UTG+2 $250. Bad player with a wide opening range and always to 15.
MP1 $800. Decent Asian player. Says he plays 8 tables online.
Hero $700. I have a tight image.

UTG+2 opens to 15, MP1 calls. Hero in the BB calls with JhTc.
Flop($45) is AhQh9c. Checks around.
Turn($45) 8h. Hero bets $25. Both players call.
River($120) 4c. Hero checks. UTG+2 bets 15. MP1 calls. Hero raises to $60. UTG+2 folds. MP1 raises to $180.

I know the line I took was weird and I think I got punished for it. Does he ever play a flush this way?

Reasons for checking river?
Any other reads on villain?

Given the odd lines here I'm leaning to a call but wouldn't be surprised if villain had a flush.


SPACE

If villain thinks you would never check a flush on the river because you would want to take UTG+2 to valuetown, but is worried that UTG+2 has a better flush, this line makes sense for a non-nut flush that he thinks is good after UTG+2 drops out.

It is also how I would play the nut flush if you were telegraphing going for a check-raise.

I would certainly fold pre given you need to call 10 more oop and UTG+2 only has 50BB.

In terms of post-flop, I go through phases where I can be a total station, and I'm in such a phase now.

So I call.

I think MP1 raises a flush on the turn almost always. On the turn, he's 3-way in position with tons of chips left in stacks, and there should be so much value from worse made hands and draws while we're on the turn and so many action killing cards on the river...

So a flush is unlikely, and I think he has plenty of hands to bluff, especially nut flush blockers like KhQx, KhJx, KhTx, etc.

And yeah, you took a super strange line with super strange sizing. And you didn't necessarily mean to induce, but again, I'm going through my station period, so I call. And yes, he'll definitely turn KhQx into a bluff; the Q obviously has no showdown value.

I agree with the OP title... it makes no sense, I call. And by the way, he's so absurdly polarized here 3-betting the turn 3-way on a straight and flush board. He has a flush or not-a-flush-or-straight, and you beat all the not-a-flush-or-straights, so you call.

Oh yeah, it's also nice to block a bunch of broadway flushes with the Jh in your hand.

That coupled with the Ah and Qh on the board, and you getting > 3:1 actually makes this an insta snap call, station phase or not.

Wow this is a weird line by both yourself and villain. You could easily be up against two flushes hence why I thought your intention was to check call the river just in case someone is betting out a two pair or just top pair. At first it seems like ur reppin a high flush by check raising but why is the villain just calling the first bet then putting in another raise when you do? Either he forgot he had the nuts or he was super confident you would make a play. But that type of read is on another level. I would probably call here I think he has two pair because unless he has the nut flush, a low flush most likely cry calls your raise.

There is literally only 1 possible nut flush combo in V's range given pre-flop.

KhTh.

I don't think a solid MP1 is calling short EP raise with K9s-.

I don't think he's checking the flop with most any draw, but especially not a strong combo draw.

And there aren't that many non-nut combos either. A few suited connectors.

Flop makes perfect sense with Qx, say KQ or QJ. My soul read is Qx maybe with Kh maybe not turned into a bluff.

Given combinatorics + lines, I'm going to say the dude doesn't have a flush.

I actually took the same line on the river today the villian did today on a straight board. I had the nut straight and I knew someone would raise me with the lower straight as he telegraphed his raise. I'd almost guarantee you see the nuts here when you call.

i think this is a call because of the the river action. does MP1 really call UTG+2 with a flush when UTG+2 bets so small on river. given he was getting 8:1 he can call with alot of hands on the river. when you c/r on river MP1 can interpret this as you thinking they are both weak and trying to bluff them off their hands, so he can then bluff you off your hand. this line just doesnt make any sense

It's a weird line and I understand why you may have frozen. V has to have flush here. He knows you like your hand bc you bet turn, and your river check was suspicious. He has a big flush,maybe nuts.

But, preflop is bad here. Calling a raise to $15 from the BB with JTo, with such small effective stacks, is not profitable. Even against a player who is terrible. And esp when a decent player calls from early/middle position and will have position on the field the entire hand.
JTo is probably behind both Vs starting ranges here and you'll have to outplay them both from OOP. The terrible player, sure, you'll play better than him. The decent player, with position, is going to make it hard on you. Which he did.

Calling a raise w JTo OOP, even against bad players, isn't profitable. Wait for a better spot. Given that your bad player is active, shouldn't have to wait long.

Again, maybe it's station Willyoman speaking, but I don't see how V ever has a flush.

1. The Ah, Qh and Jh are blocked. The 1 broadway flush combo available is KhTh. The next possible flush combo (ranked by high card value) value is Th9h. Most of the most likely flush combos in pre-flop ranges (Axhh, Qxhh, Jxhh) are blocked.

2. If V now has a flush, then on the flop he checked back in position with a flush draw after both villains checked to him. Maybe he'd sometimes check back with a pair + draw like Th9h or 9h8h since those hands have showdown value... but I really doubt it.

3. If V now has a flush, then on the turn, he just called a bet in position with a flush. By not raising, he's deciding not to seek additional turn value and accepting reaching the river with a pot of just 120 when there is still 660 left effective with hero.

4. If V now has a flush, then he just called the 15 bet into 120 on the river and decided not to raise for value... only when hero made an incredibly small raise to 60 does villain spring into action... with a small raise of his own. A pot sized river 3-bet would have been $315. So $180 is actually quite small.

I will be so surprised if this isn't a hand like Qx or KhQx exactly turning into a bluff.

It makes perfect sense. Check back flop with second pair 3-way in position on a scary board. Call a bet on the turn when your second pair turns into a pair + draw. Sigh call a very small river bet with second pair because you're getting 8:1. After hero puts in an incredibly small raise, the EP raiser FOLDS, and you get heads up, then bluff raise 180. Hero needs to fold < 50% of the time for this to be profitable. I think 200 would have been a better bluff size for the psychological value, but w/e.

Willyoman convinced me villian doesn't have the flush and with the odds given I'm calling. Appreciate you taking the time to write that out willyoman.