Party Poker: 6 Players $0.10/0.25 Blinds NL Holdem

Hero has TAG image and has seen about 4-5 orbits with little to note apart from a couple of late position raises & Cont bets won. No particular read on the villian.

Hero $26.35
Villian $26.10

Hero is BB with A J

MP1 folds, Villian Raises to $1, CO Folds, Button folds, SB folds, Hero calls $0.75.

Flop: A K 10

I don't like calling raises OOP, but AJ suited is a nice hand to see a flop with but this is a tricky board, what is the best approach in this spot? ( I will get a few reply's then continue to next stage of the hand)

Ugh you guys really need to have some attentiveness to villains this is so read dependent. Against somebody I know to C-bet I'll check-raise this flop and fold to a 3-bet. With no reads I guess you basically have to lead out on this flop. The only hands that will raise your lead-out have you beat.

Check call the flop if he bets.

If he doesn't lead on the river.

If he bets again on the turn i'd still call.

Basicaly, exercise some pot control, you have a good hand that is probably a big favourite at this point, checking lets him bet into you with worse hands and there are no draws that you should be pricing out and AK,AQ or a set are the only likely hands you are a big dog too.

I would c/r this flop a lot. I think that it's the strongest line that gets the least amount of money into the pot while still forcing your opponent to make a real decision. I think that the only hand he could continue with after we c/r that we might hope to be beating is KQ or KJ and everything else in his range has us crushed.

I guess you could c/c, but that seems kind of passive and you'll almost certainly face a bet on the turn.

Having a read here would be great.

This is pretty low limit and people will raise hands like AT and QJ and KT here a lot preflop. I think that being passive and trying to make it to showdown is gonna be like lighting money on fire in this situation.

indeed - my luck lately is that I just call instead of push and get sucked out on. frustrating to say the least...

I tend to wonder if there's any reason to play at this low level; it's like playing in the free area, no one cares about going all in because it's not a loss to them (or in this case, not a large enough loss to be detrimental).

Just c-c the flop. In the case that we're behind, this will allow us to see the turn for cheap. In the case we're ahead, the villain likely only has four or five cards that can improve his hand. C/r isn't a bad option either for all the reasons Acid Knight mentioned. Playing these medium-strength hands OOP is really tough; I just hate doing it. If I were to play this hand, I would've 3-bet it pf.

I'm not sure what a c/c does for us here except put us into another tough spot on the turn. I didn't think of it as I was reading the HH, but the c/r line seems to be strictly best.

I guess we could c/c flop and lead turn, but I still rather c/r just to reduce the possibility of him hitting two pair or something weird. It's also much stronger than a lead, so if you get played back at you can cut your loses since he should have you beat.

I play $25 NL on Full tilt alot, and against most players I will lead out on a flop like this. You get called by weaker aces and even middle pair more times than not.

So, if he calls you assume you're ahead and if he raises you fold?

This logic seems bad. If I'm the villain with AQ here and the BB leads into me, I just flat call.

I think you need to lead out here, check/calling leaves you just as clueless on the turn as you are on the flop. I'd probably go for 1.50

What is your line on the turn if you c/r and villain calls? I would assume the pot would be around $12-15 at this point.

Most likely c/f unless I hit a Q. It's near impossible for him NOT to have you crushed if he's calling your c/r here.

c/f a jack or c-c a jack?

Thanks for the reply's guys, some interesting strategy's discussed. I played this hand disgusting and made two clear mistakes... here is what happened.

I check called the flop for a $1.50 bet, the turn came again I checked called a $3 bet, the river came I think this was my oppertunity to put in a pot size bet and represent a K, but I just checked & villian checked behind and showed me to win the pot.

I'm confident that I'm not hitting a J here. Also, if I did and my opponent bet, I would also fold since I couldn't beat KQ anymore and it'd be tough for him to bet a hand worse than ours there.

3bet preflop, then bet/fold flop. if you're gonna call, then c/c flop and c/f a good bet on the turn. c/c a tiny one.

edit:
just read the rest of the thread. leading that K river would be the ****ing butthole.