Check call or bet fold at this river?
£1/£2 weekday afternoon session.
7 handed.
Effective stack around £350.
Hero had 9♣T♣ at HJ.
LJ (young inexperienced player) limped, hero opened to £10.
Button (reg, semi-pro at least, tag, ) 3 bet to £35.
LJ called, hero called. If LJ had not called I would have folded as well.
Flop came A♦K♣9♥，hero hit button pair.
LJ checked, hero checked, button tank checked.
Turn was 5♣，now hero picked up a flush draw.
LJ checked, hero bet £40 into a pot of £108, button called, LJ folded.
River was T♠，hero didn't complete the flush but now got two pairs.
I thought for quite a while, till this stage it was still very difficult to narrow down button's hand strength. He definitely could have a lot of slow played AA, AK, KK, and even AT would be higher two pair than ours. I considered putting in a blocker bet, but struggled to determine the correct size to not look so obvious. After a minute or so, hero checked.
Button thought for 10 seconds then made a pot size bet of £180.
Hero again thought for a long time, called, hoping that villain had QQ or JJ and turned it into a bluff, but he had KK so we lost.
On reflection, I do not like my call at the river.
When counting villain's hand combinations, I could make the call given that I just need to be right once every three times, and villain was definitely capable of turning something like A3cc, 67cc or JJ into a bluff. However in reality at £1/£2 at this casino, you just don't see so many pot size bet over £150 as bluffs (maybe 10% of the time, and only from certain players).
Another question is whether it is better to bet fold or check call at this river?
If bet fold, what size?
If check call, what's the max villain bet I will then fold?
**** the 1/2 “pros”. Like either they arent pros or they suck if they play these stakes.
The goal with your raise sizing is to get as many heads up pots as possible. HU is where the fish play the absolute worst, because playing fit or fold and rarely bluffing (which is the typical fish playstyle) is a far more viable strategy multiway. If youre getting HU for 8, fine, but i really doubt it. I personally tweak my sizing based on everything down to the specific villians who limped and are in the
�� I called them 'pro‘ because they have way more experience than recreational players like me, especially if they are making a living out of it, they do have the skills advantage.
"HU is where the fish play the absolute worst.“ I will bear that in mind.
I have only played in Vegas and UK. I have not tried anywhere else in the Europe. If in the future you happen to visit London you should try playing here - it is a very different vibe.
�� I called them 'pro‘ because they have way more experience than recreational players like me, especially if they are making a living out of it, they do have the skills advantage.
"HU is where the fish play the absolute worst.“ I will bear that in mind.
I have only played in Vegas and UK. I have not tried anywhere else in the Europe. If in the future you happen to visit London you should try playing here - it is a very different vibe.
I remember one of my first times playing in a casino - anyone who seemed good seemed like a "pro".
With more experience, we realize that there aren't many true pros playing at the lower stakes, because it's all but impossible to actually earn a living at those stakes, especially in an expensive city like London. If they were that good, they'd be playing higher stakes.
It seems to me that many players, especially young men in their 20's or early 30's, will try to cultivate the image of a "pro" - hoodie, headphones, sunglasses, backpack, etc. They may be better than average players at low stakes, but they're beatable.
Something I've noticed about this player type, and I think it's demonstrated here, is that they'll often take an unconventional line in unusual situations - slow playing big hands multi-way, and over-playing weaker hands or draws. They can also be overly-aggro and try to run over anyone they view as weak.
Just awful slow play by villain. With an ace high flop, it is likely someone has top pair, and it is not so likely they will catch a good but losing hand. Of course, hero did catch exactly that.
