Did I play these two hands correctly?

Hand #1: Oppenent was a calling station and that's why I kept firing. On a previous hand he called my 5x raise from the SB with A5. I bet the pot on the flop and he called. I bet the turn and he called. An Ace came on the river, I checked - he checked and turned over A5 for two pair.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (6 max, 5 handed)

Button ($174.5)
SB ($19)
BB ($34.62)
UTG ($616.96)
DaHitDogg ($100)

Preflop: DaHitDogg is MP with , . SB posts a blind of $0.5.
1 fold, DaHitDogg raises to $4, Button calls $4, 2 folds.

Flop: ($9.50) , , (2 players)
DaHitDogg bets $9, Button calls $9.

Turn: ($27.50) (2 players)
DaHitDogg bets $24, Button calls $24.

River: ($75.50) (2 players)
DaHitDogg calls $63 (All-In), Button calls $63.

Final Pot: $201.50

Results in white below:
DaHitDogg has Td Ts (three of a kind, tens).
Button has Kh Qd (straight, king high).
Outcome: Button wins $201.50.

Would anyone have slowed down agains any opponent, much less this guy?


Hand #2

Opponent was a pretty good player, maybe a little loose to be considered a TAG.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (6 max, 6 handed)

CO ($246.71)
Button ($139.15)
SB ($109.1)
BB ($592.71)
UTG ($21.05)
DaHitDogg ($99.4)

Preflop: DaHitDogg is MP with , . SB posts a blind of $0.5.
UTG calls $1, DaHitDogg raises to $5, CO calls $5, 2 folds, BB calls $4, UTG folds.

Flop: ($16.50) , , (3 players)
BB bets $8, DaHitDogg calls $8, CO folds.

Turn: ($32.50) (2 players)
BB bets $15, DaHitDogg raises to $50, BB raises to $375, DaHitDogg calls $36.40 (All-In).

River: ($493.90) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $493.90

Results in white below:
BB has Ah Jh (flush, ace high).
DaHitDogg has Ts Tc (three of a kind, tens).
Outcome: BB wins $493.90.

I think I played this well. I thought if I raised it on the flop that he would go away immediately. I knew that if a Heart hit on the turn I would have to give up my set or call a small bet and hope to fill up. Your thoughts?

P.S. I am probably just going to fold pocket Tens pre-flop for the foreseeable future unless you guys can adequately educate me.

OK. Back to hand #1. I advocate slowing down on the turn for one reason and one reason only: the strong read that the guy is a calling station. Calling stations love to call.

But by "slow down" I don't mean check the turn, I mean bet something like $10-$15 on the turn. Let him call that bet. Now the pot is much smaller. Bet again on the river, but again something smallish, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the pot. Let him call that too. You think you're ahead but you just don't know, so you don't put in all your chips if you can avoid it.

If he's a real calling station then if he pushes on the river you can fold knowing you're beaten. A calling station with two pair has to be scared of the straight himself and won't push in, especially because your smaller bets look like they could be milking bets.

"I advocate slowing down on the turn for one reason and one reason only: the strong read that the guy is a calling station. Calling stations love to call. "

If someone is a calling station doesn't that mean they often call way too much money with poor hands? If that is the case, then why again is it not a good idea to push as hard as you possibly can against them? Both of your posts seem to use the fact that they are a calling station as a reason to slow down, when in fact it is the complete opposite.

Assuming Q8 is out of the question, there are 3 reasonable hands the player could have that beat you. 87, JJ, and KQ. I believe you see a raise from a JJ or 87 by at least the turn. If this is true, there is ONE COMBINATION of cards that can beat you. We have established he is a calling station. That means there are multiple of cards that you beat. We've established that he's a calling station meaning he will likely call you with the multiple combination of cards that you beat.

I often fear that strategy discussion over a forum like this can have the effect of making people tight-weak. There is a really simple and logical reason for this, especially if one were to derive MOST of their information from a forum. If the guy had a QJ and called on the river, we would never see this hand posted. A majority of the hands posted are hands in which people lose and want to know how they could have played better. Furthermore, a majority of the losing hands posted are hands that are fairly strong hands, because people don't need to post a question wondering how to better play their mid-pair weak kicker type lost hands. As a result, people natrually, if spending a lot of time learning on a forum, would tend to think their opponnents holdings on average are stronger than they in fact are.

Given that Q8 is folded preflop, JJ would be raised since there are so many draws out there, and the same goes with 87, there is one combination of cards that beats you. Furthermore, the only information you have on the hand is that a calling station is calling you. If its a calling station, the chance of him having the monster is SIGNIFICANTLY less than against any other type of player. Furthermore, the liklihood of him calling you down on the river is SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER than against any other type of player. That is the inherent definition of being a calling station.

My conclusion being, that not betting out about $35 on this river would be a grave mistake.

I think palman nailed this one! The station likely would have called the river bet with top pair and certainly two pair.

I like the way you played both hands. Your results will get better!

Thanks palman. I'm probably leaving some money on the table worrying too much about being beaten. It just bugs me no end when someone takes my stack and they never even had to raise me to do it: I just insisted on betting all streets with the losing hand. Yuck.

I disagree with you on one thing, though. A real calling station isn't going to raise even with JJ or 87 if they see you betting strongly enough that all the money will be in on the river anyway.

On the other hand, I never noticed this was 6-max. Now that I know that, I have no clue why I am contributing any opinions at all. Please go about your business. Nothing to see here.

Kent- yes, there is an increased chance of JJ or 87 due to him being a calling station, how much more likely? I'm not sure its overly significant.

And I too didn't realize it was 6 max either, that would lead me to be even more inclined to keep betting the 10's.