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lulzJFX's picture
FTP $22+1 Turbo HU middle pair on the flop vs unknown

First match, 4th hand. Opponent seemed to be a bit stationy in the very first hand, but there was no showdown. Except that just folds pre. No Limit Holdem Tournament • 2 Players • FullTiltPoker$22 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go Hand converted by the official HUSNG.com hand converter SBHero1635  BBVillain1365   Effective Stacks: 46bb Blinds 15/30 Pre-Flop (45, 2 players) Hero is SB Hero raises to 60, Villain calls 30 Flop (120, 2 players) Villain checks, Hero bets 60, Villain calls 60 Opponent checks, so I decide to valuebet my middle pair. Turn (240, 2 players) Villain checks, Hero checks The turn is more interesting in my eyes. The 4 isn't a great card at all, but I think I still have showdown value. I really thought about valuebetting again, but then I decided to check for "pot control". River (240, 2 players) Villain bets 150, Hero calls 150 River blanks and I decide to call. As played I don't think he has a lot of Ax hands in his range, maybe a few 4x hand s he decided to slowplay on the turn, but probably mostly air. Final Pot: 540 Do you think I miss value with my check on the turn? (value from straight draws + gs maybe) Would you rather vbet again vs Unknown?As played: Do you agree with the river call?The hand looks pretty simple at first, but after I discussed it with a fellow member from husng.com I think there's quite a lot of depth. I'm very interested in your thoughts!Thanks in advance.

crstn's picture
I am very interested in

I am very interested in reading a few answers from experienced players. Valuebetting vs checking to induce a bluff/pot control on the turn? 

eejit's picture
I think Ax is in a lot of

I think Ax is in a lot of players ranges. And on that dry flop just check calling with it is reasonable as well. I don't really see what we beat on the river other than 56 or some kind of gutshot that called one street maybe.  

bonafontz's picture
Hey,In my opinion, there is

Hey,In my opinion, there is some important things to consider with this hand. On the river, since there is not a lot of busted draw and that the 2 could not really have helped him. It's either a complete bluff or we are beat. The size bet is what I don't like. Most of the time, when it is a bluff, it is bigger. This bet seems like a value bet to me.1. We can play it like this:On the flop, he called us instead of re-raising. However, since the flop is very dry, it does not mean a whole lot. So we can't really exclude an A here. He could have checked to induce a bet on the turn .On the turn, he checks. If he had a 4, I think most people would bet it for value. Also, if the card would not be a 4, I would expect him to lead with his Ace. In this case, the 4 is a scared card for him so a check is still very possible with his Ace.However, I think there is a fair chance our hand is good. I would check to induce a bluff on the river and also to pot control like you said. On the river, I agree with eejit here that there is not a lot that we beat. But I think a fair point here is that the line we took seems very weak and it is a perfect spot for villain to bluff on us. So I think a call is reasonnable.2. I also think we could bet/fold the turn. We bet the turn for value (there is a fair chance we have the best hand here). However, if he raises us, we can fold our hand easily since I don't think he would raise as a bluff. If he calls, I would hope for check/check on the river. I would fold the river to a bet. Call Flop, Call Turn and Bet river seems strong to me.What you guys think? Which one would you prefer? Is there another way to play this hand?Always take my answer with a grain of salt.

r0nn13's picture
If you check the turn for pot

If you check the turn for pot control you should call most rivers and certainly when a blank comes. When you're not planning to call any river bet I think your better off firing a 2nd barrel.So 2 options imo:Bet turn, fold vs reraise and check/fold blank river.Check turn, call river.

RyPac13's picture
The problem with value

The problem with value betting the turn or checking and calling a regular sized river bet is that there just don't seem to be a ton of weak hands that will call the turn or bluff the river.Aside from some straight draws, the most common non pairs that he'll have here are high cards or weak PPs, and those hands aren't often betting the river.This is one instance where I feel passive/weaker play might be more appropriate than betting light or calling light.  I don't think 4 hands in we have enough evidence to assume he's loose enough or aggressive enough with weak hands to be good here enough of the time.

lulzJFX's picture
That means you'd also check

That means you'd also check behind the turn and fold to a river bet, I guess?I'm pretty confident that the check behind is fine on that board, but I'm still unsure about his riverbet. It's probably close between slowplayed hands he bets for value (+PPs) and bluffs... But what Ryan said sounds very reasonable - there are rather a few more value hands.