NL2 - Bottom 2 Pair

BTN has 66, 88, JJ, J8s and J6s in their range. I think for you raising flop when facing a 80% pot cbet is very optional.

You can fold to their 3bet, even their draws have very good equity vs your hand.

Hi!

My first question is this: Is bottom two pair here good enough to raise in the first place, or should it be just called in this spot? Secondly, is it pure strategy or mixed (both calls and check-raise have the same EV)? I mean, if we raise all our two pairs, sets, best draws etc on the flop what will we do when we call with just a pair and our opponents starts betting something like 3x the pot on the turn? I do not know if players in nl2 do that, but even in NL5 you start to see some overbets in certain spots. And, you need some real **** to deal with these bets, and to me your bottom two pair looks like a perfect candidate for bluff catching some big bets (they are repping a set and you block both 88 and 66). If the best hand you can have when you call is a top pair, you will be completely screwed. . On the other hand, by raising we gain value from hands like AJ, KJ, QJ etc. The problem I see with the check-raise here is that there will be so many runouts that will hurt your hand really badly, even when you are just called. And another problem is his reraise on the flop. I do not know this for sure, but I find it hard to believe that our opponent is ever bluffing here. Maybe with some really good flush draws like AhQh. Maybe some 7h9h. I really dont know.

However, when he raises your check-raise, you are in trouble. In theory I do not think he should reraise on the flop too often, but I am not really sure because I avoid this kind of raising wars on the flop. If I had to guess a range of straight-forward, tight player might be something like overpairs like KK and QQ, maybe AhJh, maybe even JJ (well, he can still have sets of 88 and 66 very, very rarely). Maybe a hands like KhQh . My play would be to just go all. I dont think you can just call this, because realizing your equity by the river would be extremely difficult. If you raise smaller, he can call and you are in a real trouble on many turns. Basically any heart and broadway card will be very, very dangerous (he can easily turn better two pairs, sets, flushes).

So, these are the questions I would ask before making any decision. I hope this helps.