Turn bet to protect against steals

[chill888]

Here's a situation that I think comes up an awful lot and I'd be interested in how others handle it.

Assumptions
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Middle stages of S&G. Blinds are just starting to climb. You and villain both have OK stack sizes - ie nobody in desperate or rich mode.

You have position and a good hand and make normal 3x BB raise preflop (let's say you have AKo). Villain calls.

Flop is pretty good but dangerous. Let's say KJ10.
Villain Checks and you bet average amount.

Turn is a blank (let's say a 2). Villain checks to you.

In summary you have quite a good hand and are probably ahead. BUT YOU CAN'T STAND A BIG RAISE.


HERE'S THE QUESTION
What do you do on the turn. My standard strategy is to bet a small amount mainly hoping that he either folds and/or calls and checks the river so I can check the river. I hate checking the turn because I am afraid he will bluff on the river.

Don't get too caught up in the cards I chose. The question is really about a situation where you have a good hand, but not a great hand - where you think you are leading but recognize there is a fairly good chance you are in fact losing (to say 2 pair) and you want to avoid being bluffed at or in fact value bet at by a slightly better hand.

Thoughts?

gl

[RiverTheNuts]

One way to do this is play your monsters the same way... bet flop, check turn behind him, and then reraise river if he bets into you... this will make him very weary of betting the turn or the river on you on these marginal hands

[poboys]

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Here's a situation that I think comes up an awful lot and I'd be interested in how others handle it.

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Interresting topic--and I agree this happens a lot.

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Flop is pretty good but dangerous. Let's say KJ10.
Villain Checks and you bet average amount.


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Assuming by average you mean pot-sized and he calls. Now I start to get nervous.

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HERE'S THE QUESTION
What do you do on the turn. My standard strategy is to bet a small amount mainly hoping that he either folds and/or calls and checks the river so I can check the river. I hate checking the turn because I am afraid he will bluff on the river.


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You also can't afford to give a free card on the turn. So checking is out of the question.

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Don't get too caught up in the cards I chose. The question is really about a situation where you have a good hand, but not a great hand - where you think you are leading but recognize there is a fairly good chance you are in fact losing (to say 2 pair) and you want to avoid being bluffed at or in fact value bet at by a slightly better hand.


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Wow you are trying to prevent a lot with this turn bet.

Let's forget about the cards, and focus on the action. Here are a few scenarios.

a) You make a 1/2-sized pot bet at the turn. He calls. If he leads out on the river, feels like you'd fold. If he checks to you on the river, you check. If he goes over the top on the turn, I assume you fold as well.

b) You check. He can check to you on the river, probably not going to happen, but it's possible. Or, more likely, he leads out on the river. What sized bet are you going to call here? If it's even close to pot-sized, it'll be a tough call. Obviously an all-in you are folding to.

Personally, I prefer to make a 1/2 pot sized bet when checked to. If he goes over the top, I'm out. If he folds, I 'm happy that I didn't put too many chips in. If he calls, I have a tough decision to make if he leads out, or I check the river if checked to me. To me, that's the best play.

Finally, I would play exactly the same way if I held JJ or AQ or a similar monster. 1/2 pot bets, hoping to get action. I like playing the same way with marginal and monster hands so it's much tougher for the player to figure out which one I have.