History: Hero sat down 40 minutes ago and has been card dead. Raised for first time maybe 4 hands ago and took down blinds. Villain is a late-30s, white reg who is pretty standoffish and seems like he wants to teach me a lesson or something.

We are about $165 effective.

Two limpers
Hero (CO) AJ raises to $12
Villain (Button) calls
Blinds and limpers fold

I had a very strong feeling that he was calling in position specifically to outplay me and that it was an ego thing. I'd guess his range is a lot of suited connectors, suited aces, broadway hands, pocket pairs, 89+. I guess he could also be trapping.

I anticipate that he will float and try to take it down on the turn a large portion of the time. My play is highly dependent on this read.

Flop ($25) A33
Great flop for me. I am way ahead of his range here, but I'm afraid I will fold out all his junk if I look too strong and I strongly anticipate that he will try to make a move in this hand. I decide to look weak and try to induce.

Hero leads for $10
Villain calls

I'm sure I get called if I bet $12 again.

Turn ($43) 6
Hero checks to induce
Villain bets $20
Hero calls

I thought about check-raising to $40 or $45 here but I thought I would be over-repping my hand and would probably only get called by (1) club draws that were priced in and (2) Ax. I'm way ahead or way behind and against Ax, and it's going to be really hard to get river value against worse aces after checkraising the turn, but I can't see AK folding and I'm not turning AJ into a bluff on the river to fold out specifically AQ.

River ($81) T
Hero?

I wasn't sure exactly what to do. If he was truly bluffing turn, I think he would probably continue on river. If he ran into a 10 or had slowplayed JJ, QQ or KK, I'd expect him to go to showdown. I don't know if he bets any Ace for value or checks it down.
I didn't want to get value towned by AK, AQ that were trapping or AT or TT that caught up.

What do you think of this flop/turn line against someone that I think will make a move?
If I lead, how should I size to get max value? Half pot to get any Ax and maybe a 10 or a random pair to call?
If I check to induce and face a $60-80 bet, can I really call?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Your hand looks like a stubborn Tx or a stubborn pocket pair, or a missed club draw. If villain has a worse Ace he may value bet it. If he has nothing he'll probably bluff given the weakness you showed on the flop and turn.

Check call the river.

Seems like the plan is working. Go with your read: Check and call again. He can easily be betting Ax or even worse since your betting pattern looks like a cautious underpair.

Why do you think he is trying to outplay you? Do you have history or is this just a made up assumption?

Flop is horrible. You raise pre to 12 and are betting on 10 on flop. If he has anything or is gonna float you with anything just bet 20.

I can see checking turn for pot control but still think I would rather just bet 3/4 pot.

As played I'm c/c river to bluff catch.

The most important thing is to be consistent. Why are you ****ting yourself about calling a river bet when that is exactly what you wanted to happen?

I agree with this 100%. On the flop you stated that you were way ahead of his range and that you planned to induce floats. Well, it's gone check/call turn, so now it needs to go check/call river in order to execute that plan. The club draw has missed, any straight draw he may have picked up on the turn has missed, so the only two hands we really have to be worried about are AT and TT, and those are a very small portion of his range. If you discounted AK/AQ on the flop, why would you be concerned about that now? If we're really hoping that he will try to outplay us, now is a pretty good time to let that happen.

Did he end up bombing it for something like $120 all-in?

The guy just gave this vibe when he called that he wanted to show this rec player his superiority. I'm not sure how to describe it. I guess you could call it a made up assumption.

I was trying to show weakness on the flop, but I think I definitely could have bet $12-15 and gotten the same effect. I honestly think $20 on flop is too strong, if he does float flop, I think he folds all trash to a turn bet and checks back Ax for pot control.

I wasn't checking turn for pot control, I was checking to build a pot. I felt almost certain that he would bet and wasn't sure that he would call with the worst part of his range if I bet again. As with my preflop read, I had no hard evidence, just a strong feeling that's what he would do.

I agree completely with this, and what 929 and Man of Means said. I tried to make my hand look like a scared underpair that is trying to get to showdown and that's exactly what it looks like.

I guess it's just my personality, but I absolutely abhor getting value towned for big bets. If he had slowplayed AK or AQ or ran into AT or TT and I check called a $80 bet, I would be so pissed at myself.

