1/3 NLHE, 9 handed, can buy in for highest stack, so it’s deep but I have my original $300.

Villain, UTG+2 (~$500): 30-something male, good reg who hosts a great home game (this is not his game). Is on the tighter side for players in this game, but can definitely make moves. The table is pretty loose pre and calls wide in general, he just happens to not be quite as loose.

Hero BTN (~$300): MAWW. Tight, probably seen as on the passive side, especially compared to other players at this table, but not afraid to gamble. If I bet, most players pretty much respect it. I never show unless I have to, but they always assume I have a hand.

OTTH:

Hero: AhTh

Villain raises to $13 (standard – most players in this game will raise PPs, suited connectors, broadway, suited A, or AK), MP (~$400) calls (straightforward fit/fold player who calls wide), folds to hero who calls.

I could 3bet here – V would play it pretty straightforward against me, as would MP. However, SB is tight, but BB (covers) has been a loose cannon calling or 3betting often and will put pressure on and chase. I actually want him in the hand. Unfortunately, SB and BB fold (rare).

Flop (~$38): QsJh7c

V bets $20, MP folds, I call. This seems like a standard C bet. I think an A (definitely a K) would be good, plus I have a backdoor flush for what that’s worth.

Turn ($78): Ks

Bingo. V checks. Hero bets $40. V calls.

Once I bet and he calls, he has to have something decent – at least a piece of this board.

River ($158): Js

V checks.

Hero?

I'm either/or preflop with regards to flatting/3betting. Not exactly a crapload of dead money in the pot, and kinda cool inviting in others with our nice multiway hand. Plus we are facing an EP raise (although admittedly probably a fairly wide range). I'd probably also just flat here.

I think I'm ok with the flop call. If he raises/cbets a lot, then he has air here a lot, and we can simply take the pot UI on the turn with our image if he checks to us. Plus we probably have a decent amount of outs if behind (including 4 to the nuts and backdoor nut draw). The only thing that is concerning me a little at this point is that this table is loose and he knows that and he's in EP and yet he's still raising preflop and betting this flop 3ways OOP.

On the turn I would go for the gold. If he was fooling around and doesn't have much / anything, he's done with the hand. So simply target the times he does have something. I'd PSB the turn to setup a river shove.

What will he make of a small bet; is he capable of reading that as weakness and capable of moving us off it? If they always think we have a hand, what hands will pay off on this river? Having said all that, I just can't stop myself from betting here, and I probably bet fairly small to attempt to get paid off by the weaker hands (like AK), like $60.

GcluelessNLnoobG

Thanks, gobbledygeek. Agree with betting more on turn. My thinking was keeping him in because if I bet, he's folding a lot of hands, and I don't/shouldn't have too much to worry about on the river. (Js was about the worst, regardless of everything.) More soon.

Bet like half pot again OTR and hope to get heroed by a lower str8 a hand with Tx (he has KTs with his line?). No need to pot it OTR + house makes money if you guys play a bigger pot and it's most likely going to be a chop given he never calls u w/worse.

I don't mind a 3-bet preflop w/suited Ax hands, all seems pretty standard i guess w/o much info + reads on what his range is going to look like in these spots.

Against good reg. Just try and get some value, although I feel like he's probably good enough to fold a lot here.

Pre and flop are fine imo, Cool to see you try and suck in BB. But tbh I would be flatting most of the time anyway. Good reg, doesn't seem like we gain a lot by 3betting him other than a big pot.

1/2 pot and hope he pays.

I'm with the others in thinking we can get some thinnish value by betting <1/2PSB. I'd be pretty perplexed if he X/R'd the riv.

I have some ideas, but does anyone have thoughts on what we do facing a x/r if we bet a little under half otr?

I bet more OTT.

FWIW, given turn/river play, we're chopping exactly never here.

GimoG

I think I would sigh fold. I mean, he'd have to be turning AK or something (is there a worse drawing hand that busted that I'm missing?) into a bluff on a fairly bad runout, I just don't think people do that enough. And no one is "value" check/raising with worse on this board.

