How do you like my passive play on this hand?

[ZeeJustin]

1/2 at The Gaming Club (part of the OIC for me)
The game is 6 handed. It's fairly loose. I have been sitting long enough to see people raise with stains, and limp with hands like QQ, but it's still hard to classify the game as passive or aggressive. It seems to be on the passive side at least after the flop.

I'm in the big blind and with A /images/graemlins/diamond.gifK /images/graemlins/heart.gif
utg folds
utg + 1 limps
CO raises
Button calls
SB reraises
I decide to just call here.
Everyone else calls.

5 way flop:
K /images/graemlins/spade.gifQ /images/graemlins/spade.gif8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif
SB bets.
I decide to call, plannig on probably raising the turn.
UTG+1 calls.
CO calls.
Button folds.

Turn:
5 /images/graemlins/heart.gif

SB bets.
I call again, trying not to knock out anyone.
UTG+1 calls.
CO folds.

River:
2 /images/graemlins/club.gif

SB bets.
I call.
UTG + 1 calls.

SB has K /images/graemlins/club.gif J /images/graemlins/spade.gif
My AK holds up.

My logic this whole hand is that if I raise the SB, all the sudden I'm heads up against the only hand that may be better. If he reraises, I lose more money than I would have lost by calling, and if he doesn't reraise, I win less money because the other two people will fold.

Please critique my play. I should also note that I am generally a very aggressive player, but this is one scenario where I figured passive play might be best.

[SoCalPat]

You're just begging to be outdrawn here.

Nothing wrong with just calling here PF and not capping. But I don't understand any of your logic behind your flop call. Against a two-suited board with some highly probably straight draws, keeping people in the hand with TPTK is the last thing on my mind. You need to raise here, especially if this table is as passive as you're being led to believe.

You completely botched the turn. By merely calling, you got the same amount of money into the pot had you raised (you're not chasing out the SB), but with one more hand to go up against. If you're still ahead here (highly likely) and get UTG+1 to call two cold (which he'll do if he's on a draw of any sort), you benefit even more. You even said at the flop, that you'd probably raise the turn. Why'd you change your mind?

"But I got two bets on the river! What about that?" ... Big deal. The SB will check/call, at the worst, and UTG+1 will do likewise if he has any sort of hand, and fold his missed draw.

"So you'd bet into a field of three with nothing but TPTK?What if you're check-raised?"

Given the blanks that fell on the turn and river, that doesn't seem likely, and besides, I'm not folding when it's one bet back to me for a pot of this size. Any hands stronger than yours will also be afraid of the flush/straight draws, and would have let you known about it by now as well. And, had you raised the flop and/or turn, you'd have a much better idea if you could bet the river or not.

Your hand is such that you can't worry about extracting the absolute maximum out of your opponents. It's not like you flopped a boat and want people drawing to 2nd or 3rd best hands. If you're behind, you want to find out as quickly as possible ... ie, while it's still cheap. Nonetheless, the pot is already good-sized before the flop, and you'd be happy to take it down on the flop. TPTK is not a slowplaying hand.

Go back to your aggressive style and stick with it /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Guido]

Well, what can I say. SoCalPat said it all. You just keep changing your mind. TPTK isn't a slowplaying hand. Raise the flop or turn (I would raise the flop). Don't be greedy with hands like this, just win them. What if someone turned a flush, straight, set, two pair, there are just too many ways that you lose. Play aggressive again!