Is the way I play this straight costing me money?

[The_Bends]

I think you playee it fine although I would bet more on the river. One thing to consider is that at these minute stakes people are more concerned about the money amount than they are the bet in relation to the pot. It seems strange to say it but people who play 10/20 see only in terms of the % of th epot bet, even though they are betting large sums of money while people at lower limits often think along the lines of 'its only another buck' and the suchlike. The upshot of this is that you can often get away with overbetting the pot particually in the flop when the money is small. Because of the expinational nature of NL poker this should ensure that by the river you have a few more people locked in and can make a few more dollars.

That said you'll have to judge if this works on your table, if people are constantly folding the flop overbets then you'll have to stop doing it.

[gulebjorn]

I agree. A 0.65$ bet into a 0.65$ pot is pot sized, but it won't get anyone to fold. Not often anyways. If it was 65$ in a 65$ pot, they would think a lot harder about calling.

On the other hand, I see people folding to 1/10th pot size bets all the time, just because it's a larger bet than they're used to. Pot odds mean nothing to them.

[Ghazban]

You should bet at least 2/3 pot on the turn. Against one other player, 1/2 would be fine but you ought to bet more with more people in. If one player calls the 1/2 pot (actually, less than half pot) bet, the other has good odds to call with just about anything. At these stakes, QJ/TJ/J9 will be happy to call 2/3 pot on the turn not even realizing they're drawing to a split. Also, when you bet the turn a little harder, the pot is bigger on the river and you can bet a larger $ amount there for the same fraction of the pot size.

I think your 1/4 pot bet on the river is very weak, too. I'd bet at least half pot there.

[rickr]

Overbet the Flop. This is going to look like TP trying to drive out the straight draw. You will get called by lots of hands that you are ahead of. 1/2 to 3/4 pot on the turn. Your looking for hands that have a draw to chase, and at low stakes, it seems you can overbet the flop and get called by chasers. They don't take pot odds into consideration, or calim "implied odds". Get more money in while your ahead and try to get them tied to the pot.

Later,
Rick