GcluelessNLnoobG

Not really a lot of made flushes for him to have here.... AT/T9 never stops betting... so A9? 98? Would he open with those hands? I think you almost have to discount flushes here and go for as much value as you can.

So either half pot and try for a call from 2p. Or a really small blocker bet - looking for him to turn his hand into a bluff (which we'll snap).

What hands does he attempt to turn into bluffs?

GAK?AA?G

Preflop is fine. A three bet would be spicy and not bad but this isn't an auto three bet spot by any stretch.

Flop is pretty marginal. You could easily be dominated by a hand like AK, AQ, making your A dirty and a heart, 9/8 encourage you to call another bet while still pretty far behind. If you are going to make this call profitable you really need to be sure you can stack him when you hit your dream card, or you need to be confident you can bluff him off a hand on a later street. Based upon this thread it doesn't seem like those assumptions are true so I'm not a huge fan of the flop call.

On the turn I'm trying to set up a river shove. This requires a near-pot bet of 70-80, which would leave you a pot sized bet on river.

AP there's really no way to get the money in on the river. Probably bet something like $115 for value.

grunch:
Flop is fine. Turn should be bigger. Maybe $65/70.
He's not folding almost any Ax here.

River: bet $100. Puke if he comes over the top and prolly fold.

Post grunch edit:
V should never have a flush on the river (for whoever asked that question). But they mostly have KJ/QJ when they ck/shove.
Agree that pretty much all villains who are opening with an XXss combos and betting them on the flop would def continue on the turn when the pick up spade outs.

If your image is as you say, OP, then you should be bluffing a ton on this type of board texture. V's calling/raising range has to be quite narrow as played (a couple of AXss combos, maybe some full houses but I doubt it, some AJ, and T9), so you could tear his/her eyes out by just betting this board structure way more than normal. V is just folding too many hands.

He's on the tighter side and raising in EP at a loose table; by the turn, isn't this board crushing his range?

The more I think about it, the more I'm not as in love with our flop call.

Gnottheboardtexturetobluff,imoG

Some great feedback and pretty much along my line of thinking. I do have an image where I can bluff quite a bit -- it occasionally gets me in trouble, but not much. Unfortunately, when I do hit, I don't get paid as often as a lot of the other players.

Hero: AhTh

Flop (~$38): QsJh7c

V bets $20, MP folds, I call.

Turn ($78): Ks

Bingo. V checks. Hero bets $40. V calls.

River ($158): Js

V checks.

Hero bets $60. V c/r to $160

Hero?

I think I'd fold. Tight table nit us who always has a hand just bet the turn and river (albeit small) and yet he decides to check/raise us anyways (and for an amount he's looking to get called by). Is he really turning AK/AA (am I missing something else?) into a bluff here?

GcluelessNLnoobG

River seems thin but reasonable. Really ambitious spot for Villain to x/r bluff. Easy b/f imo.

Can we really rule out AJs? Is this player never raising that UTG+2? Pot odds are good.. need to pay 100 to get win 370 or so. Our hand is pretty well disguised and I doubt he thinks we could have a flush.

The minute I bet it this crossed my mind.

When it fails it feels painful enough that we may tend to avoid going for it. Plenty of KQ combos so it's a good bet I believe, unless you think he can fold these.

I'm still trying to figure out the FD that opens in MP and takes this line.
Clear call. And if he was on something peculiar like 98ss - so it goes

Hardly ever expecting to get raised here, a bet is definitely fine.

However, on the rare occasion we are raised on the river we are basically never good. Gotta fold unfortunately. He can't really do this for value with a worse hand and players almost never do this as a bluff.

Board paired on the river so flush isn't only hand that beats us. Now JJ, KK, QQ, KJ, QJ, 77 beat us.

When I bet this, I immediately thought: what the heck is he going to call with? Hindsight.

I folded with only a little thought -- he's never raising me w/ worse. He had KK. Weird and unexpected, but after the hand, he said he put me on 9T on the turn. LOL. I did not show, but I told him what I had. Tight is good -- or not!