[Hamlet]

banzi, can you post more hands?

I disagree with the people telling banzi to loosen up. I think he's better off playing tight until he's sure that his post-flop play is solid. With the rake in 2-4, I suspect that alot of the hands recommended will be losing hands if his post-flop play is not solid.

banzi, on the hand you posted, I would typically just bet, bet, bet. In this particular hand, that would have resulted in getting 3-bets on the turn while you were ahead, and putting 2-bets in on the river when you were behind. Contrast that with the way you played it, which got 2 bets in while you were ahead, and 4 bets in while you were behind.

Checkraising the turn is not terrible, but I think in general it is going to result in a little less money going into the pot over the long haul. In this case, you got 2 bets into the pot instead of 3. If he had had a weak hand, he might not have bet at all. Think if his hand were QJ, QT, or JT. He'll likely take a free card, giving him a free chance to beat you. The only time checkraising will be better than just betting is if he has specifically a weak ace, or if he is very aggressive.

Once you've checkraised the turn, it is really silly to checkraise the river. What hand is going to bet that you beat? Any ace is very likely to just check behind you after your turn checkraise. After he 3-bets, capping it is very bad. You are beat here almost always, unless you are playing a complete maniac. And even a complete maniac sometimes gets lucky. When 4 bets go in on the river on a board like this, two pair is almost never good.