1/2 NL Live @ Borgata - 2nd pair + FD

[wilsonkop]

Typical loose passive 1/2 NL at the Borg. Effective stacks are $250. I have been playing with the Villian for a few hours. He is straight forward and has not made any "moves" to speak off.

1 caller from MP, Villian pops it to $8 OTB. I call in the BB with As5s. MP calls.

$24 in the pot we see a rainbow flop, 2,5,8 with one spade. Check, check, villian bets $15. I call planning to re-eval on the turn. MP folds.

$54 in the pot. Turn is a J spades giving me 2nd pair and the nut FD. Hero checks, Villian bets $40, Hero raises to $80. Villian calls.

$194 in the pot. River is a blank (10 not a spade). Hero? I have about $150 behind at this point.

I think I butchered this hand. Comments on all streets appreciated.

[CarlSpackler]

First, I'm not crazy about your call of the villain's raise preflop since you're OOP.

Second, you say villain is straight forward and doesn't make moves, so he wouldn't make a bet on the flop without at least top pair, right (he probably has an overpair)? If so, I don't like the flop call.

Ok, so you call his flop bet and turn the nut flush draw. I absolutely hate the check raise here. The straight forward villain fires again on the turn which means he's definitely ahead of you, and in these loose passive games, they don't usually lay it down to raise if they have something -- they'll chase. Check calling here is fine, but check raising just bloats the pot. If you want to take a stab at the pot, then lead out betting 1/2 - 2/3 the pot instead.

On the river, I would definitely check fold. You've only got 4th pair, and the only conceivable hands you can beat at this point are AK and AQ, which I seriously doubt the villain has since he is so straight forward, and if he actually does, he's almost certainly checking the river behind, as guys who play straight forward don't fire 3 barrels unless they're on monkey tilt.