* Thin. But if V sucks at hand reading this might not matter.

first hand is a complete cooler. no one ever gets away from that hand as it was played.

the bluff? it's ok. very good sizing.

but there are some chinks in it.

1 - if you really had spades, you would have C - bet on the flop, just like you did in the hearts hand.

2 - you don't have any blockers to the hand that you are repping, so if V has any broadway spades in his hand, he is less likely to believe it

3 - acting quickly is a strong sign of weakness. that is really the weakest part in my opinion. that is a huge live tell. it is only a good move if your V knows that you are good enough to give off fake tells now and then also.

Based on villain's flop check and turn 1/2 psb sizing I don't think he is at the top of his range so this bluff could be ok if you weren't so involved based on your description of yourself. If you had a tighter image I think the bluff would be better. Straddled pots can make people lose their mind especially when someone is crushing and winning a ton of pots. As long as you havent been caught/shown any bluffs I think it's ok against this V. I wouldn't worry so much about V's perception of your range. You seem to describe V as someone who will only remember you having the nut flush when you doubled up through him before.

I didn't read the rest of the responses, I will go read them after I post this. Now I am going to apply my own reasoning.

Going by what you stated and what you assume you should have your heart pounding because if I am him I call you light here as I wouldn't think you are strong. I think your range is polarized here since you checked the flop and check-flat the turn.

You cannot assume he hit air on the flop simply because he checked the flop. He's on the button and knows you are aggressive (or thinks you are) so he could have a hand as strong as say k-10/kj here but doesn't want to balloon the pot and/or have you check raise him and then he really has a decision even if he is in position. I don't know the player enough, your reasoning of him having an underpair is quite possible though.

The reasons I call you light as with your image, such as the A8 4 bet preflop before, he knows you bet on the come last time while out of position, I would assume you would do the same again and I wouldn't assume you would check twice. If I am him I call you with any Q 60-75% of the time, snap with any king or higher.

I think your hand is polarized here unless his image of you is being a tricky player, so it really depends on how HE views you. You can be a strong player, but not very tricky as far as he is concerned. If I were him I would be more afraid of a set of 9's or something rather than a flush, unless of course HE hit the set and is afraid you hit a flush on him again.

I hope you gave the details of the hand as I hate to be left hanging, would be nice to know how it ended and/or what he had. So in the end, I think you are repping light. Sorry.

I don't know about others but it is pretty clear what he is repping. When I am at the table, I care little about what he is repping and worry more about what he really has. The very definition of him representing something suggests he has f all.

He has a flush or he doesn't. That's how I would view this hand on the button, and since he checked flop and turn, I have to believe he is light. If he played it passively and didn't c-bet or bet on the come well I pay him off and etch that hand into my memory. We aren't going to think he has k-9 or something. What are the chances hero bets out with his second pair with villain on the button who could have easily have rivered the nuts?

Position is everything, regardless of the stakes. If villain is in the tank and his gears are turning, he has to come to the conclusion that a call is the right play.

I like preflop and flop.

You have to bet the flop here, if you want to rep anything decent.

It doesn't look like you have the flush. Most thinking villains would probably call with AK minimum. JT is also not very likely, as you'd probably have at least bet the flop. AQ is a very thin call by villain, and not very likely to be made. That's about the only non-K hand you would successfully bluff (maybe JJ/1010, as well). There's an outside chance you could be doing this with 54 (that would be a sexy hand that's hidden), but then again you'd most likely be betting the flop with that also.

If you started your charade on the flop, you'd be able to sell a better story here.

lol, check the nuts in H1 then donk river H2 after quite a bad turn call

Results

SO you never found out what he folded?

Worked for you this time, good to hear.

No, but based on his commentary it sounded like TT which was the top of the capped range I assigned to him.

He's not the type to be calling with RIO hands like KT, QJ, etc. He may call with the big suited Broadways, but that makes up a much smaller portion of his range compared to all the PP's which is what it takes to stack somebody. He's not winning 250 BB's with KJ so I don't even consider those hands as part of his range. He seemed decent enough to understand RIO in my opinion.

This makes me think about those hands where you say to yourself: "I'm not really sure how I am beat, but I just know that I'm beat." I wonder if maybe we aren't beat as often as we believe and should consider hero calling more often with the top of our capped ranges? Paging Vernon for the math/combinatorics backup.

You were there so you know the player much better than I obviously, but you have to consider that you guys have a history and he is on the button. You applied a very narrow range to him but accurately as it turned out.

In your opinion if he had a hand such as KJ, do you believe he would call you?

He never has KJ there, based on the following, so I don't even need to entertain the possibility.

1) He would only limp/call KJs (3 combos remaining)
2) He would bet the flop with KJ after hero checks
3) He would bet the turn larger with KJ after it checks around twice and is still 4-way

He said after the fact: "What would it have taken to get you to fold on the turn? About $250?" And I responded, "Yah - $250 would have done it."

Which goes back to my earlier post about being afraid to value bet "too much" with a weak one pair hand because you don't want to feel like you are overplaying your hand, even though it's likely you have the best hand.

Grunch. I bet 180 OTF, that flop smashes your range and 44/JT seems to be the only hands any of the V's could have that would like the flop, unless someone is capable of limping KQ. Unless you have reads that any of these V's are stationy, I'd just bet and expect to take down the pot. if we get called, evaluate turn.

I was using KJ just as an example. Meaning does he call here with anything more than an underpair to two overcards.

I still suggest if you wanted to rep a spade, you needed to play the hand as a spade draw, especially considering the hand earlier in which you stacked him. If he feels you are tricky and willing to play the hand differently than you can get this result.

It doesn't exist. This is the second thread this week where someone has implied that things that aren't mathematical are. Ranging an opponent is not math.

I still don't quite get what you are trying to say there?

I'm not necessarily repping spades exclusively. The 9 is the nut bluff card as it completes JT and 99 which I would value bet all the same. In actuality, I would value bet smaller or larger if I wanted a call -- $400 was the bluff amount since it looks exactly like a value bet.

If I had JT, I would call the turn (if I didn't bet it) for the same reason, because I thought he had a mid PP giving me potentially 14 outs + spade bluff outs. Occasionally the J or T would give him a set and myself a pair, but I would never expect him to bet a one pair hand OTR if checked to, so if I have SDV and he bets, I can easily fold and there are no RIO considerations.

I guess that was part of the reason for calling turn as well which I didn't clarify further. I expect the river decision making to be extremely easy. If I hit an Ace or Jack, I have SDV and expect it to go check/check. If I only think he is value betting two pair+ then any river bet becomes an easy fold.

I'd cbet the flop with the smallest bet that still represents strength.

AP, given your ranging of V, why not x/r the turn to 560? A much tougher bet to call with the threat of the river barrel implied.

Kudos on the table selection. A huge LLSNL skill.