Hero: $250 V: covers

Hero and Villain have played alot of hands together. He has called every single one of my opens. My opens have been strong. Have seen Villain over value many hands but still get value because opponents all suck. Have seen him bluff once.

Hero: KQ

Straddled pot. UTG and UTG+1 both limp $4. Hero opens to $22. Straddle (main villain) and UTG call. UTG villain is lagtard middle aged guy. Calls large opens with any suited or connecting cards.

Flop ($73): QT5
Checks to me and Hero bets $30. Main Villain calls and other V folds.

Turn ($133): A
Villain checks and Hero checks back.

River ($133): 9
Villain leads $50 into me.
Hero?

Again I ask, what are effective stacks, though it matters less this time since I'm never raising and it's the river. I'd call and expect to lose often, but occasionally beat Qx. Only need to be good 21% of the time for this to be a profitable call.

Sorry I updated on both. After looking at it myself, theres only a few hands he turns into a bluff here right? QJ, Q8, He doesn’t have any worse queens then that and AQ, QT, Q9 all beat me. He could be floating me on the flop with some of his Aces and they all beat me, more hands he can call the flop with and check turn T9, KJ, TT. I really only beat KT, QJ, Q8.. everything else got there. Also V has check raised me before with the nuts I forgot to include that. That’s why I checked back the turn because if he c/r me there I have to sigh fold. He laid me really good odds, but all of his hands got there, no?

Bet more on flop. He could be calling with tons of stuff on flop to such a small bet.

Turn is an interesting card. I want to bet with a lot of my range, and the merit to betting is looking so strong that he won't be tempted to steal it from you on the river, allowing you to follow through, check back or whatever depending on river card. When you check turn you are left guessing a lot on river.

He straddled, called an open (according to you calls every one of your opens), and called a tiny bet on the flop. His range should be wide at this point and A is not super likely to help him. I'm not giving him credit for 2p, straight or anything yet, so turn is probably a b/f.

As played river 9 is ugly and his range is really wide and his bet is small. I guess I just fold but I'm a nit in these spots.

I'm inclined to bet turn small like 1/3-1/2 pot and check back river. As played, KQ is probably the strongest hand we have that gets to the river like this so I'm calling.

Okay that's good insight. Bet/folding hasn't been in my belt at all. I never purposely do it. Because when I get raised I get mad that I just wasted money instead of checking back... Can someone give me like a brief summary of the benefits of b/f?

So if he c/r me OTT I fold, correct? And if he just calls, the river becomes a easy decision. That's what your getting at right?

In live low stakes most of your opponents mistakes will involve calling too much, not bluffing too much. So we have to be aggressive with value bets, and cautious when shown aggression. This changes if you pick up reads on certain players. Does that help?

OP, you are thinking the exact wrong way about bet/folding. It isn't a waste of money, you bet in poker to get value and force opponents to play their hands a certain way.

bet/fold is so good in poker, not exaggerating at all. Think about how differently your hand would have gone down if you bet the turn. b/f results in a lot less guessing overall and tends to make inexperienced/unbalanced players play face up. Seriously read up on bet/folding later streets.

Okay, since you basically know the result without me saying it, Villain had J8 and hit the straight OTR. I'm kicking myself for not betting turn now. I get what you're saying. In this exact scenario if I bet turn and he calls I get value. Then when he bets river on that card I have a clear fold. If I bet turn and he raises I also have a clear fold? So when I add b/f to my arsenal I'm basically not playing blind anymore.. I have a more clear understanding of what my opponent likely has and whether I'm ahead/behind.

Yes to all, b/f is magical.

One more consideration: when you bet teeny on the flop, the chance of him calling with gutshots, overcards, etc goes way up. In the spirit of guessing less often you may want to bet amounts that chop his range down on a given street, unless you want to keep his range wide (which sometimes you would, for example calling river bet when you think he has a weak holding).

Ok yeah looking back that is way too small. He can float me with T8s there for $30. Or even 65dd, 65ss. Plus im betting into 2 LAG's so that bet was way too small. So I should bet like $45-50 there? Thats like 2/3. I knew that bet was too small but I did it purposely because I knew theyre ranges were super wide and I wanted them to call. But my goal should be to put them in a tough spot right? Not make it where its a easy 2 second decision, call.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with $35, imo. You get them to call with weaker ranges which is a benefit, but they will give you less respect and credit for having a good hand, so that consideration should be kept in mind as you go into the turn and river.

I would personally bet $50 or so as a default. There aren't a lot of draws and bad cards to come to warrant a psb. I wouldn't say the goal is to put them in a tough spot so much as define or not define their hand range. So betting $50 will protect your hand better, get more value when they have second best, and define their range a bit better when they call. A bet of $30 will keep more stuff in that would otherwise fold to a large bet, but gives them better odds to catch up. There's merits to both sizes but the perception of the bet in their minds should be considered as you range them later.

if the flop was Q74 rainbow then $35 is better right? But as a general rule of thumb on a draw heavy board like this, I should be aiming for 2/3?

The basic idea behind bet/folding vs straight forward players is they will call with all worse and only raise with better. Where as if we check they will still often bet with better but will usually not bet with worse.

We lose the same amount vs their good hands (a bet) but extract more vs their weak hands.

bet more on the flop, b/f the turn.

Sizing is fine otf and x back turn is good too, calling river obviously standard aswell for this sizing, make sure to keep an eye out for if this player will bluff for this sizing though. Often at lls this sizing is always value, but not always.

Bet fold turn is not good - it's bad even. Especially if villians are calling non nut gutters without bdfd otf.

Bet bigger flop.
Turn is fine. By betting the turn, you are very exploitable against a turn x/r.
As played, I'm probably folding river. The 9 is a bad card for us. But with my line, I'm calling a lot of rivers.

If villain is calling all of your opens he may already be exploiting your play. Sounds like you are already not betting enough and also may be giving free cards on wet boards. When his range is so wide against you in particular you need to bet the turn against this player. Also against a villain who is actively drawing against you you need to charge 'em more. You'll need 3/4 to pot sized bets on the flop and turn.