I make a lot of questionable decisions

[andyfox]

I think Bob was reacting to your "the river bricks off too many draws to check."

[Nate.]

Joker--

Nice work, dude.

Why do you say preflop doesn't matter? You got it right and everything else is dollars worse.

Flop seems good to me, though not for pot-control reasons; what I'd be worried about is not having enough equity, especially given that a lot of the better hands will four-bet. That said, I don't find anything inconsistent about your flop+turn combo, and I think the turn bet is 100% mandatory, and I don't think there's anything "fancy" about not 3-betting the flop or about betting the turn. Andy has given the best reason to three-bet the flop, namely that it might get incorrect folds on the turn, but on this kind of a board I don't think enough people fold things with enough outs against your specific hand to add too much equity to that play.

The river's tough, and I think I'm too East Coast-bred to answer it well. In the live games I'm used to the flush card will shut too many hands down, especially because the button's hand looks like a draw. (Also worse flushes will raise too often.)

That said, I think the river check is getting way too much hate, and it's the sort of thing that requires hundreds of words of backstory to really nail down. I also think that many people frequently conflate the embarassment and the lost profit of missing a river checkraise in a spot like this. Once you get the button to bet, I like a raise, because MP is just too likely to look at his AJ/J4s/whatever and grimace and call. Of course you should remember that there's no guarantee your hand is good, but still, raise.

Also, nice OP, sir. You got me to make my first strategy post in a long time. Also, if any of this advice is terrible, can I officially blame it on school + not having played LHE in forever?

--Nate

[Anacardo]

You guys loving the river c/r are making this way too complicated imo. OP's hand is fairly transparent to a decent hand reader, but not so much to these cats. It seems very simple to me that your most profitable line is bet/threebet (maybe even bet call in a really weird situation, but bet/threebet is almost always your best line here.)

[Nate.]

[ QUOTE ]
You guys loving the river c/r are making this way too complicated imo. OP's hand is fairly transparent to a decent hand reader, but not so much to these cats. It seems very simple to me that your most profitable line is bet/threebet (maybe even bet call in a really weird situation, but bet/threebet is almost always your best line here.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Cardo--

Where are these Greek choruses of people who love the river checkraise? I said I think betting is probably better, and most in this thread have favored a bet far more strongly than I have.

Also, bet/call flop + bet turn makes Joker's hand "fairly transparent"? I really disagree.

--Nate

[HOWMANY]

This hand looks perfect until the river.

[Anacardo]

If I knew Joker was a knowledgeable player (and I do!), and I were in this game, I would put him on jack and two spades with a good deal of confidence on the turn, given the board and his action. Only hand that makes sense.

[HOWMANY]

I think you're giving way too much credit to the typical live 20 player's ability to think.

[Hobbs.]

[ QUOTE ]
This hand looks perfect until the river.

[/ QUOTE ]
except for not 3-betting the flop.

[Anacardo]

[ QUOTE ]
I think you're giving way too much credit to the typical live 20 player's ability to think.

[/ QUOTE ]

I said 'me,' not those jokers. The fact that those jokers aren't me, or you, or anybody, is precisely why he should bet the river!

[goofball]

And 3bet the flop. Don't get cute.

I really think 3betting the flop is quite a bit better than calling. I'm not even sure why yet, just keep the pressure on!