I've noticed as I've started to take poker more serious, that a big hole I have in my game is extracting money when I have a monster.... This is one one example I found where I was unsure if I extracted as much as I could, and was unsure what to bet to keep Villain in the hand.. any suggestions would be helpful...

notes about the table:
-Table was generally tight, preflop raises were pretty unheard of, and $1.50-$2 seemed to be the standard raise.

-I was playing extremely TAG, but may have had a loose image after a hand that had occurred about 10 min before and dodged a lot of outs (two overs plus flush draw)


finally..here is the HH:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (7 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FCP)

BB ($70.15)
UTG =#A500AF(Villain)/ ($57.50)
Hero ($32.95)
MP2 ($49)
CO ($79.25)
Button ($26.35)
SB ($55.70)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with A , A .
UTG =#A500AF(Villain)/ calls $0.50, Hero raises to $2, 1 fold, CO calls $2, 3 folds, UTG =#A500AF(Villain)/ calls $1.50.

Flop: ($6.75) A , 5 , 4 (3 players)
Villain checks, Hero bets $2.5, CO folds, Villain calls $2.50.

Turn: ($11.75) 4 (2 players)
Villain checks, Hero checks.

River: ($11.75) 3 (2 players)
Villain bets $4, [color=#CC3333]

Hero raises to ?

Don't check the turn. Just don't do it. If he has a diamond draw he'll call a reasonable sized bet anyway. If he has a raggy ace or a 4 he'll call anyway. If he just made trips or a boat, he'll raise and you can build a giant pot. You want to keep building the pot so your river value bets can be larger.

Any hand he wants to play will play to a solid bet on the turn. Checking this turn only makes you a little more money if he has A2, would have folded to a turn bet, but would call a river bet. Just bet and build a pot. You want to play a big pot. If he does, oblige him. Slowing down when your hand becomes unbeatable is a bad bad idea

Bet more on the flop. If he calls your bet then he also calls a 2/3 pot bet. you want to price draws out and your bet actually prices them in. Also you want to win as much money from lower sets on 2 pair type hands. the board is draw heavy and you must force villian into making a mistake.

Never check this turn. As the above poster mentioned, if he is drawing he will call a reasonable bet and you also want to play a bet pot against a small boat or a straight. You have a big hand so build a pot big. Bet 1/2 the pot and let diamonds pay for a draw while they are drawing dead.

As played raise river to 14.

I think you have FPS. You have a good hand. Worse hands can call. Villain expects you to continuation bet even without an ace. Bet more.

I really think you played the hand OK. Not betting more on the flop will give away a feeling of weakness, and I really really like the check behind on the turn...only quad 4's beat whatever the river brings, excluding the case A.

Raise to $10 on the river.

This was my thinking by checking the turn, and given how the hand played out, I thought it to be the correct move. I then started to doubt myself, wondering if it was indeed the right move, which was why I posted the hand. I realized I had been more results oriented about the hand.

Results of the hand:

I raise to $15.. after much thought, villain calls with pocket 2's and a rivered straight

It is absolutely not the right move. You need to play this hand fast fast fast. And other hands fast fast fast. Slowing down with big hands lets people avoid making huge mistakes.

I am with MightLouse on this 1. Checking the turn is pretty bad here and is leaving alot of value on the table. the fact that you have a lock hand on the turn does not mean you should check to let them ctach up. If they want to catch up they are prepared to pay for it so you should charge them. Also is creates a bigger pot so that you can get your stack in on the river without over betting the pot.

This is the most important part. You need to make the pot big for your river value bet if he has a hand. If he's on a draw and misses, we need the money in on the turn. If he's on a draw and hits, we need the pot big enough to felt him