[cero_z]

Hi AZK,

I assume you realize that you never told us what Villain had in any hand, though it appears as though you lost them all. It might help to know what kinds of hands he's played previously.

Incidentally, don't infer from the lack of replies that the post was boring. Sometimes good threads take a while to get going. I love posts like this, because now we're playing poker!

Generally, these hands look OK individually (except hand 2, which is ugly), but as a series, I think you were pressing against this guy, probably for the reason you mentioned. However, it depends on what he was showing down; if he showed you an overpair in hand 1, well, that would be different than if he showed you KTo, in which case your looseness and aggression in later hands would be more warranted.

Hand 1: OK, though I'd bet more or much less on the river if I bet (and I usually wouldn't when he checks behind on the turn). This is because his flop bet seems to mean an overpair or AK. It's hard to get called for 600 by AK, and hard to get a fold from an overpair. I'd tend to make the small value bet IF I bet at all, because I think it'd be pretty hard to move the overpair regardless after he invites you to bluff by checking the turn.

In Hand #2, the river is bad. Your lead bet should win on the turn. If it doesn't, I'm check-folding to a bet of 300 in a pot where he could have anything and hasn't bet that much relative to the pot size on the end. Maybe leading for 120 and folding to a raise is a better line. As for the first 3 streets: I think given the pre-flop min-raise, KQo is plenty good to take a flop with. The flop call isn't too good, though, because you need to have reason to believe he has a very good hand to go for the gut-shot.

Hand 3: If you feel a move is coming, you probably ought to sack up and bet out, and be prepared to play a big pot. I know this is one of those spots where getting raised really sucks, but you have the read--don't ignore it. Checking the flop will tend to shut their bluffing frequency down a bit anyway, because most pf raisers will not give up the lead heads up on this flop unless they flop big. As you played it, UGH--tough board. I like your bet on the turn, though I'd bet less. Your flop check brought a scary card and encouraged him to make a move; this could really work in your favor if you make the nuts on the river. That's why I like your bet; you want to get raised a callable amount and then back off, so he feels you have a pair-type hand, and may make a big move to represent the flush if it hits (or may not fear it and lose a lot if he holds a straight). If he also makes a flush you're in fat city, of course. River is ugly, and I'd tend to fold, though calling is defensible. I'd just say to myself, "I'm probably behind about 2 out of 3 times here, so it's close. I did get a nice shot at winning a big pot; I'm going to cut my losses and chalk up a moral victory, rather than pay off 500 just because I have TPTK." Remember, you made a strange check on the flop; he can put you on a set or overpair here, so his two barrells probably mean something good.

Hand #4 is questionable, but all right. If he puts another dime in the pot after I bet 400, I'm done with the hand (I check-call a reasonable bet if I hit an Ace or K). Again, in a sequence where somebody keeps beating you and you keep tangling, you usually have to show them a hand. "Small" bluffs like 400 or 600 don't work as well as they normally might.

Anyway, I'll say again that I like this post, and I hope people post some like it. Time consuming, but exponentially more food for thought.