Still, I went broke this hand simply because Villain was chasing a straight/flush. He's holding on to AcJc. That gives him 13 outs. 3.5:1 to call. I gave him 2:1 pot odds on the turn.
This is Bodog. Villain wasn't folding TP, J kicker for anything. He would have called an open AI push on the flop with that. Seriously.
I shouldn't have called the river bet though. I know I've half my stack in the pot, but in this case, reverse implied odds killed me. he needs me to call a bet of $3.20?? at the river to make it a profitable chase.
Question: Should I have called? even if I'm sure I'm beat and have half my stack in the pot, pot odds of 3:1.
Maybe I should have pushed on the turn. The thing is, I never really put him on AcJc. If it's something like A7o, A-rag club suit, I wouldn't have minded my play so much. It's the reverse implied odds that bothers me.
P.S. considering that'll I'll be pot commited if I throw in a bet of $3.50, is it a better decision to shove?
Don't dwell on the river as it was played. Think about how you could have played the previous streets differently to make your river decision easier.
You might consider check-raising bottom two pair on an A high, drawless flop like this one (maybe not All-In but very hard, leaving yourself $5 behind). Look at it this way: if you lead out, the only way you make any money is if the villain has an A in which case he'll probably keep calling you down unless he has a clue and folds A2, A4-A7; and you DON'T want to let an A stay in too cheaply in case another A or runner runner pair comes on the turn/river. A pot sized bet here isn't enough to get a medium A to fold. Betting here lets 44-QQ off the hook too cheaply also. If you check, you might make some money if your villain wants to
bluff that he has an A or if he has Kx or small pocket pair which you dominate anyway (remember: if money goes in with you a big favorite, you didn't play it badly). Then raise them and put them to a decision that you're willing to play for all your chips. AJ may stay in here anyway, which is great because you just won the battle of mistakes in this hand and more money went into the pot with you way ahead. Most everything else folds, but at least you got more money from them. He definitely would have bet his A had you checked. If he had a weak pair or diddly-squat, he probably folds to a CR-- but then again, he probably folds those same hands to your lead bet but then you didn't get his bluff money. Also, if you CR the flop and push your last $5 on the turn, he doesn't quite have the odds to chase his draw. This is Bodog and he probably calls anyway, but at least you made him make a mistake on every street.
If he checks behind on the flop, I want to play for a small pot once that Qc comes out and go into c/c cheap SD mode (JT is a real possibility, as is KT. I've learned that 2 pair is not a license to print money and we aren't in this hand voluntarily anyway). Maybe check-call a turn and c/c a small river bet. I can get away from the river if the pot's only $2 here and he bets big.