I know this has been probably covered 100000 times here, but my eyes hurt too much and I'm too hungover to read... So, here goes...

I'm in Vegas, and have found the WORST LAGGIEST (is that a word?) table in creation at Ballys... won about $550 playing about 3 hands in 3 hours (not joking), to which nobody paid any attention... My question is, there was one HUGE calliing station/LAG that was supposedly a "regular" but to me, he played like crapola and I was dying to get his stack... The hand that bugged me the worst was when we were heads up and I had TPTK... I was pretty sure I was ahead, but I had seen him play 85o, 73o, K5o... basically anything... and I wasn't sure he hadn't caught 2 pair or something crappy like that... I guess I can replay the scenario, and it'll be easier to understand that way...

Im in MP w/ and limp (mainly because just about EVERY hand started out w/ a $15 PF raise... So, of course, some idiot raises to $15, the fish (BB) calls, I call... Now, at this table, a raise could mean anything, but more likely than not meant "I have an A or K", but not necessarily a good kicker...

Flop comes ... BB calling station checks, I bet the pot, which is $45... Origional raiser folds, BB calls...

Turn .. didn't seem to help anyone... BB checks, i bet $75... he calls...

The kind of player he is, I'm almost positive he has a king, but what I'm afraid of is that he was playing something crappy like K8 or K2... I've seen him do it about 50 times already, winning enough times that I guess he thought it was a good play...

River (I don't remember, but I know it wasn't anything)... he checks... I think for a long time, then check back and flip over the AK... He looks at me, says 'nice kicker' and mucks his cards... I think to myself "yeah, no shit... that's why you don't play K4o..." but didn't say it cause I was still hoping to get his stack and didn't wanna piss him off...

i guess my question is, would you have bet the river, knowing he had Kcrap, and might have hit the 2pr, or would you have been happy w/ the $300 pot, knowing that theres NO way in hell to chase him off his little king, especially if he hit some mysterious 2pr...

MVP

What were both your stacks like on the river?

I don't bet that river. Only bad things can happen if you bet there. What if he reads your bet as weak and tries to bluff for all your chips? Against loose/agressive players I don't want to give them a chance to bluff me off my hand.

Usually in games like this, I'm happy to limit my risk as much as is possible. So I check it to him to see what he does. If he bets, I believe he has two pair. I doubt that he bets just a pair of kings.

It depends how much you had left. You said the pot was $300. If you or he had $100 or less left, I push it in.

Otherwise, Im happy with the pot as is. Did he really have K4?

I dont bet this river, you only have 1 pair, there is already a pretty nice pot out there, patience is the key here, calling stations can be hard to play in these situations since he could hold just about anything with his K, just check and hope you get to rake a nice pot. Wait til you make a bigger hand then take his stack, the wonderfull part of calling stations is they usually pay off like an ATM when you make your monster.

If someone is a calling station (meaning they call with bad hands), it was always my understanding that you should bet with your good hands =)

Was he so passive that he'd check 2 pair on the river? Make a milking bet, $150 or so, he'll call and you'll win.

I think the average winning player loses a lot of value on the river by not value betting enough. The fact that everyone on this thread suggests checking behind further proves my assertion.

When someone is passive enough that they won't lead out on the river with 2 pair, odds are they won't check-raise you either. If that is the case, this is a straight up 50/50 proposition, since we're assuming he has a K, and will call with it. What is more likely, that he has 2 pair or not? He's 3 times more likely to not have 2 pair than to have 2 pair. This is a clear bet on the river, IMO. Once I get check-raised by the player I might change my tune. But until that happens, I'm betting this river every time.

Sorry for not giving too much info about the hand, but I was pretty tired and hungover when I woke up, and was looking for some quick advice before I see them again... I started the hand w/ about $700, he had $400... So, by the end of the hand, he had about $250 and I had him covered... He was, bar none, the WORST poker player I had ever seen in my life... After I showed, he just said "nice kicker", which I'm assuming meant he had a K w/ a weak kicker, like he had done 50 other times... He had tried that before, I was just the only one to call him on it... I definitely think I left some money on the table, as I'm POSITIVE he would've called basically any decent sized bet I would have put out (He defintely had that "I've got top pair and no one is beat that" attitude)... Oh well, as I was leaving, he asked me if I was gonna be back tomorrow (so he can take my stack, he says jokingly )... I told him I'd see him then, and was already counting him money in my stack as I went back to the hotel...

To be continued...