[THEOSU]

My first reaction is that this is a very good card for me. Outside of Q9 or QQ, there are no hands I can put villain on that this card helps him. If I was ahead, I am still very likely to be ahead.

to answer your questions

1) The obvious answer to this question is that villain checked because he did not like this card. I'm thinking this is a good point to make villain tell me what he has with a good bet.

2) I have no real new information on villain's hand with the check, and probably won't until I gauge his response to my bet. Perhaps a pair of nines, perhaps a draw of some kind. Maybe a hand like TT that became apprehensive about the queen.

3) At this point I will make a good bet into this pot, I like the figure of 500. I am not certain at all what Villain holds here, and it's time to get that information. Furthermore, there's a very good chance that Villain is on a draw, and I cannot give the draw a free card. If Villain checkraises all in or some other value, I'm probably willing to die with this hand at this point. If villain just calls, I'm apt to call most river bets, though I may have to reassess if the 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] or 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] falls. I'll probably check any heart, nine or ace, and bet most obvious blanks for value.

I'd like to point out that while the Q may not have improved Villain's hand to a winner, it may well have given Villain runner runner straight outs.