First time playing in this room.
$1/$2 NL with a max buy in of $200.

The room also uses $2 chips rather than $5 which seemed to make the pot size much smaller. $6-$8 was a normal preflop raise size.

Overall the game is fairly tight. Most players are regs but not thinking.

V - 60ish white guy. Telling stories about playing higher stakes back in the day. He doesn't really seem like he is trying to win just having a good time. Whenever he calls a preflop raise OOP he holds up a $2 chip and announces that he's going to bet it if he hits any part of the flop. (Seems like he is actually following through). Despite this he is probably the only thinking player at the table.

Hero - My image is probably tight aggressive. My raise size is a big bigger than the table which has caused V to ask me several times 'why so aggressive?'

I am racked up and this is my last hand before leaving.

Hero $380 (UTG) - A Q raise to $10.
Fold to V

V $300 (BTN) - call

Pot $23
Flop K Q 4

Hero check, V bet $20, Hero call

Pot $63
Turn 7

Hero check, V bet $32, Hero call

Pot $125
River 10

Hero check, V bet $40



I was considering raising the turn to get him off Ks. I don't think he has very many flushes and I could still draw another heart. I decided to x/call thinking my Q could still be good.

His line on the river doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless he has KQ and is going small in case I have a flush. Still he could just have Kx and bet because it's top pair.

Bet the flop! If not, bet the turn. I sigh call river unless he never bluffs. Might just fold and go home. I'm not raising here against a thinking players. You should never/rarely be checking a flush on the river.

Despite the odds being laid, I think even his marginal block bets are Kx+ and he has no bluffs.

This may be a reasonable spot to turn second pair into a bluff.

We have the nut blocker and are more likely to have AJ than V.

$160

Would you lead turn after check/calling the flop?

Don’t mean to answer for Java but imo absolutely. This is a dynamic board and the turn has significantly changed the nuts. Nuts you can represent with impunity knowing you hold the Ah. If you actually had the NF on the turn I would lead as well so as to not let V pot control his top pair type hands. So V can’t easily raise your turn lead. This also allows you more flexibility and credibility to bluff rivers if needed.

Admittedly, the bluff raise I initially advocated for OTR is less likely to work given your c/c turn c/r river line. I still think it may as I am skeptical that V is that much of a “thinking” player.

Definitely. See above

Did you announce that it was your last hand? If so, and raised UTG, people might get extremely curious about your hand. I might actually just go bet-bet-bet with this, thin as that sounds, but at the very least I'd start by betting the flop.

I already had the chips in the rack so yeah it was obvious.

The River is a pretty clear jam. If you don't jam, though, I think calling and folding are both pretty equal in EV--he's gonna have a King a ton here, but you might be getting a close enough price.

But yeah, you need to be putting all your chips in the middle with this runout. (Also, for as little as I care for "tells" and stuff, you ESPECIALLY need to do it when you're playing out of the rack! Guys playing out of the rack NEVER bluff--use that to your advantage!)

I don't like letting people know it's my last hand and playing it. Or even that I'm about to leave by racking my chips up and still playing.

I'd probably c-bet flop and barrel turn, then bet river.

If we check-call flop, and get this turn, I'm either donk-leading or check-raising, then betting river.

If we check-call flop, and check-call turn, I'm donk-leading huge on the river.

As soon as V bets flop, or if we c-bet and he calls, we know he's got Kx. If we're going to bluff, then let's BLUFF!

I'll be shocked if AQ is ever good here.

If you put him on a marginal Kx hand then rip it in his face, go all in. After we check call flop neither the turn nor river make sense to lead.

Flop is probably a reasonable board to range bet 20%-33%.

How would you play an un-paired AXhh here? You'd NEVER check this flop?

Seems to me the only way to win this hand after checking the flop is to rep exactly that (AXhh), starting on the turn. It's donk-lead or check-raise. Donking turn for value or as a bluff has its merits.

Edit: unusual spot, villain sizing looks like it is crying for a call, but for the price i might look him up

Especially if he has a punty image

It needs to be good ~25% of the time.
And we literally checked every street, esp. given as the UTG PFR KQx boards are going to be low frequency checks, if that.
I've seen people bet QxJh for three streets like this because "you checked, so I assumed the Q had to be good".
Then he's allowed to bluff.

People assuming he has a lot of Kx here is kind of worrying.
Yes, K5s+ is technically a call BTN vs. EP without rake (played higher, so maybe). But if he keeps betting it how is it that much better than JJ? Does V magically know AhQx is the one hand we are value check/calling here?
And even with no rake KJo is a fold.


I would rather bluff JJh, I guess ... but we never have AhTx so meh.
The other weird thing though is I can't think of many hands I'd ever do this with for value ... maybe Ah4h doing weird things, or Ah5h. 8h7h, maybe?

I'm not even thinking about what the solvers say when V is a loose-pasive 60's guy talking about the good old days when you could still smoke at the table. He's not memorizing pre-flop ranges for the BTN.

That guy isn't taking this line with too many hands AQo can beat. Yeah, he can have some worse Qx, occasionally, but he's going to have a lot of Kx, 2P, turned flushes, and rivered straights. If he's that loose-passive, he might show up with some slow-played AA/KK/QQ. All these old bastards seem to love slow-playing their big pairs pre.