A very beginner player here, only been playing a couple months. A lot of what I read online says that at the beginner levels / micro stakes, you shouldn't slowplay. It's always better to bet for value rather than to try to trap / check-raise.

I just sat down at a 6 max table, and only had a couple hands with no real information on the other players. Playing $0.10 / $0.20. I had JJ UTG, raised to 3BB and the button and the SB called. Flop came AJJ giving me quads. SB checked and I didn't know what the best play was, since I want to get the most value for a made hand like this. I bet half pot but both players folded. Is a check here better to try to induce the button the bet or to let the other players hit on future streets? I went half-pot because I didn't want to show too much strength. I think Kx calls as well as AK and KQ combos. Did I just run into two hands that completely missed? How should I have played this?

first of all, do not vary your betsizings based on the strength of your hand. Until you learn how to use multiple sizings properly (which is very advanced poker knowledge), just always use the same betsize for certain spots, you can adjust it based on board structure (smaller on dry boards, larger on wet boards). Many beginner players think they can "outsmart" their opponents by "representing" hands using various betsizes, but it is just very, very easy to read for an experienced opponent.

As for this specific hand, I don't hate a half pot bet on the flop - as you say, you should get value from Ax and flushdraws. However, with a hand as insanely strong as quads, you can easily just slowplay by default and hope that someone catches something. Againt non-terrible opponents, you will not get 3 streets of value from Ax, and flushdraws are pretty rare, so you want to just hope they hit something. If you check the flop, the turn is definitely time to start betting/

That being said, flopping hand like quads is so rare that playing it perfectly doesnt really impact your winrate all that much. Learning how to play hands like top pairs or second pairs is much more important, since it happens much more often.

oh, and one more thing - hands like flopped quads are pretty "bad" in terms of EV. Yes, you are pretty much guaranteed to win the hand, but it is very unlikely that you will extract much value, as you block a lot of hands that could pay you off. Hands like middle sets or only-possible straights yield much higher EV.

This isn't really a strategic remark, but rather expands on the idea on not fixating on how to play flopped quads, as this is both pretty rare and a mediocore situation EV-wise

First thing to notice is that this is a pretty rare spot, so don't beat yourself up about it

Given the odd card out is an ace I'm betting, and hoping that someone thinks that they have a decent kicker, if it was something else a check makes sense but here just hope you get a street or two of value

Betting seems fine here.

Remember you're trying to maximise value against your opponents' ranges. If they both have 87 here it's very difficult for you to get any money in regardless of what you do.

I'd bet here. As well as Ax you can get calls from broadways and flush draws.

Well for me I'm always betting so I'm betting this too. Ax and draws call here and depending on the player, you can choose a bet sizing that may even get them to bluff raise the flop or turn.

But if you're readless, half-pot bet otf is fine because if they don't call, it's likely they wouldn't catch up enough anyway on t/r unless they spike a 2 outer on their pairs to fill up.