Had a good night playing 1/2 NL tonight at the local casino, but this hand was weird. I'd like input on my bet sizing and whether or not it was worth betting that amount (more or less or at all) on the river).

Notes on the villain. He is an older reg player, that is unusually aggressive on the flop. When he gets called, he almost always shuts down on later streets. He also makes some bizarre laydowns, but he is a consistent winning player.

Hero: JdTs on the Button (Stack:700)
Preflop: 3 limpers before me
Hero: Bet $7.00
Seat 3 Calls (villain)
Seat 4 Calls
Seat 6 calls
Pot: $31.00 Effective Stack Size was $300.00ish

Flop 8d9dKs
Villain: Raise $20.00 (Villain loves to lead into connected boards)
Seat 4 & 6: fold
Hero: Call
Pot: $71.00

Turn: 10d
Villian & Hero: Check/Check

River: 10h
Villain: Check
Hero: ???

Personal thoughts: I discounted a flush because he never slowplays. There are a lot Kx hands in his range, and I pretty much assumed 2-pair was the best thing he could have.

Preflop it's called raise. Postflop it's called bet(I am not sure but you use those words wrong?! I am not good at poker glossary. Call flop / bet turn 45$ / bet River (x) - in your case 50$ in 70 is fine. In my scenario the bet on the river would be higher because the pot would be higher like bet turn 45 makes River pot about 160 I would bet about 100$ on the river. On the turn is you have to protect you from an diamonds River , you are letting him drawing maybe for free. I think you misplayed the hand but more experienced players can wrote something on this, also some will recommend an maybe higher preflop raise size. You have on the turn a lot of outs. An if you ask River is an bet/Fold, i think also The turn.

Limp behind I wouldn't raise here cause their all going to call you and JTo isn't the greatest. I would bet flop if checked to me. Caing flop bet is fine. Turn in betting again if it's checked to me. River I'm bet folding 30-45

In 1-2 I look to see cheap flops from the button, so just limp(if the conditions are right) if there are agro players in the blinds then just fold.
OTF- Our read is that he has a wide range to bet the flop, but I'm not so sure he leads into 3 players with air. Also consider our reverse implied odds due to the FD.
OTT- Now we probably have the best hand and some draws to go with it. It looks like our read was correct and now he is waving the white flag. Bet here to get value from lesser pairs and draws.
OTR- This is a clear value bet. We have no reason to think that we are beat.

Welcome to the forum, OP. I took out the results (I know you didn't post what was shown down, but last actions and responses are also results) to keep from biasing responses.

I'm going to "Grunch" here, which means I'm replying to your post without reading the other replies.

Some terminology: Your Pre-flop bet is a "raise," as the blind bet and the limps have already set the price and you are making it higher (raising it). V's lead out on the flop is a "bet," as it is the first money in to the pot and sets the price.

Your raise pre is too small, and a very obvious "pot builder" raise. It won't make anyone fold, and it won't make them give any credence to a c-bet. Al it does is make the pot bigger on the flop. Either make a real raise (a normal open plus 1BB per limper) or just overlimp.

Flop is good, especially given your description.

Turn might be a bet, even though you just have second pair, given that V never has a straight or a flush here if he never slow plays, but he could have outs to one of them to charge, plus if one hits and he doesn't have it, you're never getting value OTR. Still, you have showdown value, so I don't hate the check.

River is a must bet. It is a little thin against most Vs, as so many of them will check a straight, afraid of the flush, but is a must bet for thin value against them too. Against this V, it is a slam dunk.

+1 !

For the river bet, normally about 2/3 pot $45-50 is good, but given your read on V, betting a little less might get him to call lighter, so suggest $35.

Just to confirm, you made it 7 ore as a juicer bet to build a nice multiway pot right? (If not it should've been 15.)

Flop I call, especially as V its described.

Turn I disagree with others, I'm checking behind.

River I'm betting whatever I think he'll call. Given description sounds like 30-40 but no more.

I don't mind raising the limpers on the BTN here with JT, but your sizing is way too small. Make it $15 here IMO.

Flop and turn are played well. Betting turn is not good as no better hands fold and you really can only get value from hands like Ax with the Ad.

Yes, you obviously bet this river, you are ahead here the vast majority of the time and should be able to get some value from a Kx hand. Make it ~$40.

Grunch

I might bet turn for value in case he had naked diamond or a weird straight draw.


River seems like a sure bet. I might go half pot or maybe even third pot depending on your dynamic w him .it doesn't seem like there's a ton of kings that he checks twice imo so we should be looking to get paid on cryers w how strong the board is.

Folding to raise unless there's a very good reason not to.

Bet 30 and hope he calls with KJo.

raise over limpers pre to 25 or just limp

Hey everyone, thanks for all the feedback for my first post.

The hardest part of your analysis for me was the big preflop recommendations. I've really taken to 3-4BB raises, because postflop play seems relatively simple against loose fit-or-fold players when I'm in position. Since I'm a newer player, and I haven't logged that much time playing live, I haven't deduced if this play style is a leak that I've been lucky with or a profitable way to play.

It really just depends on what you want to do pre.

1. Thin the crowd
2. Take down the dead money
3. Build a big multiway pot

Your smaller PFRs are generally only going to accomplish #3. If you want to accomplish 1 or 2, sizing needs to pretty much always be 12+.

Exactly. So the question for the OP is what was the purpose of his raise? It's not likely he has the best hand at the table. It doesn't seem likely to get the pot heads-up. He doesn't have to make it 50 dollars but he does need to bet the right amount to accomplish whatever he's trying to accomplish.

Betting the turn makes no sense to me at all. You have a draw if you're behind to anything but a flush, no reason to think anyone folds anything better, and no reason to think anyone calls with worse.

As far as the river goes, bet about half-pot or a little more, and fold to most raises. I can't imagine checking-behind.