88 flop decision

[bobhalford]

Here I 3-bet pf to get the BB outta there. Just calling doesn't force BB into making a mistake. He's getting great odds and has position on you when you call. I don't like "mixing it up" with 88 in this situation, a hand that you would prefer to go heads up with against what could be a semi-steal/position raise. "slowplaying" your mid/high pair is not warranted in this situation IMO. If BB is a bit nuts, you prefer to raise to give him an opportunity to make a mistake. In fact I think you want to do this against any opponent, but even better with this BB. Also, if he does cap it, you can just bet out the flop and expect him to raise to drive out the CO and go heads up with BB, another favorable situation. If BB folds to the 3-bet, then that's fine too. We can see what CO does and then bet out on this flop, or even check-raise if you're feeling frisky.

They way you played it, I would check-raise the flop to represent a K in case CO doesn't have one. Then bet the turn and the river. But since you didn't, I would then check-raise the turn in case CO doesn't have the K and to get the BB out. But since you didn't, river bet is good.