2/5: 3-bet AA, monotone flop, wrong suit

Don't read anything into v checking his cards. I think some rec players just remember the card values and check suits later if needed

Bet/fold is good here and for this sizing. If they were capable of raising worse you might bet/call depending on the action but I wouldn't change sizing. I wouldn't x/r on a monotone flop without one of that suit

I would bet even smaller, planning to call a raise. I think I would like your bet-fold strategy more if you bet even higher, though—like 70% pot. But it’s probably not a big deal.

You can get raised by a draw. I would check and reevaluate.

I am fine with cbetting $70, but I don't think that I would plan on $70 with the intention of folding to a raise.

Basically, you can cbet $70 here and then make a decision if/when you get raised.

I dislike the mentality to going immediately towards bet/fold. We might end up folding to a raise, but I wouldn't plan on it quite yet.

When Vs check their cards on monotone flops, they usually have an offsuit hand with one card the same color as the flop, and they are checking to see if it is the flopped suit or the other suit that color. So here I would read this as V1 likely holding either Ad or Ah. Because of this, I would bet flop bigger for value, as he likely has a bunch of pair+FD combos that will pay. If he were less straightforward and might check/raise those combos, I would probably check back and evaluate V2's action and his response.

I would be careful with this interpretation. Yes, Villain could be doing a "heart check." But this is also one of the behaviors that some players will try to reverse on you. There are definitely some players in my player pool who will look back at their hole cards on a monotone flop during the flop action with a flopped flush probably for reverse psychological warfare reasons because the "heart check" on a 3 heart monotone flop is one of the most well known live tells.

I actually have notes on my phone regarding these individuals because they seem to be capable of trying reverse tells. So when I see them doing other behaviors that might seem like obvious well known live tells, I remember that they might be capable of reversing them.

1) What do we make of V1 checking his cards on the flop, if anything? Nothing unless you've seen it before and can make something of it. (All the guys I play do this almost every hand.)

2) How do we feel about b/f flop and my flop sizing against these described players? I like it, but I might call a raise.

3) If V1 or V2 were different than I described, and capable of raising with pair+draw hands like AhJc, does that change our preferred approach to this flop? Yes. Check/call or bet/call, depending.

1) Players often do this on monotone boards to see if they have a card in that suit. Which doesn't tell you much, honestly. MAYBE you could weigh him slightly more toward unsuited hands, but probably wouldn't put much stock in it without a lot of history with the player.

2) Had to check some sims myself, and honestly it looks like you just have to be a giant station on the flop in almost all scenarios, barring a raise + CC or shove (we even seem to continue against a call + large squeeze.)

Obviously if your reads are that they're passive, then you can find some folds.

3) See above. Then you have to be a station unless and until the board gets worse for you and/or multiple players continue after the raise.

I don't really think they're actually doing this as a "reverse tell". They're just confirming they did flop a flush.

Just want to say thanks for all the replies. They're appreciated.

Results,

wow

Based off the results, it is pretty clear that leaning in super hard into the "double check hole cards = V1 has offsuit hand that might have a high heart" supposed live tells was problematic.

Not trying to call out Garick for his post about the V1 double checking hole cards = Garick recommend a larger cbet against supposedly likely 1pair+draw type hands.

But I think that people underestimate other players' willingness to reverse their behavior in this super common behavioral spot. There is a possibility that V1 was pretending to be doing to a "heart check" on purpose to induce Hero to put him on a weaker range instead of the near-nut hand that he ended up having.

i always check my hole cards on monotone flops if i intend to continue, no matter what my holding.

1) checking hole cards can mean different things. It could be a suit check with an unsuited hand, or it could be something else...

I often double and triple check my cards pre-flop, to commit them to memory, so I won't have to check them again post flop. But it's like an OCD thing, where if I happen to make a monster, I'll have to double check to confirm it. Sometimes my brain just isn't willing to accept the truth that I smashed the flop.

2) the more multi-way a pot goes, the more likely it is that someone flopped a flush on a monotone board. Against these two V's, with the pre-flop action, I wouldn't necessarily think we're behind on the flop, but I would proceed cautiously, given how unlikely it is that we'll improve to a hand that is very strong relative to the board. I think I'd rather just check and see what develops. Our hand is basically just a bluff catcher here, with no relevant blockers, so no need to play it like a strong value hand.

3) if either V is capable of playing 1P + NFD aggressively, I'd be even more likely to play our hand cautiously. Which V it is, the one OOP or the one IP, is going to affect how we play, but generally we'll be more likely to continue when we're IP. It sucks to get bluffed off the best hand, but this board is just terrible for us, so we may need to let V have it, if he's willing to commit with AhXx.