I debated posting this hand because at first glance it wasn't all that interesting and was maybe more read dependent, but I think constantly working on playing 1-pair hands is a key skill at LLSNL, so here it is. I'll post the whole hand, and am looking for comments on my actions and thought process the whole way.

Hero ($350): Mid 30's white guy. Moved here from a broken table about an hour ago. I've only been involved in a few pots where I took it down with c-bets or folded after the flop. If I have an image it should be TAG.

V ($450): 50's white guy. Playing pretty loose, maybe 50% or so of hands. He seems fairly passive preflop, and postflop he's making and calling small bets with all sorts of hands, and is perhaps a bit sticky. My reads on him aren't all that refined because I've been focusing on some of the other wilder players. He's not talking much either. He's won a couple big pots where he made two pair in multiway boards when draws missed.

7 handed.

V limps UTG. Folds to Hero in CO who raises to $12 with AJ. Folds to V who calls. His range at this point is pretty much every Ax up to AK, PP, SC, broadway, and maybe some other junk in there.

Flop: A34 pot ($24)

V donks $12. I've definitely folded top pair to these donk bets before when I'm in a spot where I'm not ready to call anymore bets with top pair, but his range is wide and I don't have a strong enough read as to his donking range to narrow it down more. I call $12.

Turn: A346 pot($46).

V bets $12. Now I feel like his range is on the weaker side. If I had air I would consider bluff raising this bet. As I have showdown value and a flush draw, I call again.

River: A346Q pot($68)

V bets $25. Hero tanks and...

I tend to call these down but I expect to see a hand like 78cc a lot.

Nice hand. Not folding on the river getting nearly 4:1. Even if we super tighten his range, the $25 is worth seeing what hand he plays like this. You'll get this money back at some point in the night with someone playing 50% of hands.

Call and expect to win.

It's a very routine call down facing bets this size.

Not sure what you're getting at there posting this one. He has 2p and a variety of Ax almost exclusively when he sizes down the big turn card.

Just call it down. Yes, we let him set his price, but if we raise anywhere it gets us nothing. If we win, we win the max; ditto if we lose.

I guess we could have raised the flop to charge flush draws, but then if he shoves, we're in trouble.

In spots like this, I sometimes put in a small raise on the turn to get value and suppress any desire he may have to lead the river larger than I'd like to call. If I did that, I'd r/f something like 35.

It's less useful against really passive V's (since the third bet OTR is always a strong hand and it's an easy fold) or really aggro V's (since they can bluff 3b the turn or bluff lead the river).

I'd raise the turn, or fold. As played, call river given the odds and opponent.

I'm confirming what I think is routine actually is. At these stakes I'm mostly concerned with making sure I play the routine spots correctly every time and don't have any glaring leaks. They aren't the most fun hands, but they are ones I see often enough that I want to make sure I get them right.

V showed AQo and had me the whole way, not needing the rivered 2-pair. Calling down felt right given the player type and range, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Normally 3 street calldowns with top pair is just lighting money on fire, but his sizing and this board felt different.

Word. I agree these hands are super-critical and IP calldowns can generally be marginal/bad even against idiots if your range isn’t on point. Yeah, it certainly depends on board / sizing / player to some extent like you said, and A high boards always play differently and for good reason, but you look to always have a monstrous edge in how you approached this particular hand and it’s kind of a real good idea to post it.

I would think that you have the guys bet bet Betting range absolutely crushed here. Sure it depends how you play your stronger hands otf and ott, but I would basically be flatting everything to the donk line and never raise prior to the river. With that, if AJxc is going to be your worst call down then all is good. No clue why people are raising turn in the thread, esp when AJ no club is a a close turn call:fold and easy riv fold.

I think I've been in this spot a million times and I call and lose 9/10 times. The interesting part of this hand is he decided to raise the donkbet amount from 13 to 25 on the river. From a particularly passive middle aged guy, my bells are going off. I know it doesn't make sense at all what he's doing but they're never going from 13 to 25 with AT, A9 or whatever. In their mind there is no reason to increase the amount of chips to bet with AT, A9. I also don't think he has any air in his range on the river. When I'm playing great and dialed in I probably make the fold.

Good post btw I like these mundane "you're getting 4:1" hands we don't always think about.

Another possibly controversial opinion is he's probably putting you on exactly what you have on the river and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.

looks like a classic case of autobet syndrome. He has a pair and wants to see if you really have an ace, so he bets to see what you do and thats the entirety of his thought process. He only increased his river sizing because it finally dawned on him how many red chips were out there and how it seems criminal for him to just bet $12 at it. He's got a weak pair with a missed draw

Strongly consider a turn raise. As played fold river. He needs to be betting a lot of trash aces here for you to win.

1-2 donk fest

easy fold on the turn unless you think J high flush will get paid off if you hit it?
would he pay off your river bet with 7-8 clubs? if not fold turn

odds say to pay off river and see you lost

he's leading into you on the flop trying to see turn cheap
would raising flop get him out?