$1/$2 NL 6 max

Reads:

I just busted the villain about 10 hands ago when he min raised JJ and I hit a set of 7s.

A few hands ago he was in a limped pot with a flop of 973. He had 32 and check/called the flop and then min check raised the turn which was another 9.

He and I have been in a battle of the blinds twice. Both times He checked, I bet pot ($4) with nothing and folded to his min check raise. Obviously the min check raise isnt a monster for him.

Heres the hand......

Battle of the blinds again. Its folded to him in the SB and he completes. I check with J6.

Pot $4. Flop comes [5d][4h]. He checks, I bet $4 and he min check raises. I call this time.
Pot $20. Turn is a . He checks and I bet $16 which he calls.
Pot $52. River . He leads for $8 and has $50 left. WHats your play?

My instinct is to raise. That looks like a blocking bet or post oak bluff on the river. I've met a sort of players that actually use the mini-check/raise when they don't have enough hand to bet but don't want to fold, like middle or low pair.

I think he has a small part of the flop, like a flush draw or middle pair and he thinks that you're tired of him check/raising and are bluffing. He might have improved (like hitting a Q with his flushdraw or 65 or something) enough to call a raise.

Of course he might also be slowplaying the str8 or hit his Q5 and you're screwed, still, that bet is too small to call so I raise it a bit, I don't mind if he folds because I don't want him to know what my hand is anyway and he should stop with the mini-CR's.

Just to clarify...the hand where he min check raised with the 32 wasnt against me. hes only dont it to me when we were in a battle of the blinds.

Nice analysis. How much are you raising?

He called $16 on the turn so he'll call at least another $16 on the river. If he pushes I am folding.

On the river, the pot starts at $52. He bet $8 making it $60. If I raise to $24 making it $16 more to him, the pot will be $84. If he now pushes, the pot will be $125 and it will be $42 to me.

Youre going to fold 2 pair getting 3-1 against this guy who doesnt appear to be very good?

Contrary to Stoneburg's opinion, I really don't like when people make stupid ass confusing plays.........my instinct would be to call the river bet and start typing some damn notes as soon as he shows up a hand, that way you have future reference as far as whether he's making blocking bets to get a cheap showdown etc. Just because he check min-raised bottom pair before doesn't mean that that's some kind of standard. The reason I don't like raising more or less is exactly why you said in your last post, if you raise and he pushes......you really can't fold, it's just not correct, but if I was forced to make that all-in call, I would be very very unhappy.

Theres one way to avoid having to make the decision of whether or not to call his all in.....and thats to push all in yourself and let HIM be the one making a decision.

I dont like people making blocking bets either (not that I think this guy even knows what a blocking bet is). When you make a blocking bet, the normal line is....make blocking bet, fold to raise. So, why not raise him all in?

He should fold at least 50% of the time and now he doesnt know if he folded the best hand or not and hes going to be frustrated. The other 50% of the time that he calls, I think my 2 pair is good at least 50% of those times.

Thats what I did. I pushed in.

I pushed....he called...He had [Th] and my hand was good