When to bet turn with monster

[Greg29]

Recently, I seem to have a lot of trouble getting value from my good hands. I think my major weakness is to decide when to bet the turn or not. I think turn play is the key to getting most value from your hand. When I believe my opponent called my C-bet with a marginal hand and I have a very good hand, I prefer to check behind on the turn, since he will not want to call big bets on both the turn and river. However, when I feel he has a solid hand, I prefer to put the most possible money in the pot, and that is done by betting the turn.

However recenty, I seem to always make the wrong decision. Here is an example:



Party Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.50/$1 Blinds - 5 Players - (LegoPoker HH Converter)

SB: $61
BB: $54.82
UTG: $138.55
<font color="black">Hero (CO): $111.45</font>
BTN: $97.05

<font color="black">Preflop:</font> Hero is dealt J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (5 Players)
UTG calls $1, <font color="red">Hero raises to $5</font>, BTN calls $5, 2 folds, UTG calls $4

<font color="black">Flop:</font> ($16.50) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (3 Players)
UTG checks, <font color="red">Hero bets $11</font>, BTN calls $11, UTG calls $11

<font color="black">Turn:</font> ($49.50) 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (3 Players)
UTG checks, <font color="red">Hero bets $22</font>, 2 folds

Pot Size: $71.50


UTG was a total calling station, and the other guy was pretty tight. I figured at least one of them would call my turn bet with a semi-decent holding and I could build a huge pot, but I lost both of them on the turn, while if I would have waited until the river, I would have certainly be called in at least one spot.

What is your thought process when you decide to bet the turn or check and induce a river call with a strong holding ? THank you very much, I think it could lead to some interesting discussion.

[Mrage]

I don't think I could ever bring myself to check there. If they have anything decent it is time to build the pot for stack time. Even HU I would bet here.

In general, if you find you are only typically getting called on the turn if you are behind, you can try double barreling a bit more on your c-bets so that your image isn't quite so transparent on the turn.

If you're in position and HU against a very aggressive villain than checking behind and giving him a chance to bluff the river is a good play, but that doesn't really apply to this hand.

[2218]

Checking here is probably not that bad, since you give chances for QT, AQ, AT hands to make a straight (AQ and AT seem playable by UTG) and you also give them a chance to backdoor a flush. The only cards you're scared of are the K's, while the 3's will very likely help you stack any K (so those two even each other out, sort of). The pot is pretty big already, so you don't absolutely need to build it up more.

OTH, UTG is a call station and still has about $95 effective for you to win, and if he's donkish, he might be c/c'ing his stack off with any K as it is.

I'm a little surprised neither player called, as I'd have expected a K to call you somewhere. And I don't mind the small bet either, since they've got 2 outs or less and probably won't pick up on your strength all that often. So I think you lost much, if any, value here.

[terp]

if you're going to bet the turn, any bet size is showing a lot of strength so you might as well go bigger