1/2

Villain is a new player at the table, I have seen him in the poker room a few different times but have never played against him. Early twenties young white guy, talkative and seems to know a lot of players in the room. But, he always seems to have less than a starting stack.

Villain (~200) UTG opens to 10$

Folds to Hero (covers) who has QQ in the HJ

Hero 3-bets to 35$
Villain flats

Flop (73) K42

Villain checks..

I put him on TT, JJ, AK, AQ type hands and maybe a few speculative hands although unlikely..

Obviously we aren't trying to get 3-streets, maybe not even 2? (thoughts?) I think I still prefer betting the first street though so we can still rep AK, AA, and define our opponents range more clearly. My plan being to bet flop, check back turn and decide what to do on rivers. I didn't want to check back flop and possibly give this opponent the opportunity to barrel turn and river and put us in a tough spot. I would balance that line with the AK, AA as well, or at least some of it. Does anyone see any major flaws in this way of thinking about the hand?

Hero bets 45$
Villain calls

Turn (163) KK42

Check Check

River (163) TKK42

Villain tanks and fiddles around with 35$ in chips before adding them to the top of his stack and going all in.

I believe it was about a 135$ shove.

Hero?

Absent any other information I fold. Aggressive villain can be bluffing here figuring you never have KX but villain has a lot of KX in his range also. His bet is big enough that it isn't worth finding out.

You played this fine, turn just puts you in a terrible situation. Given the 3 bet pot I'm less worried about giving easy money to somebody with KX then I am about being bluffed off.

With no reads on how he plays I'd fold this. I just don't see average 1/2 villains bluff this spot that often. It's played fine. You could even go smaller on the flop, like $25 or $30. When the 2nd K comes on the turn I sort of like a turn bet I expect a K to x/r it a lot, so rather than trying to hero call the river you can just b/f the turn, but it gives you a chance to squeak out a bit more value.

Fold. 1/2 villains don't usually turn weak made hands into bluffs. He shows up with AK/KQ/TT a lot.

definitely bet flop. WP

turn check is standard. i actually prefer a small bet there. similar reasons to what was posted by Koss above. hands that we get value from will usually call a small bet, but not necessarily a regular bet, when the top card pairs. meanwhile, the likelihood of inducing with a small sizing is low (we're still repping strong here) and Kx is even more likely to announce itself and x/r with a smaller sizing and we can fold.

river is a clear fold.

I like a bet/bet line too as the second K is good for us given there are less combos of Kings for him to have. And if we get raised, it is never a bluff so we can safely fold.

AP, you need to fold. He absolutely could be bluffing as it is very unlikely we have a King, but it just isn't going to be a profitable call long term against most 1/2 players. Again, this is why I bet/fold the turn...for value and in order to prevent V from bluffing me on the river.