1/3

V1 ($320)- Middle aged white guy seems to be somewhat laggy and seems to read hang ranges well
Hero (covers) 20s white guy. I keep hearing talk that I'm a nit but people have been calling me down anyways.
V3 ($200) Middle aged asian guy; I've seen him make a few plays but he is down slightly. He also seems to be a consistent winner.
Straddle pot.


Hero (AQ ) raises to $25 UTG+2
V2 calls from middle position
Blinds fold Straddle calls.

Flop ($75)
TT2 (2 clubs)
I figure I'm probably still good on this flop. So after straddle checks I bet $50. V2 calls. V1 folds.

Turn ($175)
TT26 (still 2 clubs)
I think for a second. V2 tells me he's still on a draw. I'm not sure I believe him and check.

River ($175)
3
I check V2 checks.


I'm not sure how often I should believing these villains who tell me what they have. Should I ignore it or are they usually telling the truth.

Should I have shoved all in on the turn or the river? With such an inflated pot I feel like I might call his all in but I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger on either street. Would that just be spew or in such a situation do I have sufficient fold equity to make the move? (villain explained he thought I had big pockets).

Finally I know the flop misses most hands but these villains seem like the type willing to float or steal pots. Did I make a big mistake by inflating the pot on the flop? I thought I might have been able to take it down (but I guess that means I should have double barrelled on the turn).

In an earlier hand I had been caught by A high when I triple barrelled so perhaps I was being a little results oriented on the effectiveness of bluffing in this game.

Is V3 supposed to be V2? I would normally check the turn here, but I feel like V2 wants a free card and by betting him all in with a $125 bet or so you can get him to fold out his floats and small and medium pairs he might call you on the flop. However, if he's still on a draw he's probably going to call anyways, and your image isn't the best after getting caught bluffing earlier. I could go either way, but if you know he is capable of making laydowns and he is a semi-competent player I would bet him all-in on the turn. Also, I would bet slightly less on the flop, more in tune to $40. Just my .2 cents.

Not a great board to barrel because he isn't going to fold better on the turn so just check behind and evaluate river. Well played IMO.

Don't listen to the table talk. It usually means the opposite of what is said

I'm probably not even cbetting the flop, when you do and get called, c/f turn

One of the beautiful things about LLSNL is that our villains will often tell us exactly what they have by their actions.

I live by the mantra "what you see is what you get."

Its rare for villains at this level to purposefully float with KJ here just so they can bluff raise you on the river.

that sort of play or level of thinking just isn't in their arsenals...

So what is my point?

Easy. You can c-bet this board and if villain missed (which will happen 70% of the time) he will just fold. If he doesn't fold, he is either drawing (in which case he we are ahead) or he has some garbage baby pair that isn't folding no matter what we do (in which case we are behind).

That is more or less how these sorts of spots go 95% of the time.

Most villains at this level will put you on AK because you raised preflop. They will read you for AK and exactly AK and if they have any value hand to include 22 they will call you down as long as no A or K hits.

So, c-bet flop, if called, shut down and hope to bink an A, K, or Q on river you can bet for value or a bluff.

As for whether or not to believe a villain.

For the most part, no. But there are plenty of rec-fish who play just for fun and for the SOCIAL aspect and it is these specific fish that are pretty honest . Its important to listen to the table talk and hands they are involved in because they will do it not just with you but with everyone. Against these villains then yes, they are telling the truth.

but for the most part, I don't believe players when they say what they have...

If you ended up losing to some random club draw that binked the river, meh, it is what it is and you were still ahead so there isn't much wrong with checking turn and river. Tx isn't folding, baby pairs aren't folding, and all you'd be doing is inflating a pot in which your villain likely has a value hand that isn't folding (once you've c-bet flop)

Thanks for the responses. I ended up with the winning hand. I was just concerned that after getting burned once I had let it get to my head and gone too nitty with my bluffing.

I know at this level most villains seem incapable of laying hands down but I thought I might need to try again against a semi-competent player particularly when the absolute bet size would be over $100 (a fairly large bet at this level).