2/5 1k max in KC. 10 handed

Generally the table is pretty passive with a lot of limping

Villain (430ish) haven't really seen much besides limping a decent amount, sometimes calling and sometimes folding. Haven't seen any non preflop action worth noting. No showdowns, seems fit/fold though

Hero (covers) playing TAG Isoing a decent amount since there is a decent amount of limp folding going on but also limping a bit since table will allow it. Seen as active by the table

2 players were away when this hand happened and them not being in there seat has made the table shift to a less limping and more folding dynamic.

Ep limp, hero in HJ raises to 20 with 88, villain in CO calls, blinds and Ep fold.

Flop 643r

Hero bets 30, Villain calls

Turn Ax

Hero?

I like a bet/fold of $65-$75. The ace is a good barrel card.

When V calls your flop bet, what do you range him on? I expect he's mostly pocket pairs, with some 65s, 45s, maybe a6x and a5x. Betting this turn should force a fold from his pocket pairs. If he floated with overs (besides ax overs), he'll now give up his equity and fold as well. If he binked two pair or a set, he'll let you know at this point.

If he calls me on the turn, I'm probably check/folding the river. You're repping TPGK by betting the turn, and that's a hand that would usually take a check/call line on the river. The only hands that call you on the turn and lose to you on the river are draws like 65 and 54. Those draws have showdown value and are unlikely to bluff at your "obvious" AK/AQ. If he bets the river, I expect he hit that ace and I'm not paying him off.

C/F is the easy, non-sexy play and is probably never wrong. Interested in what others will say I'd most likely bet $60-70ish, obviously fold to a raise and C/F river unimproved if called. IME, V's love putting pre flop raiser on AK and we can fold out some of the hands that were ahead of us on the flop (like JJ-99).

I know this is no fun, but once fit/fold V calls the flop, I am not that psyched about this hand. V didn't limp/call pre. He cold called. He is happy to throw away his weaker limping hands anyway. I don't see him having many draws. If the board hit him, he probably has a set.

More likely, he has some kind of pp, or less likely - big overs (probably with an ace.) We have no info on his or the table's 3-betting propensities so we can't rule out a big pp, but small/mid more likely.

I can see the merit of trying to fold out bigger pp's but this will get expensive if we are wrong and won't be all that profitable if we are right. V sounds like the kind of guy who will let us see showdown cheap. Give him a chance to do that. This is a pretty marginal situation anyway.

As far as what range I put him on, at the time i cant remember why but I didnt think he would be calling pf that wide. I assumed his pf calling range was broadways+ and 22-TT. Since I saw him limp folding a decent amount i assumed that meant he would be less likely to call with lower suited connectora or even Ax suited rags. Especially the fact that because there werent a ton of limpers, he would be more inclined to have a tighter range since the likelihood of a multiway pot was unlikely.

When villain calls on the flop I don't think he floats with overs. I think his range is mostly weighted towards 22-TT. I didnt think betting would be good because i think he just folds worse and calls with better. At the same time, the only hands i think that villain will call the flop and then lead the A turn are sets and i guess maybe a small portion of his range is small sc or small non set pp's that want me to fold. I decided to take a check/fold or check/call line depending on his sizing and posture.

My assumption of his range being so tight could be a mistake though. the fit/fold description i gave him was based on a limping multiway dynamic that was slowly changing since the other players got up. I also thought that because it was just a HU pot, he may be inclined to play differently.

This hand happened a while ago and my memory is a little fuzzy but trying to articulate my thoughts in this posts makes me realize how poor of a job i did ranging villain. I guess a B/f line turn c/f river line probably makes this hand much easier to play but all my options seemed mediocre to me looking back.

Hero decides to check and Villain quickly bets 70.
FWIW villain is between 50-60 but definitely not a OMC should've mentioned that before