$2 NLHE 6-max: When and how to go for "thin value on river - example hand

[JackOscar]

It's pretty obvious what I'm going for here, villian has shown weakness throughout the hand and I'm very unlikely beat, but the board is very dangerous and he won't call much worse so I go for a small river bet sizing hoping to get some action from the occasional Jx type of hand that decides to get out of line.

Now, is this bet and bet sizing a bit too obvious? It's probably pretty unlikely that I get called by worse here so is the extra gain from when villian calls off with Jx worth the risk of getting check-raised on the river by either a tricky played flush or by an aware opponent who sees this as a good opportunity to check-raise as a bluff to get me off my SDV hands?

Would love some general tips on playing these kinds of spots.

888Poker Snap, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

Levitov (UTG): $2.24 (112 bb)
moneyjesus20 (MP): $0.92 (46 bb)
jespaz04 (CO): $1.08 (54 bb)
JackOscar95 (BU): $4.30 (215 bb)
jeffubel (SB): $0.34 (17 bb)
BARMALEYKAS (BB): $2.17 (109 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero (JackOscar95) is BTN with Q♥ Q♣
2 players fold, jespaz04 (CO) calls $0.02, JackOscar95 (BU) raises to $0.08, 2 players fold, jespaz04 (CO) calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.19) K♠ 3♦ J♦ (2 players)
jespaz04 (CO) checks, JackOscar95 (BU) checks

Turn: ($0.19) 3♥ (2 players)
jespaz04 (CO) bets $0.02, JackOscar95 (BU) raises to $0.10, jespaz04 (CO) calls $0.08

River: ($0.39) 2♦ (2 players)
jespaz04 (CO) checks, JackOscar95 (BU) bets $0.17, jespaz04 (CO) folds

Total pot: $0.39 (Rake: $0.02)
JackOscar95 (BU) wins $0.37

 

[johnoman]

It's pretty obvious what I'm going for here, villian has shown weakness throughout the hand and I'm very unlikely beat, but the board is very dangerous and he won't call much worse so I go for a small river bet sizing hoping to get some action from the occasional Jx type of hand that decides to get out of line.

Now, is this bet and bet sizing a bit too obvious? It's probably pretty unlikely that I get called by worse here so is the extra gain from when villian calls off with Jx worth the risk of getting check-raised on the river by either a tricky played flush or by an aware opponent who sees this as a good opportunity to check-raise as a bluff to get me off my SDV hands?

Would love some general tips on playing these kinds of spots.

888Poker Snap, Hold'em No Limit - $0.01/$0.02 - 6 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

Levitov (UTG): $2.24 (112 bb)
moneyjesus20 (MP): $0.92 (46 bb)
jespaz04 (CO): $1.08 (54 bb)
JackOscar95 (BU): $4.30 (215 bb)
jeffubel (SB): $0.34 (17 bb)
BARMALEYKAS (BB): $2.17 (109 bb)

Pre-Flop: ($0.03) Hero (JackOscar95) is BTN with Q♥ Q♣
2 players fold, jespaz04 (CO) calls $0.02, JackOscar95 (BU) raises to $0.08, 2 players fold, jespaz04 (CO) calls $0.06

Flop: ($0.19) K♠ 3♦ J♦ (2 players)
jespaz04 (CO) checks, JackOscar95 (BU) checks

Turn: ($0.19) 3♥ (2 players)
jespaz04 (CO) bets $0.02, JackOscar95 (BU) raises to $0.10, jespaz04 (CO) calls $0.08

River: ($0.39) 2♦ (2 players)
jespaz04 (CO) checks, JackOscar95 (BU) bets $0.17, jespaz04 (CO) folds

Total pot: $0.39 (Rake: $0.02)
JackOscar95 (BU) wins $0.37

Preflop - I think the bet size here is about right. Maybe a little larger but I certainly don't think there is any issue there.
Against an open limper in the CO you're likely looking at a fairly wide range. He calls your bet so give villain some credit here. Maybe a middling pocket pair, A/K/Q/Jx holding.

Flop - I think a c-bet here would have been a better option and it is what I would have done. Against the open limp and call pre-flop you could easily be looking at a decent straight draw; QT isn't out of the question along with T9, T8. Not to forget the suited A hands in which he is playing for a draw. For this reason I would suggest a c-bet to charge the draws. King is highly unlikely as we would expect a donk bet here.
You also hold a very decent hand with pocket Q's so you want to also start to slowy build that pot up.

Turn - Not the best card considering he could hold, as you say Jx. I'm on board with your bet here to protect your hand. Again, your two pair hand is good so definitely start to build up that pot.

River - I again like the play on the river, you want to bet for value.

Others may have other input to your hand, this is just my take on it. Hopefully it provides some help and some use to you.

 

[Kaleiduo]

Against a limper like this I'm looking for three streets of value here most of the time. C-betting each street about 60% would be my go-to. Villain will let you know they have the nuts here, usually with a turn or river big bet so that would be an easy fold. Of course, this all depends on their stats and their betting behavior (if they slow play premiums or not - most often they are not). But yeah, just bet bet bet. Sometimes they fold, but sometimes they'll take you to the river with their J6o and call anyway. It would also help if I had a better read on villain so that I could decide if I needed to pot control or not.

I should also add it sounds like you might be overthinking it. This is NL2, not the wsop - these fish are just calling and not paying attention to what you are doing. Don't waste time thinking villain is trying to play fancy. Just value bet them to death when you can, fold when they make a big play. Don't worry, they will regularly call with worse, way more than you think.

 

[UkoChebuko]

I just don't like it. Sorry...No sense at all. He is some passive fish. Why check back OTF? Make two small bets and that's it. Check back OTR.

 

[Delfino]

I would bet the flop. On river I follow Gordon's rule - never bet medium hands. It's really hard to get any call from a weaker hand and check-raise would be devastating if you are beat.

 

[UkoChebuko]

To play like that, you must know some things. Or guess..Aggresion...If he is more aggro, he will bet probably with TP, trips, draw. OTT...And bluff. This is a "probe bet". Then you line makes sense...

 

[TommyT]

I find the lower stakes like this are all over the place, he could of had absolutely anything! I no that's a rule anyway but its tricky.