Sad but true results:
I chickened out when the ten hit and blocked the river for $30. Villain folded.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Live and learn, I guess.

If you are trying to build a pot don't bet 10 on flop.

If he is just trying to show you up and out play you I don't see how you can put his range only on Ax.

If he continues on the turn and you call I think he shuts down on river if you check to him because you bet flop and check called turn so you at least have something and probably aren't folding on river.

I honestly think you are just leveling yourself and trying to do to many things in this hand. You're playing 1/2, just play it straight forward.

+1



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flop cbet size is fine. id rather bet 12-15 but cant fault 10 if you dont have any 1s avail.

bet turn 25.

c/c river or bet 60 on river.

dont see any reason to make this hand complicated barring a better read of 'this guy looks like he wants to crap on me'

I think you played it fine so far, although flop bet could be a tad bigger like 15 or something..

If you think he's floating you on the flop and just made a stab on the turn I would check again on the river and look at his bet sizing..

From his point of view your most likely hand is Ax given you are tight, raised pre, cbet flop and check/called turn.. if he bombs away on river for like 60+ I would strongly lean towards folding.. anything less than that you're going to have to soul read

However I expect a great majority of the time river will go check check and your AJ will be good against his random pairs

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Why are you scared of a non flush 10? It is an absolute brick. The only way it screws you over if is he had specifically A10 or pocket 10's. This card makes it really easy for you to c/c river. It may even make him more likely to bet a small ace as he now has a 10 kicker. Obviously if he had AK or AQ he had you all the way and c/c river would still be losing the minimum really while keeping in his bluffs.

No $hitty reg is ever trying to "outplay" you...I think you're making this all up inside your head.

As played, check/call river.

Also, bet more on flop and turn to charge flush draws.

A fav move of mine against hoodies when I know they are on some type of draw is...

bet flop...bet turn...and then check/call river so the ****** can bluff off his stack.

OP, does it feel like everyone is always out to get you?

Only in live poker can people aggressively call raises. Love it. This attitude is also why nits who only 3bet a narrow range are missing out on so much $$$. Live poker players take everything so personally...3bet the people to your right a few more times per session and watch them overadjust...

I wouldn't discredit that read. I've gotten the same vibe from certain players at the table, not just regs.

As others said, bet bigger on the flop. $20 is a reasonable c-bet. It looks like a c-bet and villains will try and float you for $20 just as they would $10. Remember, if he's floating you, he's happy to see a bigger bet on the flop that he gets to steal on a later street. In fact, the smaller bet looks like you want him to call...

c/c turn (if you had bet bigger on the flop he would be throwing away more money on the turn to steal the pot...too bad the pot is so small though), then c/c the river.

Maybe his wife is cheating on him...

Pretty much this. If you truly have a read that is specific and reliable you can bet a bit smaller than normal but generally I would just play your value hands (which this is) pretty straightforward.

Check/call river... this is a no brainer! It's the only way to get value from air, and he'll value own himself with worse aces. He floats turn with air often here.

Agree, clear c/c river. Stick with your plan! The T caught up only TT/AT, hardly that big of his range. The ten is no scarier than any other card that could hit the board. Honestly if you put him on an Ax any card could have two-paired him. Stop playing so scared. There has been no aggressive action, nothing to indicate that villain is doing anything other than what you hope he does.

Looks like to me that you got self-conscious. And decided that you didn't want to get owned by villain and look bad at the table. So rather than stick to the plan and get your value you were looking for the easier b/f approach. Don't let your ego trip you out of $$'s.

BTW flop bet was too small to do anything. You can get more money in and the same result with a bet $20 on flop, check turn, check river.

You think he is going to try to outplay you so just let him try and c/c the river.

+ 1. At first I laughed, but this can be so true in live poker. A guy can start to look really happy and then you realize he's watching a football game and his team just covered the spread. Another guy frowns sharply because he has sensitive teeth after a recent crowning procedure.

Problem in some cases is that BOTH things can be true. Maybe his wife cheated on him, his masculinity is bruised, and he wants to push a young player off a hand to make him feel better about his life...maybe OP looks a little bit like the guy he suspects is with his wife. In general, I think that problems in a reg's personal life will make him more likely to play recklessly and attempt a hopeless bluff.