NL 200, a situation that confuses me
 

Hero ~1,000 Villian ~300

5-handed

UTG calls, Hero calls with QJ clubs, Villian raises to 8, sb calls, bb calls, UTG calls, Hero calls. Family pot.

Flop: Ac 5c 7c (pot ~40)

UTG checks, hero bets 35, Villian calls, everyone else folds.

Turn: 5d (Pot ~110)

Hero checks, Villian checks.

River: 10h (Pot ~110)

Hero bets 70, Villian pushes...so you call?

Villian is very aggressive, and i haven't really figured out his betting patterns yet.

This situation always confuses me against aggressive opponents. Normally I just try to assign a hand range quickly and figure out the percentage of time i think he bluffs or overplays a hand. But at the time I really hadn't figured this guy out yet; I had no instincts at all in this hand.

Re: NL 200, a situation that confuses me
 

I usually raise PF, but it is of preference. Limping is ok too.

Why not bet on the turn?

Re: NL 200, a situation that confuses me
 

call in a heartbeat

Re: NL 200, a situation that confuses me
 

I'd only be sorry he didn't have a bigger stack.

What's with the check on the turn?

Re: NL 200, a situation that confuses me
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'd only be sorry he didn't have a bigger stack.

What's with the check on the turn?

[/ QUOTE ]

To induce a bluff?

Results/Thoughts
 

First, I almost never raise preflop with QJ. Generally, if I have good control of the table I'll raise with 56,67,89, (sometimes J10), and most gapper connectors.

Second the turn check: Against a tighter opponent, ie-abc player or weak tight, I check the turn many times in these situations for pot control.

Similarly, against a tricky aggro player I check this turn for pot control, but also to induce a bluff.

Against a shmuck aggro player, I check this turn to induce a bluff.

But, against an aggro player whose tendencies I haven't figured out yet, this is a tricky situation for me. If I bet and he calls, then what do I do on the river? A blocking bet I guess. If I bet and he raises, then this sometimes causes me to make incorrect decisions; I often think "Well, he'd slowplay a fullhouse, and would he really raise with xx preflop? Wouldn't he raise me on the flop with a set? I'll call." Against a tricky LAG, this is bad reasoning; this is what causes good LAGs to be so tough.

Incidentally, I did use this reasoning on the river. I checked, for pot control, he checked behind and I figured I was ahead. I value bet the river, he pushed and I decided that his hand range was too wide for me to make this laydown without a strong read.

I called and he had A10. Lucky river for me I guess.

To the guy who said that it'd be cool if my opponent had a bigger stack, I disagree. The bigger the stacks the harder this situation is for me.

This is a really easy hand against abc and tag players, and even easier against a maniac. But it's pretty confusing vs a good player, in my opinion.