B&M Casino, $1/$3 NLHE, 8 Handed

Hand # 1

Hero is on the BTN with KT & about $350 in chips
BB has about $700
MP1 has about $275

Preflop:
2 Folds, MP1 Calls $3, CO & Hero Call $3, SB Folds, BB Checks his option

Flop: ($13)
AA8
BB Checks, MP1 Bets $10, Hero Raises to $25, BB Calls $25, MP1 Calls $25

Turn: ($83)
7
BB Checks, MP1 Checks, Hero Checks

River: ($83)
2
BB Checks, MP1 Bets $25, Hero Raises to $75, BB Calls $75, MP1 Calls $75

Final Pot: $308

My question is basically is it advisable to raise for value with the nut flush on a paired board, especially when it is paired off with Aces? Or is it more like burning money, in other words a leak? Was raising the flop ok? I wanted to get to the river as cheaply as possibly so I guess I was trying to buy 2 free cards. I got flamed by MP1 after the hand was over for my river raise so it got me to thinking whether or not this was a good play. Opinions or advice?




Hand # 2

Hero is on the BTN with J9 and about $500 in chips
BB is same opponent from previous hand and has about $785 in chips
(we are ten handed at this point)

Preflop:
2 Folds, 1 Call, 4 Folds, Hero Raises to $12, SB Folds, BB Calls $12, MP1 Calls $12

Flop: ($32)
T87
BB Checks, MP1 Checks, Hero Bets $25, BB Calls $25, MP1 Folds

Turn: ($82)
7
BB Checks, Hero Bets $50, BB Raises to $125, Hero Re-Raises All-in for about $423, BB tanks and folds

I felt as though the turn raise by BB gave me no choice but to fold or shove. I did not want to call as there were too many scary river cards that could give me a tough decision on the river. Should I be afraid that BB has a boat a lot of the time in this spot? Am I ahead of enough here and getting called by worse often enough to make this play profitable? Is it more optimal to call the turn bet and play poker on the river alternatively? Opinions or advice?

Raising to get a free card is so 1990's limit holdem..j/k

Hand 1: Flop:While raising to get a free card worked in this hand it could have also cost you a bunch more if villian would have 3Bet you. I think this is a spot you can peel one and he'll check the turn a bunch anyway.
Hand 1: River: I don't mind a raise here. What did you plan to do if 3Bet?

Hand 2: I think it depends a lot on villain(but I'll make some assumptions):
Will he call worse here? A strong 7 is all I think could call here that is worse and that's a pretty small range.A7? only. This seems to point to calling
Could he be raising worse (AT or 78) and bet or c/c the river? This seems plausible and makes a case for calling.
Can he be bluffing? It's possible he may have some weak draw he's trying to get some fold equity with on this scare card. Will he continue bluffing? I think he may fire the river when he bricks his draw. Makes me want to call.

Shaggy:
Hand 1: If I get raised on the river here I suppose I have to fold. Is it really gross to raise/fold in this spot? If so then I suppose this makes and argument for just calling the $25 instead of raising it to $75.

Hand 2: Good point on this hand that villain may bet river when he bricks his draw and continues to fire anyways (bluffs). I think calling would have been more prudent. Villain is more along the lines of TAGish but somewhat cautious too. He is a reg in this game and a decently solid player for the most part. Not a fish anyways. My thinking was that he was holding the 7 and possibly the A. But that is only one hand he could have, or maybe he was open ended with a flush draw too. What happens if another diamond falls or the board pairs off again? Could I 3 bet the turn to get a little more in, is that a viable option because it seems like it could be. But then he won't be playing his bluff on the river anymore I guess.

If you are going to raise on the flop, you need to make it bigger. I know you said you just wanted to see an extra cheap card, but the hand is multiway; too many things can go wrong with multiple people in the pot. It worked this time but... THE ONLY thing you do with that raise, most of the time, is bloat the pot.

I don't have a problem with the raise on the river...but it is highly "read" dependent. Was someone slowplaying their trips on the flop? Did they fill up? With two aces on the board, you always have to be wary of this because so many villains will play any ace.

It's not as if I don't know the raise on the river would be read dependent and that for a limped hand especially, people could be playing all kinds of Aces. However after BB checks his option preflop, and checks and/or check/calls every street thereafter (including the river), can I realistically put him on a full house by the river?????? I would expect him to bet the river if he had a full house there. Or did my min-flop raise scare a potential full house that much? MP1 is fairly aggressive but it really felt like he was on a flush draw but I suppose a flopped full house or turning a full house is possible. Would he try and check raise me on the turn with a full house? I would expect him to fast play this more often than not but he could wait for the river. Would a full house only bet $25 into an $83 pot on the river? I feel as though more likely than not I have the best hand. But I am looking for a reason why my thinking may be incorrect or at least validate that I may be thinking along the correct lines.

Both players called me, and when that happened I expected to see a full house. Both players are regs in this game and I have played with them many times before. They are decently good players at least, certainly not exactly dead money spewing chips. So knowing that these are the players I am playing against, should I make an argument for not having raised the river knowing if called by both then I may not be good here???

Hand 1: fine
Hand 2: I don't like raising pre unless Ur trying to iso villain who limped before u or one of the blinds. AP I think if u believe this villain will stack off with the small straight, trips or FD ur 3bet OTT is fine. If this villain is folding those hands I believe calling is more profitable.

Why raise j9o but not kts exactly?

1. flop raise is bad. you're never folding out anything and you represent nothing. any big ace you'd obv raise button after limpers. any value ace you'd raise the flop with you would raise pre except A8s which you wouldn't want to raise this flop with anyway, hence why you rep nothing (aka your range is entirely composed of flush draws). as played a river raise for value is required.

2. raising pre is not bad if the limper is a weaker player and you have a plan to exploit his post flop tendencies. judging by hand #1 you did not have such intentions however, so i dont like your particular raise. as played i think you did everything right (but i didnt look too closely, river sizing may not be best but it's certainly not bad). too many bad river cards to kill your action should villain actually have a 7 so i like raising back the turn and getting it in.

I know someone might say something like this. It's not every time we are supposed to raise KTs on the BTN is it? I mean were not doing it 100% of the time. I mean if I did I could become predictable and people would better know how to play me. It just so happens I decided to limp in this time. I do raise more hands from the BTN or CO than from other positons because of our position. It just so happens that I raised the J9o but not the KTo. We're not supposed to be raising either 100% of the time from the BTN. However we can win with a c-bet some of the time with either and/or by manipulating the action with our position and using it to our advantage. As it is I happened to raise the J9o but not the KTs.

2nd hand: re-raise $250 on the turn and ship river.