NL25 - river play

[CesareBorgia]

In this hand, MP2 and I see the flop just the two of us and the flop is fairly ragged. There are no possible flush draws nor are there any possible open enders or double gut shot straight draws. I have top pair, top kicker. So either I have the best have and will be highly like to keep having the best hand on both the turn and the river or I have the worst hand and will keep it on the last two streets. That's why I think a bet of just below half the pot is appropriate. The bet was intended as a value bet. If the board texture were such that there was a possible flush draw, for instance, I would have bet a larger amount: about 3/4 of the pot, as you proposed. However, there is no flush draw possible here.

On the other hand, I am more often criticised on the 2+2 forum for not betting enough and like everyone on this forum, I'm trying to learn something here. So do you think that, if MP2 would hold, say, K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], he would have proper odds on the flop to call? If so, you may convince me to bet more in similar situations in the future.

Your opinion appears to be that MP2 would play his hand in a very different way if my bets were larger. Why do you give most of the NL25 players credit for considering bet sizes? The fact that you and I consider bet sizes does not mean that our opponents, who do not study the game as well as we do, also do so.