2 pocket pair hands wherein I suck

[creedofhubris]

5/10 NL, stacks are around 1K in all hands.

I hate my play.

Hand #1:

Villain is very passive postflop and likes to minraise preflop with trash hands. He likes to check/call with good hands. He calls you down a lot. He does not check/raise.

Villain makes it $30 UTG, which is more than his usual raise so I put him on a strong hand. 4 callers, including me with 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

Flop:

2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Villain leads out for $80 into a $150 pot. I call, everyone else drops.

Turn: J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

Villain checks, I bet $150 into a $300 pot, villain calls.

River: 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Villain checks, I check.


Hand#2:

Villain is another passive player. He does not get away from his hands. He does check/raise.

One limper, I make it $40 preflop with J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Villain makes it $90 from the SB. I call, intending to play for a set.

Flop:

4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Villain bets $80, I... call.

Turn: 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Villain checks, I... check.

River: 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Villain bets $180. I am absolutely certain that the board is zero help for villain. I... call.

[anduril]

[ QUOTE ]
5/10 NL, stacks are around 1K in all hands.

I hate my play.

Hand #1:

Villain is very passive postflop and likes to minraise preflop with trash hands. He likes to check/call with good hands. He calls you down a lot. He does not check/raise.

Villain makes it $30 UTG, which is more than his usual raise so I put him on a strong hand. 4 callers, including me with 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

Flop:

2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Villain leads out for $80 into a $150 pot. I call, everyone else drops.

Turn: J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

Villain checks, I bet $150 into a $300 pot, villain calls.

River: 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Villain checks, I check.


Hand#2:

Villain is another passive player. He does not get away from his hands. He does check/raise.

One limper, I make it $40 preflop with J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Villain makes it $90 from the SB. I call, intending to play for a set.

Flop:

4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Villain bets $80, I... call.

Turn: 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

Villain checks, I... check.

River: 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Villain bets $180. I am absolutely certain that the board is zero help for villain. I... call.

[/ QUOTE ]

in hand 1 your description of villain fits your play. He'll call you with a ton of better hands, but the only worse hand is AK and how likely will he make that call? So you obviously can't bet the river. I see that as the only slightly questionable street since he does not check/raise.

hand 2: umm, listen to yourself I guess? He won't get away from it, 88 is extremely unlikely and it's a good spot for him to bet his unimproved AK/AQ/TT here so call.

[topout]

In hand 1 I don't like the turn bet. He's not dropping an A (gut shot and overs) or any pocket pair (because they're all over pairs) to a 1/2 pot bet and I don't think you're hand is good enough to value bet. It may earn you a free showdown but with position, I check and if my hand doesn't improve and he checks the river, I check behind. If he bets, I put him on a pair rather than a big ace and fold.

topout

[captZEEbo1]

Hand 1, I have no comment. Checking turn is probably best given opponent description.

Hand 2, If your villain likes to check-raise a lot, he is likely going for a fatty turn check-raise. I agree that the river highly likely didn't improve his hand at all....However he KNOWS that the river didn't improve your hand at all either, so he likely wants value from your mid pocket pair. He at least knows his QQ+ is good by now. The only hand you beat here on river is AK. How often would a passive player bluff AK on the river? Maybe I'm wrong, but I find a lot of players pretty content to check down AK hi and hope it's the best, especially more passive players. Basically you had the idea in mind "time to play JJ for set value", flopped an overpair, and thought you were good. If the board came 223 and you held 44, would you still call flop bet? Maybe you would. The flop bet is interesting though, as it is somewhat of an underbet. He probably figures he is not likely to be outdrawn and would like you to take a stab at it.