Loose 3/5 game, several large(ish) pots have been played recently, most hands have had a straddle on them.

My image might be reasonably tight, since all my bluffs have gotten through.

3/5 with 10 straddle.
Hero is UTG +2 AKo, ($1050), opens for $50
Villain Hijack, ($625) calls.
button (covers) calls.
Straddle ($225) calls.

Pot: $208
Flop: K 10 4 rainbow

Straddle checks
Hero checks
Villain bets $125
Button folds, straddle folds.

I checked in order to keep the pot small in case the button woke up with 10 10, i'm never folding here.

Given that the villain has done the work for me to get the bigger stack to fold I think this is a call all day and night.

Question 1 - Opinions on the flop check / call?

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Hero calls $125.

Pot: $408
Board: K 10 2 Turn: 4

Hero checks.
Villain bets $225

If my oppoonent has 10 10, then he'll bet again, and all bluffs can continue to bet.

My two checks have under-repped my hand imo, I'm only worried about 10 10. (would be sick if he showed up with k 10, but that should be rather unlikely unless its suited k 10).

Villain has bet 1/2 his remaining stack, which is trying to look like 10 10.

Question 2: I think in this spot as played i'm always going to pay off 10 10 .. -- no reason to raise right? we might get paid off by AQ and AJ .. but all bluffs fold and all sets call -- is it right to think of AK as a bluff catcher or is it too strong to be in that mind set at this point?

Hero calls $225.

Pot: $858
Board: K 10 2 4 River: 8 (no flush possible)

Hero? --

Question 3 - i'm not folding to the last $225, so given that, is it better to bet 225, or check one more time to give him a chance to 3 barrel? (looking back i dont think that it happens enough, and i'm loosing value by not leading the river for the rest of his chips).

Just stuff the last 250 after he bets the turn, it's not like he should expect to bluff you on the river after you raise pre and xc twice

I don't really like the flop check either, plenty of ways for us to get far behind on turn

I would bet the flop, possibly checking a K84r texture depending on the table dynamics. There are 16 QJ combos that may get a free turn, besides extracting value from KX hands.

As played, just put the $225 in, however, gii OTT is more optimal since he may fold river unimproved.

I'm okay with the flop check as it lets Vs know you can check a strong hand and provides you some protection when you have QQ/JJ. I don't think betting flop would be bad either so I'd probably mix it up.

On the turn, I like the initial check to continue to tell the story that you have a weak made hand, but once V bets 225 on the turn, I think it is a clear shove given V's stack size. Calling with the plan to jam the river will look stronger, plus you give V a chance to beat you with a hand like AQ/QJ/J9s. Just GII here.

Now that we are at the river having flatted V's turn bet, when a blank falls on the river, I guess we continue to tell the story that we have a weak made hand to give V a chance to fire one last bluff. Maybe he even value owns himself with a hand like KQ/KJ that puts you on QQ/JJ. I suppose he could check behind with KQ/KJ which would be bad, but I don't even know if you are even getting a call with a jam as your line looks suspicious and monster-like.

+1 to all of this.

Table dynamics -- lots of large pots had been played in the hour.

Players showed ability to bet big when checked to - or raise on the come (or 1 pair).

In the 2 hours leading up to this hand i had stacked two middle stacks with top pair by checking into them. -- basically not alot of hands are getting checked around.

after writing out the hand it is pretty clear that getting it in on the turn makes sense, since i'm not folding on the river, and chances of a 3 barrell bluff are slim.

Just raise the turn. As played, might as well check/call again to keep his bluffs in.

Answer to Question 1 - I think your logic is off base for why you are checking the flop. Why pot control if you’re planning on stacking off 100% of the time anyways? Some better hands to pot control with would be KJ, KQ, or QQ, hands that are strong but potentially vulnerable and could cause you to get sticky with the worst hand. As the PFR, I think this is a must C-bet. Checking here allows other potentially inferior Kings to check back and pot control, or even gives free cards to straight draws that would otherwise pay to continue. When your hand is as strong as it is AND you’ve shown the initial aggression preflop, continuing is the most profitable play here multiway.

After checking, I think calling the bet is fine. I think your plan should either be to fold OR check/raise all-in to a turn bet by the opponent…obviously a fold would be a very nitty player tendency based read.

Answer to Question 2 – As stated above, flat calling the $250 seems to be the least profitable play here. Chances of your opponent sticking his last $225 on the river with a worse hand in position seem to be close to Zero. I think every inferior King is going to check back. Whereas if you check/raise All-In, most players that bet half their stack aren’t disciplined enough to lay it down for the remaining half. Checking the turn is fine, but your plan should be to GII if he bet’s and to lead the river if he checks. AK on this board is not a bluff catcher, it’s an extremely strong hand that you have played as a bluff catcher.

Answer to Question 3 – If your opponent bets river after you check, you are probably beat but will cry call anyways. If he’s behind, he’ll probably check and you miss out on $225 in value. Seems to me, if you are always calling his bets you might as well go ahead and just get the money in yourself so that you don’t miss out on value when you are ahead.

following up to above post, I am ok with a flop check to conceal the strength of your hand, but not with the reason OP stated.

Thank you everyone for the feedback --

This is very valuable to me.



Even though i'm properly bankrolled for 3/5 (i'm a rec player and have a life-roll rather than bankroll) -- I'm realizing that the I have big holes in my deep stack play (ie 200 BB's or more) -- where I always assume the worst when the pot gets large, and i'm facing aggression.

I think one way to counter this tendency might be to put aside (like in a different account) a proper bankroll ... i play about 20-30 hours a month (4 - 6 sessions) .. and can replenish the roll from time to time if things dont go well .. so probably something in the line of 10 - 15 buyins would probably make sense. ($10k to $15) .. -- its possible that not having set aside a poker bankroll is a contributing factor to playing like scared money.