[sweetjazz]

I am playing in a loose and juicy NL game with 2/5 blinds. Unfortunately, I am pretty new to NL, so I'm not that much better than the others at my table (who aren't very good). Villain in the hand is pretty new to the table, has played 2 or 3 hands in about an orbit, hasn't shown anything down. Table is generally pretty loose. My image is tight and aggressive, but I've shown down less than premium hands several times (99, AJ, JT). My stack was at about 190 (the buy-in is 200 and I had folded the past orbit through). Villain had a similar stack size, I think I had him covered by 20 or 30.

Five players limp in and I check in the BB with J [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. (Pot = 30.)

Flop comes J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 3 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. I bet out for 20 and get two callers. (Pot = 90.) Turn is the 6 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. (Pot = 130.) I bet out for 20 again and only the villain calls. River is the A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I check, villain bets 40 and I fold.

After getting called in two places, I initially planned on check-folding the turn. When I picked up the diamond draw, I made a weak bet hoping to see a river card cheaply. All I beat on the river is a bluff, and the general play at the table has been almost no bluffing and very timid value betting. I am getting 4-to-1 on a river call, and I think I am against a better jack, two pair, or a badly played AQ/AK more often than that.

That was my thinking, but all of the postflop streets were tricky for me. Can you offer some advice to a beginner who doesn't know how to play this kind of hand in a loose NL game? Thanks in advance.