1-2NL Hand At The Taj
 

I posted this in the Beginners Questions section and someone suggested to post this hand here as well since we don't get enough live hands posted. Any feedback is appreciated, I've been getting a mix of reviews - mostly about how poorly it was played due to the passiveness.

This particular hand occurred tonight at the Taj's 1-2 NL and I was wondering if I could get some insight on how the hand should have been played and if my decision on the river was correct. Thanks ahead of time and I apologize for the lack of hand converter usage.

1-2 NL
Hero is UTG with about $430 in chips.
Villain is two spots from the cutoff with about $750 in chips.

The villain is a maniac and has been raising non stop and running very good. He's very good at making bets but does not know when he is beat and calls with mid pair or the lowest pair about 80% of the time to value bets made by his opponents.

Hero is dealt [QcQs]
Hero raises $10 to go.
Two people call and the Villain makes it $30 to go.
Hero calls and the other two fold.

Flop: [8s Td Js]
Hero checks.
Villain bets $50.
Hero calls.

Turn: [Ac]
Hero checks.
Villain bets $200.
Hero calls.

River: [7h]
Hero checks.
Villain goes all in.
Hero folds.

The villain ended up showing [7s 4c] for a bluff/pair on the river.

Ultimately I was hoping for a 9 or King on the river to clinch the hand but on the river when he went all in, I just couldn't call it even if I had about only $150 left. The Villain had been raising non stop with a huge range of hands so I put him on a 9 or possible two pair.

With about $150 left on the river, should I have called his all in bet? On a side note I played the hand as if I were on the spade flush draw and this might have caused him to go all in on the river when he knew I "missed" it. This was intended from the very start as I wanted to trap him but I didn't think he would make an all-in move after calling his $200 bet on the turn.

Once again thanks ahead of time. I can't go back and change the way I played pocket Queens, but I would like to know if folding on the river was the correct decision.

Re: 1-2NL Hand At The Taj
 

fold the turn

Re: 1-2NL Hand At The Taj
 

If you're going to fold, fold the turn. If you're going to raise, raise the flop. Better yet reraise PF so you can get most of your money in as quickly as possible. There are too many scare cards to sway you from your check-call strategy, which is what happened here.

Re: 1-2NL Hand At The Taj
 

What is the correct play here on the river. Assuming you call all the way to the river and he pushes all in. Is this an automatic call to push in $150 for over $400 in the pot?

Re: 1-2NL Hand At The Taj
 

PF is fine. You are both very deep and there is no reason to rush in getting the money in, especially since you won't get enough of it in to comfortably shove flop.

On the flop I would bet out against this guy and plan on 3bet jamming if played back at. This is a dangerous flop and not the standard line I would take with this hand usually, but against this specific opponent I wouldn't mind getting all the money in seeing as how he is comfortable gambling it up with TP/2ndP etc...

Since you decided to c/c, I would fold to this turn bet. The reason I imagine you c/c the flop is to give him some rope to hang himself. But this is one of the worst cards in the deck since it allows for higher pairs, fills a SD, and is a common card for someone to have given action.

Understand though, that this board is not a good board to induce a bluff from. Even against a habitual bluffer. It is way too coordinated and you will be uncertain as to whether you are extracting value or getting value stacked with way too many cards that peel off the turn. Conversely, this is a great board to value bet against this type of opponent because he will call you with all sorts of inferior hands. Lastly, you will often find yourself getting raised on the flop because he is a bad bluffer, over values hands, and under estimates his opponents. Often times, players like this will raise with any draw or a pair + gutter because they think they should regardless of previous action. Because they view it as 'standard'. Don't ruin his plan.

As played, you have to call the river if only because 65% of your stack is invested and the pot is offering close to 5-1 (4.85-1 actually). Just to clarify for you so you don't underestimate the relevance, the pot has $580 on the river BEFORE he shoves. Since you only have ~$150 left, you have to pay $150 into a now $730 pot. Realize this so the next time you are faced with a turn bet similar to this spot, you understand the consequences of your actions. Calling the turn = calling the river here always.

Re: 1-2NL Hand At The Taj
 

[ QUOTE ]
What is the correct play here on the river. Assuming you call all the way to the river and he pushes all in. Is this an automatic call to push in $150 for over $400 in the pot?

[/ QUOTE ]

If the villain is really a maniac, then yes, calling getting almost 3:1 is right, but if you're going to fold, it has to be on the turn. I would've 4-bet pre-flop, and if not, I would've led the flop for about half the pot, hoping to induce a raise which I would then shove over.