So I saw this hand play out at 1/2 today. Game is about five hours old. No max buy-in.

V1 (SB, ~$2000) Loud but friendly 50s Asian male, waiting for the 2/5 game. Plays very loose pre. Sat down about 30 mins ago.
V2 (UTG, ~$400) Quiet 20s Asian male. Seen him play 10/20 in the past. Plays nitty pre. Saw him lose with AK vs A4 all-in pre for 100bbs.
V3 (CO, $150) A weak-passive player

Pre:
V2 (UTG) limps in, folds to V3 (CO) who also limps in, V1 (SB) raises it to $20 from SB, V2 (UTG) calls, V3 (CO) calls.

Flop ($62)
562

V1 (SB) bets $40, V2 (UTG) calls, V3 (CO) calls

Turn ($182)
3

V1 (SB) checks, V2 (UTG) bets $110, V3 (CO) folds, V1 (SB) thinks about it and calls

River ($402)
7

V1 (SB) leads for $300, V2 (UTG) goes into the tank, looks at the board all confused and then finally calls, going all-in with his remaining ~$230.

V1 (SB) shows


V2 (UTG) shows:



Can someone help me understand each street? Because I still don't know how he can make that river call.

Umm... even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then? It looks like 2 guys just button clicking, not 11th level poker.

V1's play sort makes sense from a splashy bluffy type. He was on a bluff the whole way. He probably only called the flop with the intention of bombing any river scarecard like a diamond, 4, 9, or something along those lines. So maybe he had some sort of plan here that wasn't complete nonsense.

V2 doesn't make any sense. Limps pre in EP with crap, calls a raise, floats not closing the action, bombs the turn, and then calls it off on the river. Maybe he correctly read V1 for a draw, but there plenty of A high draws he could still lose to. Most likely his river call was pure tilt. Just because a range contains hands you beat doesn't mean you call every bet.

edit: Generally when an aggressive player bombs a river scarecard when if they had the draw they were representing they likely would have played it more aggressively earlier, it's a bluff. You'll actually see this often. You could make an argument for V2 calling with any pair or a good Ace here, but King high still seems way too loose to me.

A similar hand happened to me the other day. I raise A4s in LP, and get called by a V in the BB. Flop comes 246 and he check calls. Turn is an 8 he check calls again. River is a 6 and he bombs it and I snap call and win. There's zero chance he doesn't lead into me with a 6 (knowing this guy) on the flop, so when he tries to rep a 6 OTR I know he is full of it. I don't think I call with K high, but I was certainly calling with A4.

Given the descriptions I would assume V1 and V2 have some history of meta bluff wars at deeper games. At 1/2 they don't care much about the money are just goofing around with bluffy stuff.

On the flop V2 knows that V1 is betting 100% of his range for raising out of the SB. So V2 calls to see what V1 does on the turn.

On the turn V1 correctly reads V2's bet as a weak hand trying to end the hand. So he calls intending to bluff river. V2 at that point realizes the same thing and that V1 can't have anything good. If V1 had a good draw or strong hand he would have put V2 all in the turn.

On the river V2 already thinks that V1 is bluffing and is just guessing if V1 has an ace or not.

Was V1's jack high a flush draw?

V1's line is pretty clearly full of **** here. He check-called the turn for one of three reasons:

1) He has something like an overpair and is getting sticky with it
2) He actually has a straight and is trapping
3) He's on a draw (or maybe just called intending to bluff)

In case 1) it makes no sense for him to shove the river. He's hoping his opponent is bluffing, so he'd check again to give him an opportunity to bluff. That also might be his line in 2), also it's just really unlikely he has this straight after raising out of the blind. So that leaves 3) as being likely. I still think king high is too loose a call and his preflop and flop actions are ridiculous.