1/2 game, loose passive preflop table dynamic. My image is not too tight but probably solid and somewhat aggro preflop.

Ive been opening pots pretty often. I raise $6 from UTG+2 with As6s, HJ calls, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop is AhQh3d

SB checks, BB checks, I check back my weak ace looking to bet a safe turn, HJ checks. Turn is a 6d, I make 2 pair. SB checks, BB checks, I bet $15.

Folded around to SB who raises to $35, BB folds, I call.

SB is an older man who's been loose preflop, and I have caught him once making a $25 bluff on the river in position vs 2 players.

River is an 8c. SB bets $50. Pot is about $100

What do you do???

Also, do you always bet the flop here? I feel like mostly better aces call a flop bet.

My thinking is that his PF calling range is rather wide so a worse 2 pair is possible as well as better 2 pairs. He wouldn't have raised AQ preflop so thats still possible as well as sets. Maybe a tiny chance he barrels with a missed FD but I havn't seen him play enough.

Really easy fold pre.

Flop fine.

Turn and river are meh, wouldnt be here if not for preflop but gross decisions either way. He isnt supposed to be value raising worse but his bet sizings are incredibly small. Guess either option isnt too bad. Given both fds brick we prob have to call getting 3:1 but expect to lose a lot, esp when turn is 4 way and he x/r

always x flop
clear turn bet and call
call river, would only be worried of having to call crazy 2x overbets. 1/2p I'm snapping

Pre is fine. Could take or leave a flop bet. Turn and river seem like automatic calls vs a player capable of bluffing. Your line looks kind of FOS, you check a wet flop then bet a turn where it looks like nothing has changed, so wouldn't be surprised if someone attacked that line. You also beat some of his value range, he may have A3.

Bet the flop to thin the field and charge draws.

You're going to lose a street of value to a better Ax no matter what, so bet now rather than give a worse hand a free card to draw out on you. You can easily get away from your hand on later streets once the passive check/caller starts betting into you.

What does that even mean? How do you "lose value" to a better hand than you have?

I meant youre going to lose a bet.

If you check flop. He is going to lead the turn and you are going to call. Or he will check again and you will bet and he will call.

No matter what, you are going to lose a bet from a better Ace so you might as well put the bet in on the flop to charge worse.

Or you could check the flop to have a better chance to get worse to call 2 streets not being able to put you on an Ace because nobody checks TP in a raised pot.

I would agree with checking back flop if we were HU. We're not though and we need to clean up the equities multiway, so I'm betting flop to prevent giving a free card to three people who have all kinds of draws in their ranges.

Seriously, what kind of "safe" card are you hoping to see on the turn? We haven't defined ranges at all given our insanely small open and a 4way pot, so no turn card is safe really except for the one we got.

The fact that you once saw this guy try to bluff two opponents on the river means he likely bluffs way more often than the average low stakes player.

Consequently, I'm not folding my underrepresented ace on the river getting 3:1.

I would have C-Bet the flop. You said you had been opening a lot of pots, but what % do you C-Bet vs Check/Call or fold to a bet? Depending on the player I like to take pots away from preflop raisers (especially if I have noticed them give up on hands), which is how this hand felt to me -- you checked the flop and then made a standard size bet on the turn when no one else showed any strength, so his raise on the turn makes sense to me as a shot at stealing the pot from you.

Seems to me you beat his likely holding from the SB --A/Q, AA, QQ (although not sure why you are confident he wouldn't have raised with A/Q since you define him as a loose player) are not hands I would worry about from him, 33 is possible and makes sense from the way the hand played out, as well as 66, so I'd be worried about those 2 hands

But you beat his weaker A hands that he might have limped with, and it's possible he was holding 54 and started semi bluffing a straight draw when the 6 hit. Considering that it was only $5 to call preflop against 4 other players, he could have been in with a hand like Q/3 or any random Q, so you're beating his busted straight draws, flush draws, weaker aces as well as any random bluff, and really only losing to a set of 3s or 6s.

If he’s super loose/bad then river looks close between raise or call, never folding. His sizing kinda screams weak misc 2p

snap call.

I ended up snap calling and he shows up with 66. Unfortunate way to lose but I still questioned my play.