I hope this is a spot others can relate to.

Black Friday at the casino. Promo has the room jam packed. Three 2/5 tables running by mid-afternoon (typical Friday often just one, maybe two at night). I only get to play about once a month, so can fall into the trap of pressuring myself to make a play to turn a small losing session into a winning session near the end of my night.

Day had been frustrating.. generally weak players, as always, although not particularly spewy. Was down a couple hundred, mostly due to card dead - paid off two rivers questionably earlier in the day.

So I've only got about 20 min left in a 7 hour session.

Hero - MAWG - generally TAG-ish, get a decent amount of respect. But nursing a beer near the end of my night.. played a few more hands recently as we were short and I was chasing a little bit.

Villain - 40ish white guy, wedding ring. Big headphones. Didn't recognize him. Very quiet, joined the table maybe an hour. No significant reads, hadn't gotten out of line.


The hand:

Stacks are both around 1k, 7-handed.

Villain opens MP to 20, hero calls button w K 8 (I know, I know... not seeking feedback on this decision ) Blinds fold.

Flop ($45) 5 6 7

Villain leads $20, I call. (I considered raising to either get a fold or a free card later. In the moment, my plan was to bet or raise turn depending on action, as I'd probably slow-play a strong hand heads up, in position, anyway).

Turn ($85) 10

Villain leads $65. Without much thought... I decided to follow-through on my plan to represent a flopped monster. I made it $180, villain paused but pretty quickly picked up calling chips.. shuffled a few times, then put in the call. (Meh, feel like almost any decision here is equally good/bad, which is what you get when you play K8o duh).

River ($445) 3

Villain checks pretty quickly.

OK, the main reason I posted this... we got to this point, now what?

Give up? Bet? If betting.. size?

Fold pre wtf.

I prefer a flop raise instead of your line, you represent more hands this way. I don't think you can get credit for two pair with a flop call and turn raise. Would you really slowplay a set or two pair on the flop?

I'd probably give it up as played since you're repping so narrow and he called the turn. If he called the turn with a made hand it probably isn't to fold the river for 2:1.

You are going to get it anyways because it's probably the worst decision in the hand. Everything else is debatable, this is just terrible bad.

Remember that if you know nothing about villain because he hasn't been at the table long then he doesn't know much about you.

The ten is actually a bad card for bluffing because it doesn't help any draws. It's more likely you have something like T8/8c6c that just improved to draw+something then already had the straight.

On the river it's guess work absent any other information. If villain was drawing they missed, they could have an over pair or other hand you can push off with a big bet. It's also possible villain will station you with an over pair/AT or even has two pair+ themselves. Absent any other information I expect $300 is the right size to carry through but probably a little -EV because generic villains lean stationary. After turn you need to represent solid value but over betting without over betting.

Good points, thanks.

Any other thoughts on river before results?

Stab at this? Check/give up?

You flopped a Monster. Now stuff it in there, and stack them chips.

Sarcasm but now is not time to get shy. He is capped and is folding alot. You had plan. Stick to it

Sizing?

$450. For standard player.

I easily just slide stack in middle with 1.5x overbet. But I overbet a lot for value

what

Checking and betting small would be awful AP w all the imagery in place. Given you're a rec player and boredom-tilting and probably never have a bluff here, go ahead and just put out a big bet and live with the hero/fold result. This should always be your last hand btw.

To be fair, bad players often classify their hands as "flop raise" ("info" raises, semi-strong hands, draws) and "turn raise" (the nuts or near nuts), regardless of board texture.

Of course, anyone with a clue should know that delaying a set or straight on this board is a bad idea. Way too easy to lose action.

OP, you have two bet size choices: Pot or all in. Anything else is a disaster and just going to get you called too often.

But really, this is why you don't play crappy hands. Because you're in a position to pile $780 in on this river to win $445. Or give up. Neither sound particularly appetizing to me.

Not a fan? I am overbet ting 13 combos. And bluffing A8cc, and maybe 88 (doubtful) here. So adding few other random 8''s is fine.

If you don't have aggro image like me. You definitely should be bluffing more often than that.

I didn’t read the replies. But just...what

Maybe being results oriented, but I tend to agree with your advice re sizing.

Results: I bet $300. He tanked for at least a little bit, but no way he was folding for $300... he flopped top 2 -- 7 6

Hmm 3bet or fold pre. Leaning toward fold bc k8o is pure trash hand to play. As played, yea I think you have to bet river or just give up. Sizing seems fine. Bad luck you ran into 2 pair.

you have king high so it's a mandatory bet, 375 seems like a good number

I don't understand this reasoning... if for example V is always calling then we would be stupid to bet because we have K high. V's range is the more important consideration.

imo hardly anyone is calling the turn raise to fold the river. The turn call is very strong.

It is way more fun when you shove your whole stack and they show you top 2 before folding.

He is likely calling his over pairs to $300 bet also. Really only folding some flush draw combos and weird 8's he had.

Almost noway he is folding whatever he bet 2/3 pot turn and called a raise with. Besides missed draws at that point.

Because the LLSNL population tendency tends to overcall the river when it's obvious they are beat, I try to avoid bluffing until I can at least observe someone make a fold at some point. This is more true at 1/2. I find at 2/5 the average player is a tad better and you can start running some more balanced bluffs in good spots.

Generally speaking if you are going to rep a big hand and bluff, you will want to follow through on turn & river cards that are good for your bluffing range. The 3 is a bit weird. In this spot it's effectively a blank, because even if you were raising a set on the turn, there's no 4x in his range, so it's not a card that should slow down your value range. But he might think you are FOS for continuing to bet on it.

The only reason not to follow through on this is if you pick up some sort of tell that makes you think he's never folding the river. Otherwise giving up a multi-street bluff on a good runout is just lighting money on fire. Absent that tell, fire away. Your bet size wasn't terrible, but it probably should be bigger. I'd probably go $450 on this river. Think of what you would bet with the hand you are repping (straights & sets) and bet that. Maybe size up a bit more as a bluff. Exploitable bet sizing isn't a big leak at these stakes.

But in the end the whole hand is just spew. You played a weak hand preflop, turned your weak draw into a bluff on the turn, and then put yourself in a spot where you pretty much had to fire the river into a range that has gotten much stronger since preflop.

Preflop: if you want to play a junk hand then at least come in for a 3bet. That way, you can take it down pre or on the flop.

Flop: I'd personally raise flop here, but calling is okay.

Turn: Raise or call are both okay here.

River: This is a great spot to overbet jam $730. You want to polarise your range here and put him in a tough spot with his 1pr and even 2pr/sets hands.