2/5 NL...relatively loose game

Hero ($1200) - winning TAG image. Been selective about hands...just won a decent pot off hyper-lag donk. If villain was paying attention saw me try to pull off an UNsuccessful check-raise bluff on river with nothing earlier but besides that have been chipping away and showing up with the goods.

Villain ($700) - Hispanic, early 40's male. Played very tight starting out but has been loosening up a bit when has position. Have yet to see enter a hand in EP or even raise in MP. Knows ABC poker but haven't seen aggression from him yet...will consider competent though.

Villain raises UTG to $30 (have not seen a raise from him yet), MP calls for $30, and Hero calls for $30 in SB with JJ. 3 to the flop...

I felt that villain was very strong here...range given 99+, AKo, AKs. 3 betting was of course an option but felt like if I was 4 bet that I have to let it go...and felt like I could outplay him. MP was a tight player as well.

Flop ($95) KJ3

Villain bets out $55...MP folds....Hero calls.

If MP had come along then definitely would be check-raising here but since he folded I decide to just flat....at this point I'm about 99% sure he has AK or AA (if KK then so be it...i'll take my set over set).

Turn ($205) 6

Hero checks....villain bets out $100....Hero acts like he's grabbing $100 to call, puts the chips back after a bit and announces all in.

What do you think of the line??

Your earlier bluff (that got picked off) wasn't all in, was it?

I think a lot of people semi-bluff w combo draws so you could have check-raised the flop to try to get him to think you were trying to make him lay down TPTK-type hand when you had the most equity w 2 cards to come.

Honestly, with the turn card changing nothing, I would think you flopped a set and waited to the turn to raise but I would also wonder why you didn't make a value-y type raise. Basically you have a draw or the nuts and he's gonna try to guess which.

If I'm V, I'd fold TPTK here but if your previous hand that you got caught bluffing was an all in bet too, I'd consider calling. If your prior bluff wasn't an all in, or you don't have a total maniac image, I'm never calling here.

I like the flat pf against this Villain's range. JJ is a disaster OOP with a low SPR against the part of his range that continues to a 3b.

I think I prefer donking this flop, actually. It's a horrible flop for him to cbet with 99/TT/QQ, and we hate when it checks around. Given the flop check, $55 bet, and fold... one option is to c/r and hope it looks semi-bluffy enough for him to take a stand with TPTK/OP. If we're flatting here, it has to be because we think he's usually double or triple barreling, and we should have a plan for the rest of the hand.

When he bets half pot on a brick turn, we need to decide whether it looks bluffier to jam here or to flat & jam river. I think I prefer jamming here. The 6 didn't improve us to the winning hand and he knows it, so he has to think we've either slowplayed a monster or are jamming a draw, and people don't slowplay when there are draws on the board, obv . There are also plenty of possible scare cards that could make folding easier for him on the river.

No my bluff wasn't an all-in but was a bit over the size of the pot.

My plan of action was actually anticipating him to bet around $175-$220 on the turn to get me off of a draw type hand and then I was planning on check-raising. His bet was smaller than I thought he would make though...

There's quite a few different ways I would play this hand being villain dependent...just figuring out the best line against particular villain. Check-raise flop is usually default here in this spot, I know. Don't think donk betting this flop would be bad either as I believed I had his range pretty much pegged...was now just trying to figure out how to extract the most value. Didn't like check-jam on the river either as there could be a lot of scare cards that would stop the action.

Considered V a thinking player as well even though I haven't seen him play much. Been talking some strategy on other's players hands and seemed competent.

Figured though that V would have to put me solely on JJ as the only hand beating him in this situation....KJ would probably bet out or check-raise flop and not want to see a turn, 33 would probably be an unlikely holding for me given position, and if I had KK then would assume I'd 3 bet pre, and also given history that I'd already used a large check-raise bluff post turn should weigh some on him if he had been watching.

Preflop looks good. Bloating a pot oop against such a tight opening range seems suicidal.

