Two interesting AhQh hands

[sweetjazz]

Reads: SB is loose and aggressive. He tends to overplay his hands, and I don't think he'll fold a pair. BB is loose and last hand he bluff 3-bet the flop. (And promptly folded to a single subsequent turn bet.)

Party Poker 2/4 Hold'em (10 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with A/images/graemlins/heart.gif, Q/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
<font color="#666666">5 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, SB calls, BB calls.

Flop: (6 SB) 7/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif, A/images/graemlins/spade.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">SB bets</font>, BB calls, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, SB calls, <font color="#CC3333">BB 3-bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero caps</font>, SB calls, BB calls.

Turn: (9 BB) K/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">SB bets</font>, BB calls, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, SB calls, BB calls.

River: (15 BB) A/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">SB bets</font>, BB folds, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>.

Final Pot: 19 BB

What do people think of my four raises? Overplayed or appropriate? Is the river raise too much?

This next hand is entirely read-based. Somewhat loose passive raises. I 3-bet him preflop without thinking, which was not good as I think this 3-bet is marginal here. Anyway, he calls and he insta-bets the flop; obviously his action was decided upon before looking at the flop. Quickly observing this and noticing the king on the flop (as well as a single heart), I thought this was a good time for a raise. His bet seemed like he was trying to retake control of the pot, largely because his hand wasn't good enough to withstand pressure. Are you buying it? Is it worth fighting for this small pot? Am I folding a medium PP here? Am I happy folding a dominated hand, because I really don't want to invest 2.5 BB to see if he is pushing overcards?

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

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q/images/graemlins/heart.gif, A/images/graemlins/heart.gif.
<font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP1 raises</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, MP1 calls.

Flop: (7.50 SB) 7/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif, K/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">MP1 bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>.

Final Pot: 5.25 BB

Good or bad? What's the line if MP1 calls? If he raises?

[dealer_toe]

If you are playing based on your read in the second hand, you're doing the opposite of what you should be. If you have a read that he is loose passive, and he is pressuring you, you should believe your hand is no good. I think PF is ok, and I toss the flop.

[sweetjazz]

Yeah, I agree with your point. The thing that was wierd in this hand was when he insta-bet the flop. If he had a real hand, why wouldn't he check-raise me? He wasn't superpassive from what I could tell. His insta-bet seemed like one of frustration to me, at least that was my immediate reaction. Seemed like one of those "showing strength because I'm weak" bets.

One reason I posted this hand is that I don't often change my action based on a "tell" like this, but I did this time. I'm trying to get an idea whether my instincts are right, though it's hard for me to accurately describe the info I had at the time and what flashed through my tiny brain at the time. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[sweetjazz]

Are the four raises in the first hand all standard? If not, when/where should I slow down?

[UncleSalty]

Hand one seems standard. You are ahead of many more A hands than you are behind and no one is telling you they have AK.

Hand 2:

There are lots of reasons for what appear to be "timing" tells in online poker. I don't put much stock in them. I think he probably has either AK, KQ, KJ here and was ready to insta-bet the second his brain registered a K.

He's LAP and could be on a lot of hands, so the dirty A outs and the BDFD mean I will usually peel one and re-evaluate on the turn.

[utrnbmp3]

I vote for raising on the river in the first hand

In the second hand... you can try calling and see where it leads you (raise turn if a heart or ace turns or if he checks to you).
I have a feeling if you call, he'll likely slow down and check the turn if he doesn't have a king and bet with the king. What could HE be thinking? if you call he'll likely put you at AK

[mtdoak]

Hand #1. Flop is fine. Esp against a loose/aggro player. On the turn, i may slow down here. Usually a flop cap will slowdown even the loosest of player. I raise this river too.

Hand #2. Heads up...meh. I might raise to get two free cards, but my guess is you won't against this guy. If you think your ahead, call down. I probably see the turn regardless and muck unimproved.