UB .10-.25 NL Hand

[Franky4Fingers]

I am not complaining about a bad beat. I am curious about whether I should have played the hand differently.

I am at seat 1 with $31.90. The maximum buy in is $25. 1 early position caller and I call with 8h 8c. 2 more callers and the blind checks 5 players. $1.25 in the pot.

Flop Ks As 8s

BB checks, early position caller checks, and I bet .80. Next player ($17.65) raises to $3.75. He is very loose and erratic. I put him on a high spade (Js Qs) possibly an ace or a king. Next player folds and the BB ($37.60) calls. Not sure where he is at but it is suspicious. He has been winning but also making mistakes calling all-in bets with top pair weak kicker. I call with the intention of folding if I don't fill up on the turn or I cant see the river for cheap or if another spade falls.

Turn is the Ah giving me the full house. BB bets out .25. I call. Loose player raises to $3.50. BB calls. I raise to $7.90. I don't want a flush to fold. I am pretty sure I have the best hand. Both players call.

The river is the Kc. Board is As Ks 8s Ah Kc. BB checks. I check. Loose player goes all-in for $5.75. BB calls and I fold.

The loose player had Ac 6d and the BB had Qs 2s.

Should I have gone all-in on the turn. I don't think I could have gotten the loose player to fold but maybe the larger stack would have called. I don't think he would have called another raise on the river.

I have only been playing no-limit online for a few weeks. I am a successful low-limit casino player and have been turning my wheels playing low-limit online. I had been reluctant to play no-limit in the past but I now prefer it when playing online.

Thank you for your advice.

[The Gift Of Gab]

On the flop I would bet the pot, which is usually a good idea for reasons that others have mentioned here. You likely have the best hand and have plenty of outs if not. You are probably ahead of the action player when he raises, but the BB's call should worry you, depending on his skill. The possibility that he has a flush is probably reason enough not to reraise here.

The turn is a perfect card for you. The meaning of the BB's tiny bet depends on what you know about him. It reeks of a slowplayed flush, but some mediocre players online will bet the minimum with a drawing hand out of position hoping to see a cheap card. Either way, I would raise about the size of the pot here. At this level is is very unlikely that someone will be able to lay down a flush, and an ace or even a lone spade might call. The flush is probably drawing dead, but a lone ace has 7 outs. After you call and the goofy guy raises, you should definitely reraise the pot or go all in if that would not overbet the pot too much. If someone has a higher full house, then you buy more chips.

One reason to get the money in on the turn is that there are a lot of cards that can come that could kill your action. If another spade comes you might lose someone with a small flush or a lone ace. If a flush calls you and the board pairs, you may not get the rest of his money (though apparently this guy is bad enough to call with a flush on a double paired board...)

Since you still had money left on the river, you made a good fold.