3/6 TPNK

[soah]

I usually play NL, but I'm trying to expand. The players at 1/2 and 3/6 are terrible so I don't really find many interesting hands to post. I'm not sure that this one is either really.

CO openraises, Button calls, SB folds, I call in the BB with J9s. Both of my opponents seem like pretty typical 3/6 players. Not tight, not loose, not passive, not aggressive, not good, not bad. Just typical.

Flop is JTx rainbow. I check, CO bets, Button calls, I call.

Turn is x. I check, CO checks, Button bets, I call, CO calls.

River is x. I bet.

One of the things I still need to fix in my limit game is checkraising to protect marginal hands. On the turn it looked like CO was checking his overcards, and Button was betting any sort of hand, which I was probably ahead of. I felt like I should checkraise there, but I couldn't quite pull the trigger (side note: when I first tried playing 1/2 six max, I lost quite a bit just overplaying marginal hands, so I'm trying to find the appropriate level of aggression... once my play calmed down I did quite well). I bet the river since I figured if my hand was good it would probably get checked around, but typical 3/6 players will call on the end with a lot of worse hands.

So I am primarily concerned with the turn, but I'm open to advise on all streets. And I'm more concerned with *why* to do something than simply hearing "that's standard."

[jt1]

You don't say how you knew that button would bet the turn. But assuming that you knew he would bet then I like a check raise here.

Otherwise I'd just check raise the flop and lead until raised. Pot is small enough to want to try and build it up a bit. While a turn check raise will do this, you should be very sure of your read.

At least you led the river

[soah]

[ QUOTE ]
You don't say how you knew that button would bet the turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't. On the flop, I expect CO to bet with whatever he has, and button will probably call with any pair or better, or overcards, or if he's bad maybe even just one overcard. Typical opponents wait until the turn to raise with their monsters, and CO could have an overpair or a better jack... so I'm not sure yet where I'm at in the hand. I call because I might have the best hand, and I probably have some outs if I don't, and I'd like to see what happens on the turn.

On the turn when CO checks he probably can't beat a jack. I've shown no strength so far so Button doesn't have to give me credit for anything. If he thinks his hand is good he'll probably bet, and it seemed like any pair would be good enough for a bet in that spot. If he was just peeling on the flop there's a chance he might bluff the turn, but I'd usually expect a check.

Hope that clears things up.

I'm definitely open to the possibility of checkraising the flop, but my concerns were that I might be behind, and even if my hand is good my raise does not protect my hand since they are getting 10:1 or so and can expect to earn a couple more bets if they hit something. Raising for value felt too thin under the circumstances. But, it's certainly possible that I'm not analyzing it correctly.

[jt1]

You have top pair. Unless it comes back to you two cold or you're 3 bet, play it like your ahead.