Leading this flop is good because we disguise our hand and get value by so much on such a wet board. Villain might even raise us with AK/AA.

As played, this seems like an easy c/r. If we just call, we're setting ourselves up for missing a street of value when a scare card falls. Villain shouldn't be able to lay down AK/AA on this type of board. If he does fold one of those hands face up, we show him our goods and have ourselves set up for a money printing operation when we bluff him off future hands.

If you're 99% sure he has AK or AA on the flop, why not raise there?

i mean i think it looks super huge, especially given the physicals on the turn...

i am fine with the flat pre... i like leading flop, prob just under 2/3 pot

as played on flop i like donking turn... dont you think a flat flop and then donk turn looks weaker than a hollywood and cr turn?

3b pre can go either way depending on dynamics, position, stacks, ranges etc

flop lead is better than ck call or ck raise

i think turn donk better than turn cr

I believed he would double barrel it when checked to....just was anticipating his second barrel to be larger honestly. Thought a check-raise OOP on flop might put him on high alert and cut down the action.

The problem I had with betting flop was that I was also thinking this board smashed MP's range as well so was originally anticipating c/r big on flop if MP came along and then would've been able to get it all-in on turn....when MP folded though it changed my plans a bit.

Your plan would have been fine IF MP called flop IMO.

Since MP folded and you are sure his range is strong I like donking turn which will either let him raise and hang himself or let you extract more on the river. It doesn't take much thought to figure out that your saying you have a monster here.

I always thought flat flop, donk turn is about as strong as you can look. It especially screams set

Whereas donk flop/check turn says closer to "uh oh my QQ isnt good anymore is it

Actually I'm starting to think that the best way to play this hand would've been to bet flop and bet small turn to induce a raise. Make the turn bet look like a blocker bet for a flush draw....if villain just calls then can bet river big....again, I'm not worried about having a flush draw.

Anybody have any objections to this line??

This is the line I would have taken. I would have bet about $30 OTF trying to induce a raise right there. b/3b/c. If V merely calls OTF, then I go for 3/2 pot OTT to spin his head around and also to setup a "small" river shove.

However, as played, I think you can x/c, x/c, x/shove and get called by his entire range.

Didn't like the check/shove on river b/c thought a potential bad river card might scare villain off....hence, the reason for trying to extract max value on turn.

I don't that the line, I might raise flop though. I really don't think you can screw up the turn, anything but folding is fine.

This.....is not good insight. You can do better than that....

a) Unique line, but I like it as a once in a while fancy play.
b) I like lapidators line better. I use it often against agro's and bad LAGs.
c) Alternative line is check/call flop, donk turn for 50 to try to induce the raise, if he flats, overbet brick rivers and value-bet connecting rivers. In all honesty though, I've tried this line MANY times. And although it sounds good in theory, the induce doesn't normally work on the turn. However the overbet river works wonders.

I agree with point A but why not mix B and C together...

In my experience, the ch/c flop, donk turn play (Johnny Chan play) generally is used well to take down pots right there or to cause V's in position to slow down. Think we might actually be more likely to induce a raise by firing small on flop and turn...if V doesn't bite and river comes a blank, then big bet on river looks like a bluff.

Well here's the results:

I think a shove is too large of a raise. I think just making it like 270 is better. Once people call that raise they talk themselves into calling the river shove way more often as they think they are getting better odds on the call.

Just skimming through and haven't finished the thread so forgive me if this has been stated.
Reversing the roles here
When a villian takes the lead away then checks the next street it throws up HUGE red flags. I would player the rest of the hand cautiously and having position makes it much easier to lose less.

OP, I like your line it looks like a semi bluff with a heart or straight draw

Off the point but... Ugh. That is my absolute biggest pet peeve about semi-competent people. Talk about ANYTHING to keep the mood at the table good, but for the love of God, STFU about poker strategy at the poker table.

These people must be there to impress people with how smart they are instead of trying to win as much money as possible.

C/r 145, turn 235, shove river???