Live 1/2. I just sat down, lot of poker chat at the table
Hero (120)
V (250ish), foreign, accent, 40

Folds to Hero in HJ who opens ATs to 7
Folds to V in bb who calls

Flop A 9 4 rainbow
BB checks, hero cbets 7, Villain insta raises to 30
Hero?

Your cbet looks weak.. Bet close to pot. You probably have no FE and more than likely your are beat... as played fold... Another line to consider since you are short is checking back the flop and if leads the turn get crazy with it.

I'd probably raise more preflop, but you got it HU in position, so fine.

At a new table where I'm unknown as are my villains, I would typically massively overplay my awesome hands (thinking I'll perhaps get paid off light) and probably underplay my mediocre hands (even though I might get paid off light, I'm not ready to play for stacks). I'd like to get to showdown with this hand to maybe get a little idea of what is happening, so I probably pot control the flop and check behind, then pay off reasonable bets on the turn/river (or bet them myself if checked to).

As played, I fold the flop. We're ahead of very few Aces, let alone better hands; let's just move on cuz otherwise we're playing for stacks on the turn.

GcluelessNLnoobG

raise more pre. bet bigger on the flop.

I'm fine with the way you played the hand. I'd go a bit bigger, but 7 got the job done here. My default on a dry flop is to c-bet slightly bigger than 1/2, but 7 into 15 isn't bad either. The fold to the check raise is good.

the problem is both bet sizes look super weak and invite steals. at $1/$2 where i play, $7 is a suited connector, unless it's a player over 60 where it is probably AA. a $7 bet into a $15 pot on the flop screams 'i don't have the ace, but i have something.'

I guess it could be card room dependent and image dependent. I think I'm getting the same amount of folds betting 1/2 pot as I would betting full pot on this flop. And it's not too often I am getting played back at, and if I am I usually will know if villain is capable of it.

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