for every caller, yourself included)

Flop, fine, nice sizeable bet into several callers.

Turn, villain only has around a half pot bet so we can go for a check to induce or jam many rivers, even if they jam it in with 10-J, we have 12 outs for 25% equity and calling 80 into 210 is only slightly below EV if we face exactly 10-J. Even money if villain does not have a 10, K or diamond. Obviously miles ahead if villain has Ax, as they only have 2 A, 3 Q and 2-3 live kicker card depending on suit, not a lot to beat our 2p.

I say we can jam most rivers because with a flush on board, villain is much less likely to check back with a J

Preflop is really bad. Their ranges are protected by limps of strong hands (KJo/KQo/trapped JJ-AA, AJo), etc. plus you are bloating the hell out of the pot where you will ALWAYS get called and ALWAYS be out of position. Basically general rule of thumb. DONT bloat pots out of position. If you want to get fancy, at least do so otb/co where you have position

If you want to consider raising, make it $20+ plus but id check here 100% of the time.

Otf seems fine, i’d go $35.

Ott seems fine to Check and keep ranges wide, obv calling any shove

uh he called on the flop. so he has at least one of those cards and a queen or a jack. so now the queen comes. is there anything you can beat?

You have 44% equity [15% is a tie] vs a range of [suited/off-suit]: KQ, KJ, KT, QJ, QT, JT. Add in all the suited/off-suit A broadway hands & you have 37.8% equity with 10.8% a tie.
This is assuming that V never has TT+

I'd think that if we knew this, we'd go all-in OTT, hoping he folds his KTs; I don't think avg passive player is betting his QT hands if we check the turn, however, I don't think he's ever folding KQ. Take the QT hands out of V's range & you only have 32% equity, with 11% a tie.

So, if we are not going to x/f the turn & are going to x/c, why not gii & possibly fold out KT? QT may very well call our all-in. Of course, I'm sitting at my desk & you had the advantage of being at the table.

Now I am rethinking this spot, the most likely card he can have by far is a J.

So what? You have direct odds against Jx. Just jam. If he calls with AT or KQ, he's making a huge mistake against our range, so whatevs.

I think c/c and jam are equivalent the times he has J; if we have direct odds to get in then it doesn't matter. But if he has a better 2p would it be better to a) bet and try to get him off it, or b) check and hope he checks behind so we can get a free card? And how much of his flop call range is A9-?

I don't think always jamming here is right. Don't you want to give him an opportunity to put chips in with a naked A? Once you Jam, there are only J's that call you. You'r enot in terrible shape but if this is always the play, you're probably losing money long term. I know it's unlikely probably 5-10% but there are definitely stray Aces that would call this pre.

Also, I generally agree that raising PF is OK but you have to charge a premium and go bigger. You're OOP and give way too much incentive for multi way callers.

Thanks for all the responses everybody! I'm not sure if I should address the different topics here within the same post or split it up into separate ones. For now I'll just slap them all together, but I can edit it afterwards.

If KTs isn't good enough for an iso raise, what would you suggest the bottom of my range be, maybe KJs+, KQo, ATs+ AJo+, TT+? That range seems a bit too tight to me as I've seen people call PF pretty loosely (this villain especially) with probably almost any AXs, maybe K7s+, basically any broadway combo and pocket pair so I'm not actually dominated that often.

Here's where I get confused with the reasoning for raising vs just checking/calling.

In my head, here are the reasons for calling:

• KTs isn't a super premium hand and after thinking about what the limpers would be calling with I realize that I can't raise purely for value
• There's probably going to be at least one caller so my raise rarely gets through preflop
• I'm building a big pot OOP
• KTs has decent multi-way playability (I think this is more of a neutral factor since KTs plays well with fewer people as well. I'm rarely getting 3-bet and blown off my hand so either way I expect to be doing fairly well on the flop)

I can also see reasons for raising:

• A large part of their limping range which is behind but has decent equity against my hand will fold to a raise
• With fewer people in the hand, it's easier for me to win the pot with a cbet

Could I get some opinions or clarifications on the this?

With all this being said, if I choose to isolate, I definitely see why it's better to raise larger than I did.

As for checking vs jamming OTT, my read is that villain would never fold any 2p or better but would fold a weak Ace most of the time. So we have the following cases:

1. Villain has a straight or a set. Jamming vs x/c are around the same; maybe checking is slightly better bc sometimes I can get a free card if V decides to trap (is it reasonable to think that V ever traps here?).
2. Villain has 2p (AK, AQ, AT, KQ, KT, QT). I don't think any of these are folding to a jam and I'm behind all of them except for KT and QT, which are already less likely than the other combos so a x/c is better.
3. Villain has a weak A. Checking is definitely better.

So it seems to me like checking is better than jamming, but this does depend on whether or not V ever folds a better 2p and how often V has a weak A.

Final question: if the turn checks through and the river bricks, what do I do?

I think that range is pretty reasonable. A9s is close, 99 is most likely a raise, 88 I'm okay either way but mostly raising. If they are calling Ax, you are actually behind and people limp way too many Ax hands and are not folding vs an iso-raise. I dont think it's a great idea to try to isolate limps when you are basically 50/50 against their range and you are always OOP in a bloated pot. That's not really a money-maker.

I understand it's easier to win the pot if you raise here, but poker isn't about winning every pot. WRT specifically to LLSNL, poker is about value betting fish to death and folding to big aggression on turn/river raises.

But yes, if you choose to iso, you need a much bigger sizing if you dont want to end up 20-ways otf.

I think checking is vastly superior bc it keeps ranges wide, and they are much more likely to make a mistake than if we bet AI. If we bet AI, they have a pretty easy decision to just fold or call. They are basically folding every Ax hand that is not two pair or AJ. They are snapping off with Jx, and calling sometimes with two pair. Vs if we check, they have a lot of options and there's another street to play. Especially when we have a range disadvantage here OTT, it's pretty clear that we induce wayyyy more mistakes with a check ->>> we win more money.

If he checks ott back, I think it's close but i think i check again, and expect a checkback pretty often. If he jams, it's a soulread.

@blitztime, If your V has the best hand the majority of the time when you bet the turn & he calls, what's the point in betting?

Well, if there's $200 in the pot & you bet $100 & V has 65% equity and never folds with worse, except Ax & you still have 35% equity vs. his calling range [and the river bricks & it goes c/c]:

You win $300 * .35 = $105
You lose $100 * .65 = $65

However, there are many other possibilities, he could raise your turn bet, getting you to fold out your equity. The river could give him a stronger hand and his bet size may induce you to call. On the flip side, you may make the best hand otr.