Early Saturday evening at the casino. Table is primarily loose-passive.

Hero ($450): TAG, has been at the table about 2 hours, winning a lot of of small to medium pots on the flop and turn with continuation bets on nearly every board and donk bets on certain boards.

BB ($400): Wearing sunglasses... has all his chips all in one stack about 10 inches tall, doesn't smile or talk very much. Playing something like 25/7. Seems to hand read reasonably well. Loves to min-raise post, but has been successful with it, both getting folds and calls from worse. Showed TPTK one of these times.

EP ($300): Bad LAG, 50/20 or so. His open and 3-bet sizes are all over the place, once 3-bet BB small with A6o. Bluffs nearly every chance he gets on the turn or river, shows when successful but has been caught a lot lately.

BU ($180): 40/5. Really friendly guy, who plays very "honestly." The few times he's raised pre its been JJ+ (he shows everything) and the sizing has been massive. Can't fold much of anything post flop, recently returned from the ATM.

Hero: A7 in CO

Pre:

EP raises to $12
2 calls
Hero calls
BU calls
BB calls

Flop ($67): 4 5 6

BB bets $25
EP folds
2 folds
Hero calls
BU calls

Turn ($142): 5

BB bets $60
Hero calls
BU folds

River ($262) 9

BB bets $100
Hero?

My plan on the flop was to try to keep BU around and let BB keep initiative... Jam the 38 good turn cards and "play poker" the other 9 times. Thoughts on this? And given the turn card/action, is it a straightforward call down after that?

Hopefully this isn't tooooo basic. I'm fairly new to live cash. Thanks in advance.

not nuts, and raise flop duh. You're making it very difficult to win his whole stack

Raise flop to $75.
Bet $135 on the turn.
Ship the river.

As played ship the river.

It's $200 more, the pot will be $642 hopefully he can't fold.

When someone donks into the PFRer they are normally pretty strong (or super weak) and if he's super weak we are not getting his stack anyway. So, lets assume he's strong.

Raise him, bet turn, shove river, profit, high five the dealer.

Raise this flop?

I'm fine with the hand, possibly a raise OTT though. River easy ship.

You have position, flopped monster and while the flop bet wasn't huge, I get your thinking and would probably take same course of action. Yes, you can raise flop or turn but in position, I am not sure why you would scare him out if he has an overpair.

You need to consider what he could have. He could maybe have A8, any pocket pair, suited connectors, etc. Isn't sitting there with A3 but maybe suited 89? That 9 scares me on river because he could have hit his full house but wouldn't he bet more on flop and/or turn with a slight overpair to get you to fold?

As is, by the river he has invested nearly 50% of his stack so I think I pump it up to $225 on river to entice him. Wish you were getting more equity on flop and turn but since he seems like a competent TAG and is taking control of hands, sounds like he isn't bluffing and he will call the river raise.

Raise flop every single time. If not then raise turn. If not then raise river I guess.

perfect time to min raise the flop back into the min raiser. You said he min raise bluffs, so when you min raise back he may just spaz out if he too flopped a flush, or has a pair and FD, or 2 pair +.

Even if there is not a spaz after your min raise, now you can easily get stacks in by the river.

Think it's fine as played, by not raising you're potentially realizing equity from a BUT overcall. Would ship river though, plenty you beat and not much he's folding.

As far as playing for stacks, there's $67 in the pot. If I call flop and BU folds, its $117 on the turn. I can get it in with a big shove over BB's turn bet, or with turn and river bets of about 85% pot when he checks to me. When BU overcalls flop like he did in the actual hand, that only helps my cause.

I also block all AhX, and 7hX combos, eliminating a bunch of hands I'd want and expect BB to give further action with after I put in a flop value raise. What kind of range do you expect him to call/raise my $75 with, vs continue betting on the turn if I flat?

I expect BU is coming along no matter what when he has 2 pair+, the Kh, and maybe Qh. What about the 8h-Jh, heartless OESDs, 1 pair garbage hands he'll call $25 with and could bink 2 pairs with, etc?

The simplest reason to raise the flop is that another heart may kill our action and it helps make it way easier to get stacks in