Flopped set (77) - take it down on turn or river?

[otctrader]

Calling the preflop raise was questionable, but hey, it's Party and CO had a $25 stack. No great read on CO but haven't seen much action from him, so assuming I'm looking at JJ,QQ, maybe AK since he didn't reraise my flop raise.

The board scared me hence the pot size bet on the turn. Who would have tried to get cute here and take it to the river?

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed)

BB ($43.95)
UTG ($15)
UTG+1 ($32.25)
MP1 ($11.76)
MP2 ($22.07)
Hero ($28.70)
CO ($23.75)
Button ($20.52)
SB ($36.87)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 7/images/graemlins/spade.gif, 7/images/graemlins/diamond.gif.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, Hero calls $0.50, <font color="CC3333">CO raises to $2</font>, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, Hero calls $1.50.

Flop: ($4.75) 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 7/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 2/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="CC3333">CO bets $3</font>, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises to $6</font>, CO calls $3.

Turn: ($16.75) 5/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="blue">(2 players)</font>
<font color="CC3333">Hero bets $15</font>, CO folds.

Final Pot: $31.75

Results in white below: <font color="white">
No showdown. Hero wins $31.75. </font>

[Wayfare]

$8 on the turn would have been fine, betting the pot is just going to scare him out :/

[SpiderMnkE]

Calling the pf raise was in no way questionable here.

[schwza]

i think calling the raise preflop was standard. he has enough that he can pay you off well if you hit.

i'd have bet the flop. you're hoping at this point that he has an overpair, so betting into him gives him the chance to raise. given that you check-raised, i'd have check-raised a little more. maybe up to 8 or so.

why did the board scare you? about the only thing scary about that board is a 4 falling and giving any A a wheel. i would actually consider checking the turn - you might get to c/r again, and it's very unlikely that a free card will hurt you here. plus there's a chance that he'll hit a pair and will pay you off on the river.

[Mr_Peanut_]

I agree. I think the preflop call was standard. If you hit, like you did, then you we going to get payed off well. I think a check call on the flop would have worked then possibly continuing the slow play through the turn with a check raise. There isnt anythign threatening on this board that would justify his preflop raise. I see you having the virtual nuts so your only worry would be on how to extract the most money from him. I think the raise on the turn was a little much though.

[JohnG]

Given the pot/stack ratios, I'm either betting the pot size into him on flop, or check-raising allin. They're the best way to get paid off by hands I bury here. It is also good balance for when I'm making these plays with worse hands. On these ratios, top pair or better + draws will generally be coming along for the ride given the situation.

[tubbyspencer]

Check raising the flop and betting the pot on the turn scares the hell out of me if I'm up against you with TPTK; and I'm not really going to be happy about it with just an overpair.

I might have called the flop, instead of check raised; but definitely check or under bet the pot on the turn. You didn't want him to fold did you?

Considering that he was a late raiser in an unraised PF pot, he could just be on a steal. I'd prefer to give him a chance to put more money in here.

[PokerFink]

You're hand is pretty much a lock with this board. Only a four can hurt you, and if he has an overpair and miracles his 2-outer on the river, well then you're just going to have to pay him off.

If you think he has an overpair, then go ahead and bet into him on the flop, and re-raise all in when he raises. Otherwise, slowplay this one all the way to the river. Check, call, check, call, and then move in on the river.

If it checks around on the turn and an A or K falls on the river, you can check and figure he will bet. If another rag falls, go ahead and bet and hope he has something... anything... to call with.

[JrJordan]

I don't see anything wrong with calling the minraise preflop. Your implied odds are great considering the stack sizes. You can either flop the set and make him pay hard, or get out relatively cheap.

Okay, you hit the set on a semicoordinated board, but not much that a preflop raiser would have. The only hands you'd have to worry about would be AK or AQ in diamonds for the 4 flush. He makes a significant bet on the flop, making me believe he's not on a draw, and you are way ahead to overcards or an overpair. I'm not really worried about giving the extra card, so I'd probably smooth call here and try to check/raise on the turn. If you insist on checkraising the flop, then please make the bet bigger than a minraise. Make the raise $9, that way he's further committed to the hand on the turn when you bet into him again.

[JrJordan]

I'm not sure I agree with the check/call all the way to the river. More often, this guy is going to be stuck with just overcards and you won't get paid off taking this line. The last thing you want is to check the river, and then have it get checked behind. I'd say your two bet lines to this play are check/call the flop followed by a turn checkraise, or a check/call flop, check/call turn, and bet in front on the river. He'll be confused by the stop n' go, and will probably read it as a bluff instead of a slowplayed monster.

[PokerFink]

Thats what I said: check/call, check/call, move in. That's you're best move. By the time you move in, he has multiple bets in the pot, and he might think you're bluffing and call you.

[Zag]

I agree that the check-raise on the flop is a bad play. It tips your hand too early and fails to get full value from your nuts. Note how betting out on the flop is a lot weaker-looking play, and will almost certainly get more money from your opponent. If you then check the turn, even some fairly weak hands might start to smell blood and come after you, and you can check-raise. If he checks behind on the turn, you can bet out again on the river and probably pick up a bit more where he would have folded to the raise of the same amount on the flop.

If you had held, say, 99, or Ad Jd, you easily might have limped and called preflop. So what would you do on the flop with those hands? I suspect that you would often bet out with either of them, planning to fold to a significant raise. With those hands, if the opponent just called the flop bet, I will often check the turn, either hoping to get to a cheap river/showdown or perhaps make a check-raise bluff, depending on my feel and on the position of my second hand on my watch.

If this move is something you do frequently, then you should also do it with your monster (of course, not the fold part). This is especially true if I have recently folded a couple of these to raises, and I am hoping that the other player is paying attention. With any luck, he will come over the top with his overpair, and might even be doing it with AK, assuming I've been bluffing these and will drop to some pressure.

Last time I did this, I had 88 on an 8-high flop and managed to get all in against AK on the flop. (It was shorthanded and he had successfully pushed me off of several flops recently.) Even running kings, which scared the crap out of me, didn't help him.

[JohnG]

You people are way overcomplicating a very simple situation. There is about 4 in pot seeing flop, and about 20 left to be bet. That's room for a bet and a raise allin. That's it. There is too little wiggle room for him to get away if you play it fast and he has any kind of hand. Slowplaying would be terrible out of position on these ratios and this texture flop, headsup in a raised pot. You will get him allin on flop if he has an overpair but lose the opportunity if you slowplay and an overcard or flush comes on turn.

Another reason to play it fast is to provide balance for when you are much weaker in these situations such as just top pair or a draw.