2/4 NL

My opponent in the hand had calling station tendencies, but i hadn't played with him for too long.

Dealt KQo in the BB. couple of limpers, I check.

FLOP $16
Q59 rainbow

I check. EP makes it $11 to go. Folded back to me, I raise to $30. EP hesitates and calls.


TURN $76
Q59 J rainbow

I bet $30. Not my usual bet, but I didn't like the turn..and I wanted this to be a sort of "blocking bet" if he had QJ, and a value bet against QT.

Opponent raises to $64. Before I fold I say, that Jack hit you huh? He got all proud and showed me QJ


Was very pleased with that one.

Very nice play. And yes, that flop raise was nice. After showing strength on the flop, he raises you on the turn, good laydown.

MVP...i do it so rarely and i don't know of a any good players..so I don't worry about it

Yeah, Kenny, I agree with you whole-heartedly on the "good player" assessment. I definitely do know of a few, but it's absolutely shocking to me how HORRIBLY the vast majority of people play.

I really think that a lot of my paranoia about telegraphing my hand back in online days was completely ill-founded. For one thing, just looking at myself, I feel like I'm more observant than most, and it takes me quite a while to get an accurate take even over a number of hours playing B&M.

More for "long-term improvement," I still am definitely a fan of what I like to call "monolithic betting" (same bet on a wide range of good holdings), but if you're not playing almost constantly against the same players, I think they have much less of a read on you than you're inclined to think.

Sweet play, by the way, I think your read of QJ/QT sounds perfectly logical here. And I think the 1/3-pottish bet is also a really good way to determine just which it is.

I might add (to MVP) that if you're making bets to define your opponent's hand, I don't think you're giving away a whole Hell of a lot even to a perceptive opponent. Just as an example here: Couldn't that same 1/3 pot bet also bet HOPING to get a raise out of QJ because Kenny just flopped a set of fives? It at least seems to me like the bet could work pretty well on a set there--QT flat calls and is drawing completely dead, QJ raises and is going to have trouble laying down to an all-in with only 4 outs.

Anyhow, I guess my main point is that if you're betting in order to define what your opponent has (under the presupposition that you have SOMETHING as a general rule, since you continued with the hand after the flop), then you almost CAN'T be giving away what you yourself have.

Well, yet another question here: What's really going on on the flop here?

While I do like the weak turn bet, particularly since the pot is a bit inflated given the hand-strengths here, I would definitely have bet out that flop. And, if I check-raised, I probably would have check-raised bigger.

There's at least one "real" draw out there, namely JT, plus several plausible gutshots that anyone would be happy to see the turn for free with (KT is a nice one that would have hit given the way the board actually does develop).

Anyhow, I just don't see this as a board where you could be at all happy if it got checked all the way around.

Admittedly, given the hands actually in play, betting it out probably makes things somewhat more difficult than the check-raise does. I feel like KQ can handle the check-raise, but if you bet out and get raised (as you are likely to being in BB, so that your opponent is likely to expect kicker problems), all you can really do is flat call, I think. I don't see KQ as enough to re-raise, anyway (the check-raise is already a very aggressive move imo, although not out of line).