How to play when you have top pair on the flop but are not sure about the kicker?

[ronn6583]

An example of a passive draw with SB. I didn't bet for reasons: If the aggressor has nothing, he will fold to the donk, and if there is, he will rearrange it.
https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/224U34wsL

 

[blueskies]

Keep the pot small.

 

[YuriDitz]

I would raise, if he has a stronger hand he would reraise and I would discard the cards, considering his hand is stronger.

 

[GNuTTz]

not sure if….

I think that I would play the hand as if I had ‘top kicker’- rep the top kicker.

 

[EarnDAStack]

Don't flat in the SB, you can fold QJo v a BTN open

 

[Luvepoker]

Winning a medium size pot here with top pair good kicker is fine. Donking out may inflate a pot you dont want to inflated but if he has nothing but a bluff you let him go without putting more chips in.

 

[Baldy86]

in my opinion you played good . i would have played it the same way . there is no need to make the pot too big

however i would not call a raise with Q-Jo from the SB from the beginning

 

[samircyber9]

play it simple and dont make stupid calls

 

[xaj9x]

Hi, I think it was played very well, but it was possible to get it, people often fall in love with their card, plus you need to understand if this opponent is an amateur, then we want to get more from him[emoji3]

 

[63burner]

No kicker means no hero play

Since you made the pair, with no real kicker, min bet or check the bet. This is smart passive play, why build a pot you may be trailing?
But that changes if online, time constrained, for example. Say you only have a few minutes to squeeze in a quick cash game, heads up, then play it a little more aggro, if the money hit isn't great if you lose.

 

[0546474]

Yes, sometimes passive actions "especially against aggressive players" allow you to win more money than aggressive ones !!!

 

[blef121]

well, in such cases, if the opponent puts small bets, then I press the call, and if they are high, I don’t think that I need to take risks with a kicker, but for this I lose a large amount of chips