KTs - Turn decision after flop is checked around

[callmedonnie]

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...lead out turn here. If raised fold, and check river unless you hit a Jack or King.

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[Nick C]

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If one player hangs on and misses the heart on river, do you bet again hoping to take it down no showdown? I do sometimes, the less coordinated the board, the better.

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What I would usually do with my king-high, ten-kicker is check-fold the river (which will sometimes win the pot when my opponent has a worse hand and doesn't bluff). With a hand like AK, I'd think about check-calling, if I thought there was a good chance my opponent had a missed draw and he was aggressive enough to bluff it if checked to.

Playing unimproved high cards out of position isn't a whole lot of fun. I'm just taking my best guess as to what the best course of action might be, most of the time.

Part of the reason I've only taken tentative steps into the 6-max games so far is that I don't feel I'm really all that good at playing ace-high and king-high.

[Nick C]

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Anyway, I bet the turn, so what do I do if it goes MP3 folds, CO raises?

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You don't have the odds to chase just your gutshot, so the question becomes: Do you have any pair outs?

Given your read on CO, I think there's a good chance he just made two pair (with 97s, I guess?; you'd think he'd bet Q9 on the flop) or was slowplaying on the flop. It's also possible he just has a hand like A9, and you'd want to continue against that.

Ugh. I don't know. I think I'd fold, but I don't think calling is so bad.

[Buck_65]

Luckily I didn't have to worry about whether or not to call a turn bet, as my bet picked up the pot on the turn.

I'm glad I posted this hand. It offers some common, difficult choices that I have a lot of trouble with. Thanks for clearing up that the flop is a pretty clear bet. Playing this kind of hand well is what separates the modest winners from the significant ones.