$2NL 0.01 0.02

Seat 4: Hero ($3.99 in chips)
Seat 5: Villain ($1.60 in chips)

Dealt to Hero [As Tc]

Hero: raises $0.04 to $0.06
Villain: calls $0.04
All Fold

*** FLOP *** [9d Ah Ks]

Hero: checks
Villain: checks

*** TURN *** [9d Ah Ks] [Ts]

Hero: bets $0.07
Villain: calls $0.07

*** RIVER *** [9d Ah Ks Ts] [Qc]

Hero: bets $0.14
Villain: raises $0.14 to $0.28
Hero: calls $0.14


The reason I ask is it seems often when I hit two pair I get beaten by trips. I tried not to play too aggressively so as to not price out the hands I beat but should I have folded to his raise on the turn.

I find it really difficult as some people play top pair very aggressively and others play the same way for hands like trips. I was conscious he could have had a jack but as there were only 4 in the deck I thought it was unlikely, and hoped he just had a sticky ace.

I would appreciate your thoughts and any tips on not spotting trips over aggressive top pair.

Generally it is optimal to post hand histories without the results in order to elicit the best analysis.

Sorry, i keep posting things wrong on this site!

I have edited it.

Post the actual hand history, we know its at least 5 handed but beyond that who knows

PokerStars Hand #160859206839: Hold'em No Limit ($0.01/$0.02 USD) - 2016/11/03 22:18:34 WET [2016/11/03 18:18:34 ET]
Table 'Tanete II' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: MagicTg7 ($2.06 in chips)
Seat 4: HighResBear2 ($3.99 in chips)
Seat 5: SJx0 ($1.60 in chips)
Seat 7: morlockz ($4.54 in chips)
Seat 8: NicoNater ($1.95 in chips)
Seat 9: owlsleep ($1 in chips)
NicoNater: posts small blind $0.01
owlsleep: posts big blind $0.02
SJx0: posts big blind $0.02
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HighResBear2 [As Tc]
MagicTg7: folds
HighResBear2: raises $0.04 to $0.06
SJx0: calls $0.04
morlockz: folds
NicoNater: folds
owlsleep: folds
*** FLOP *** [9d Ah Ks]
HighResBear2: checks
SJx0: checks
*** TURN *** [9d Ah Ks] [Ts]
HighResBear2: bets $0.07
SJx0: calls $0.07
*** RIVER *** [9d Ah Ks Ts] [Qc]
HighResBear2: bets $0.14
SJx0: raises $0.14 to $0.28
HighResBear2: calls $0.14
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SJx0: shows [4c Ac] (a pair of Aces)
HighResBear2: shows [As Tc] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
HighResBear2 collected $0.82 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $0.85 | Rake $0.03
Board [9d Ah Ks Ts Qc]
Seat 2: MagicTg7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: HighResBear2 showed [As Tc] and won ($0.82) with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 5: SJx0 showed [4c Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: morlockz (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: NicoNater (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: owlsleep (big blind) folded before Flop

Since he posted before the BB he is probably pretty terrible or a least not in a mood to come and fold hands. Just bet the flop for value and keep betting 3/4 pot on the turn as well.

As played betting river is ok if he will call with worse but it sucks when you get raised. You could probably call hoping he is bad enough to raise with a worse two pair and you're getting a good price. As it turns out he is terrible enough to do it with top pair so take a note and hope he stays at the table.

if you 'Go Advanced' there is a hand history converter. Just copy and paste and it presents it in a much more readable format.

Typically when someone posts in a 5 handed game it indicates that they are a recreational player, so make a note and turn them yellow.

thanks - i will get this right eventually!

is this because he gets a free card to hit a flush if he holds any heart?

If he raises after a bet in that situation and I to assume my top pair is no good if I have no reason to think he is bluffing?

I focused (wrongly) on trying not to scare him off when the Ace flopped.

I think checking the flop is viable, although my default play is to bet here. The equation is pretty simple; we have a strong hand so we bet for value. The advantage to checking is that it is deceptive. Generally we will be betting strong hands and checking weak ones, so by checking we might induce our opponent to start bluffing or betting a weaker hand for value and protection. Probably it is good to check some % of the time in this situation and bet some % of the time.

I don't see a significant difference really between AK9 and A95. Both are very dry boards where the only draw is a gutshot. I suppose you could say villain is a bit more likely to have QJ or QT than 67 or 68 but either way it is a very dry board.

It's not. In theory, AT cannot get three streets of value OOP and will likely do best by bluff-catching or delay c-betting, as you don't want to play a big pot in this situation. At 2NL against a presumed passive whale, it might be better to take the ABC line of bet-folding, but it's definitely not a "mistake" to check.

that makes sense - thank you for explaining.

Thanks for this.

Presuming most people follow the same approach should I have folded on the river?

Well basically the minraise on the river can mean a few things. Combined with his posted blind preflop you can pretty much conclude he is terrible at poker so you need to adapt to that. If a nit minraises the turn/river he has the nuts 100% of the time, if a fish does it he might still have the nuts in his eyes but he might not understand what a good hand is. In this case we know he is terrible so he might think KT is a good hand here. You only need to be correct 1 out of 6 times and with the chances that he does make a dumb raise I would always call.

Generally you should shy away from assuming that your opponent is bluffing and his river raise does represent a better hand than yours, but you are also getting great odds so it looks like a close decision. Make sure to note that he was bluffing and observe him in future hands to determine whether or not he is a compulsive bluffer. Your river value bet is pretty thin also, although that is not a bad thing.

Although he turned top pair no kicker into a bluff, I would assume that this player actually thinks he has the best hand. 2NL fish play absolutely horrendously if you check the flop with top pair, because they assume you have air or middle pair at best, and none of your future actions will change their mind. I'm pretty sure this opponent's thoughts on the flop went something like "Oh, he doesn't have an ace. I have A4, so I must have the best hand. I will check back and trap him and then spring the trap on the river by raising with my slowplayed top pair".

With a check min raise