"Protecting" vs. "Slowplay"

[Tapin]

First time poster, be gentle.

Paradise Poker 2/4 Hold'em (9 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A/images/graemlins/club.gif, K/images/graemlins/spade.gif.
UTG calls, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, CO calls, Button folds, SB calls, BB calls, UTG calls.

Flop: (10 SB) A/images/graemlins/heart.gif, K/images/graemlins/heart.gif, Q/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">UTG bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, CO calls, SB calls, BB calls, UTG calls.

Turn: (10 BB) 6/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, CO calls, SB calls, BB calls, UTG calls.

River: (15 BB) J/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(5 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero checks, CO checks.

Final Pot: 15 BB

Typical loose-passive Paradise $2/4. 35%+ to see the flop. UTG was a "gambler" by my Tracker stats (37% flops seen, 14% preflop raise, 1.7-ish post flop aggression after 70ish hands).

How would you play this hand? The actual outcome of the hand isn't really important. I'll post my thinking after a few replies.

[DMBFan23]

I play it like you did. no better hand is folding, and few worse hands are calling that river.

[27offsooot]

I don't think that u can protect this hand on the flop, i would lean toward calling the flop bet and raising the turn to force the field to hopefully fold gutshots/ flush draws.
I hate missing value bets, so i would bet the river and fold to a check-raise, but there are so many hands that can beat u that checking through is okay.

[pudley4]

[ QUOTE ]
I play it like you did. no better hand is folding, and few worse hands are calling that river.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yuck. Bet the river. At 2/4 almost any A will call. Any 2 pair will call. Some K's and Q's will call.

[MercTec]

You are protecting your hand with a raise here. All players behind you are only getting 6-1 on a gutshot and anyone who is on hearts isn't folding anyways.

I play it the same.

[dfscott]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I play it like you did. no better hand is folding, and few worse hands are calling that river.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yuck. Bet the river. At 2/4 almost any A will call. Any 2 pair will call. Some K's and Q's will call.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Bet the river, fold to a raise.

[Tapin]

Thanks for the replies.

First, the results: UTG had A/images/graemlins/diamond.gifT/images/graemlins/diamond.gif (made his straight), CO had 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif3/images/graemlins/heart.gif, making a winner baby flush.

Now, my reason for asking: Shortly after playing, it occurred to me that perhaps the flop raise was the wrong move. As 27offsooot suggested, I'm wondering whether a smooth call on the flop followed by raising UTG's almost-certain bet on the turn would have been enough to knock out a few draws. I definitely wouldn't've knocked out UTG, so I would've ended up losing this particular hand no matter what, but it seems to me that it might actually be more of a "protection" play to give 10:1 or better on the flop followed by worse than 5:1 on the turn rather than vice-versa.

My flopped hand was good but extremely vulnerable, and the preflop action told me that I was drawing to a winner if another A or K falls. Given that I knew that the table was loose-passive, is that enough justification to allow the chasers to see the turn "cheap" and then make them pay twice as much for the river? I don't remember the showdown% for the other players in this hand, and I don't have access to my Tracker db right now, but it seems to me that while a two-small-bet lever isn't big enough to pry chasers' cards from their hands, calling two big bets cold might have been enough.

Any thoughts?

[dfscott]

It's definitely a tough decision. If the river card (J/images/graemlins/heart.gif) fallen on the turn and you'd just called, it would be an easy fold (heck, I think it's an easy fold even if you did raise).

Maybe this river value bet is a bit too thin. The only hands you beat that would reasonably call you are worse 2-pairs, but I still think I make it without a read, even if in this case you were the worst hand.

[MercTec]

I dont like giving cheap cards on this board. Just too many possibilities out there. 4 cold calls after the raise is surprising, but it essentially gives them odds to chase that gutshot on the river

[bernie]

You're not getting ATs to fold anywhere here.

You're not getting a flush draw to fold. How the CO can let the river get checked is beyond me. Gotta love these types of dips.

Your flop raise is enough to make gutshots be in a mistake when they call on the flop.

b