Top Two Pair (2/4 Nl)

[iggymcfly 0]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)MP ($285.30)CO ($735.50)Button ($503.67)SB ($179.90)Hero ($546.36)UTG ($545.20)Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A. SB posts a blind of $2. 3 folds, Button calls $4, SB (poster) completes, Hero raises to $16, Button calls $16, SB folds.Flop: ($44) A, Q, 9(2 players)Hero bets $30, Button calls $30.Turn: ($104) 5(2 players)Hero bets $60, Button calls $60.River: ($224) 3(2 players)Hero bets $200 Background: I've been playing LAG and my image is especially loose right now, because I just got caught making a bad river bluff where I tried to represent trips after the middle card paired in a situation where it wouldn't make sense that I had middle pair. I figured that by betting strong when the flush came, it would look like a bluff again since it din't make sense for me to have gotten a flush here. I wasn't really worried about villian making a backdoor flush, and I was hoping to get called by a worse two pair or even something like AJ. Thoughts?

[Naismith 0]

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ Hero (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)MP ($285.30)CO ($735.50)Button ($503.67)SB ($179.90)Hero ($546.36)UTG ($545.20)Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, A. SB posts a blind of $2. 3 folds, Button calls $4, SB (poster) completes, Hero raises to $16, Button calls $16, SB folds.Flop: ($44) A, Q, 9(2 players)Hero bets $30, Button calls $30.Turn: ($104) 5(2 players)Hero bets $60, Button calls $60.River: ($224) 3(2 players)Hero bets $200 Background: I've been playing LAG and my image is especially loose right now, because I just got caught making a bad river bluff where I tried to represent trips after the middle card paired in a situation where it wouldn't make sense that I had middle pair. I figured that by betting strong when the flush came, it would look like a bluff again since it din't make sense for me to have gotten a flush here. I wasn't really worried about villian making a backdoor flush, and I was hoping to get called by a worse two pair or even something like AJ. Thoughts?

I like everything you've done here, although I think you bet too much on the river. It's not that I'm opposed to overbetting, in fact, I'm a big fan of it. But I think if you made it, say, 170 instead of 200, you've left him with over double that bet. If he wants to get crazy and bluff with a busted JT, your bet doesn't leave him with enough fire power to do so. If you made it 170, he could stick it all in for 224 more and have a little bluffing ammo.Of course, this is read dependent. You may know that this guy wasn't chasing, in which case I think an ace pays you off here for whatever you bet after you just got caught.

[The Nuts 0]

Agree. Your river bet seems more defensive than offensive in that you'd rather not see a showdown right now. If you're confident you have the best hand (you should be), should bet around half the pot (probably closer to 2/3) on the river to induce a call out of your opponent.

[Zach6668 513]

Agree. Your river bet seems more defensive than offensive in that you'd rather not see a showdown right now. If you're confident you have the best hand (you should be), should bet around half the pot (probably closer to 2/3) on the river to induce a call out of your opponent.

I think the point is that if his opponent is thinking on a few levels, he'd recognize that and call him with less than a normal player would, assuming that the OP does not want to go to showdown.This river bet is very read dependent.

[iggymcfly 0]

Like Zach said, it wasn't a defensive bet. I figured it was really unlikely for villian to have diamonds here and I was trying to use 4th-level thinking to induce a big call. If you're trying to say I should have made a defensive bet, that's one thing, but that certainly wasn't my goal.

[CobaltBlue 662]

The only thing that I have to add is that we're going to find it almost impossible to fold this river with this bet. (I'm not saying that I don't like it.) I do like the fact that we have the A .Oh, and I'm calling...J T ?

[iggymcfly 0]

The only thing that I have to add is that we're going to find it almost impossible to fold this river with this bet. (I'm not saying that I don't like it.) I do like the fact that we have the A .Oh, and I'm calling...J T ?

Yeah, you got the right idea. Villian pushed, I only hesitated about 5 seconds because I knew I couldn't fold it, and he turned over...... J 9 . You were one off. I was just checking up to make sure I didn't do anything wrong here, but I still don't think I did. I think villian has flush on the river maybe 4% of the time, and he falls for my bet with a worse hand at least 25% or so. If I didn't have the ace of diamonds, I suppose it might be -EV, but as played, I couldn't put him on bottom pair that made a backdoor flush draw.

[BIG_L_RIP 0]

either check/call the river, or fold to the push. You managed to reward him fully.

[Naismith 0]

either check/call the river, or fold to the push. You managed to reward him fully.

This is crazy results-oriented advice.Certainly, runner-runner flush was possible, but it's hard to see a hand other than JT of diamonds that makes sense.I think the mistake was betting so high as to not allow your opponent the chance to bluff the river if he had nothing, but being worried about the flush is just bad business.

[CrazyJoe 0]

i like the line you took. I know the situation well, when you get raised on the river your stomach turns, but you pay it off anyway, i think it's one of those spots. I think 99 is a possible holding, but that's another thing you have to pay off i think.I like the overbet on the end, I find these to be called more and more often.If the board was less coordinated, say with a 6 instead of a 9 or something, I like checking the turn. I love c-bet, check, overbet river when i'm out of position and flop a big hand, works so good it's sick.