I'd like to preface my post by saying i'm here to learn. This hand might seem straight forward to some but I don't know if I should have played it differently.


Villains more than likely view me as Tight Aggressive. I've been raising and making continuation bets. Have floated a couple flops (they don't know that) and shown that if i'm in the hand i'm not afraid to put chips in the middle. I've also shown that I'm not married to every hand and have let one or two go.


Villain 1 is a decent player. He hasn't done anything to really raise any eyebrows. The hand right before this we play a pretty good pot where I had AQ and he had AJ. After that hand he said he was pretty pissed that he called when he said he knew he was beat. (possibly tilting a little)

Villain 2 is a older gentleman (65+) who's been felted twice in about 10-12 hands. 1st hand he played he flops a Ace high flush while his opponent flopped a straight flush (crazy hand). A few hands later he flopped TPTK and tilted off a BI to a guy with two pair. (very suprising to me that he was so aggro) He's since played a few pots but no fireworks in those.

Villain 3 is probably the only player i'm watching out for. He's shown the ability to actually play some poker. Plays a lag-ish style but he's not a total maniac.


Stack Sizes:

Hero 950 (UTG + 1)
Villian1 450 (MP 2)
Villian2 400 (CO)
Villian3 850 (BTN)


Preflop:

Hero: Raises to $25 with
V1 calls
V2 calls
V3 calls


Flop: (Pot $107)




Hero checks (I really wanted to see what V2 was gonna do since he's been so laggy and i'll gladly tangle with him if he's got KQ, KJ etc), V1 checks, V2 checks, V3 bets 75, Hero calls, V1 folds, V2 folds

Should I have led at the pot ? Was it ok to check and see what's gonna happen since i'm OOP. Also check calling here I feel keeps the pot manageable (Yes ? No ?)


Turn: (Pot $257)



Hero bets 100, Villain calls (He doesn't think for too long, but he doesn't insta-call either)

Thoughts ? Consider it a donk bet ? The 9 isn't my favorite card but I wasn't about to check here. In my mind I was keeping control of the pot size while still building it up. I don't know if that's how it's viewed from the outside.


River: (Pot $457)



Hero bets 175, Villain thinks for about 20-30 seconds and calls

I like this river card and figure he might have come along with a hand like K-10, K-J, K-Q. I know preflop he could have played J10 or even a hand like 78-89 but I don't think he would have just called all the way down.


Any and all input is GREATLY appreciated.


Thanks,

Dan

I check raise the flop, we 95% have the best hand so we don't need to worry as much about pot control as we do about not letting people draw out on us with weaker kings. I rarely c-bet into multi way pots (don't know about you) so when I bet it seems weird. If you've been c-betting in multiway pots so far then I put out a standard 2/3rds the pot bet.

Turn bet seems weak, I'd say bet at least 150

River bet seems fine.

If you lost this hand he played whatever he had really poorly

I think your actions were very unorthodox.....but that isnt necessarily bad.

If he had KJ I think you got maximum value with your ace king. If he had 98, you felt a bit dumb for not check-raising the flop. I agree that if villain wins here he played his hand in a strange way.

I dont hate or love your play.....and I dont mind being cautious with tptk.

Is the 2/5 game at Foxwoods still really soft? It was 3 years ago.....

I think the problem with TPTK is that over time, random villains aren't paying you with worse, and by the time you figure out you're beat, you're committed to it and suddenly you find yourself paying off 78 with AK on a K78 board.

I don't understand the turn bet. Why bet so small? Why not $175-$200?

Check/raise the flop for sure... to 250 i think C/Ring the flop ensure that V1 and V2 know to get out of the pot and if V3 is a cagey player as you suggest, he saw 3 checks as a green light to steal

As played... lead the turn for more... you're deep enough that a bet of 150 or 175 doesn't committ you and you can make a KJ type of hand fold

I like C/R on the flop as TPTK is nice to win a pot right there

Thanks to all for the replies. I wanted to give a good amount of time until I replied.






I agree totally and that's pretty much what was in the back of my mind during this hand. Villain 3, like I stated earlier, was the only player I gave any credit too. I agree a check raise on the flop was probably the right play to make but I can also make an argument for keeping the pot small since I only had TPTK. (Which is essentially why I didn't CR)

The turn bet was sized on the smaller side to see if he was gonna raise or possibly come along with an inferior King. I really felt if he flopped a set/turned a straight/two pair etc etc he would raise the turn since it was a smaller sized bet. His calling led me to believe he was behind. (Could have been a smart play or him just being more of a donk than me)

By the river I was about 75% sure I had the best hand. When he was slow to call I started to feel much better about the hand. But none the less he called and turned over Ks 7s for a flopped two pair. I don't know if my plays were correct or my mis-play of the hand is what saved me money.

FWIW, this was the only hand that had me "off balance". This particular table was incredibly soft and once this particular villain was felted (set vs. two pair on the flop) the table became incredibly juicy.

Thanks again


Dan