Hello - Following hand took place this past weekend. I'm curious about my path to the river and my river sizing...


1/3 BTN straddle $5, SB makes it $15, called in lojack & hijack and Hero on BTN with AhQh. (~$515 to start the hand)
Hero makes it $60

SB folds, lojack folds, Hijack calls $45 more. (something like $325 behind)

Flop 9TK check check Hero checks
Turn K (no suits) SB checks, hijack $40, Hero calls, SB folds
River J.

Hijack checks, Hero makes it $75.

rationale

What are the suits on the flop cards, and what's your's and the 2 villain's starting stack size? If you're shallow around 100 BB's or less I would just call pre but that's just me.

Without any reads it's fine to check the flop, we do have equity and it would suck if someone c/r'd us in a 3bet pot. If it was K96 I would be more inclined to cbet and I would most likely fold the turn. I think the river was fine but if you were much deeper are you folding to a c/r?

Squeeze is fine preflop just be aware that SB opening range should be very strong with button straddle. I'd go to 70 and wouldn't hate an overcall (there is a typo in the OP, SB doesn't fold).

Flop check is good. Turn call is a bit iffy, SB could still be checking AK and the guy innth middl can have a King easily, while all you have is a gutshot unless I read the board wrong, that's a fold for me.

River is very interesting, definitely a bet for value targeting a King or Queen but a check-jam would be very unpleasant

Suits on flop were 9sTcKd

Turn Kh, River Jd

I did typo OP, SB obv calls pre.

I have a gutshot but also think that I can bet an Ace river or bluff bricks. Hijack just seems like he's at an AT, JT, QT type hand, or at least they are in his range flatting and overcalling pre.

SB had just added on, maybe $500?

Ok with no heart otf it gives us less turn cards we can continue with and since we're around 165 BB's deep it's borderline for me whether to 3bet or call pre, and I also take into account the next to act player after the straddle was the initial raiser (the most important person in the hand rn) he's probably raising with a tight range so if he 4bets we might have to potentially fold instead of seeing a multiway flop pretty cheaply with a big suited ace while OOP. That might not be the "standard" correct reasoning but that's just me.

Result:

Villain snap calls with a single chip. Rolls over JJ for a rivered boat.

He spared me a decision and ~300 by giving me KJ, KT, KK somehow, and not trying to get the rest from a Q or Kx.

I mentally fistpumped when he snap called, obviously. We were pretty surprised.

Raise bigger pre. At least $75, if not $90. You're laying these guys too good a price to call when you make it $60 and they already have $15 in.

I guess we can mostly check back flop, but that feels pretty weak in a 3B pot, like we're just giving up. The K-high flop seems at least okay for our range. I think I'd still c-bet, even if we're multi-way, and possibly check back turn if we get called and don't improve.

HJ's turn sizing of $40 into $180 is fishy AF, and makes me want to turn our hand into a bluff with a raise. What's he repping? KQ? If we're not going to raise turn, I kind of think we should fold, because I don't know what we're hoping for on the river. I don't know that any cards are really safe cards when the board is already paired.

The river is weird. We're betting $75 into $280? Why that size? It's barely 1/4 pot. Is the plan to bet-fold to a raise? Are we trying to get called by QX?

The $75 sizing seems like it might induce a spaz-raise from QX, and folding would be a disaster. If we're targeting QX for thin value, I think I want to go a little bigger, around $120. We can bet that size for value and still fold to a check-raise.

Just read the reveal. Wow. Was V putting us on KK, KJ, KT, or K9? WTF?

I dunno. I think raising the turn might have gotten him to fold. We would have lost a little more taking a larger sizing on the river, but I think it's going to be higher EV than going 1/4 pot.