Is there a way to tell whether they made a straight?

[Guojing]

I will like to get some advice from anyone whether I could have played this hand better. I flopped 2 pair and keep making pot sized bets on the flop and the turn but the villian keeps calling.

By the river, could I have played it better? I guess I could have just checked but given that his stack is very low, how could I not pay him off if he goes all-in? Any advice on how to play this hand better would be much appreciated.

Prima Poker skin
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.02/$0.05
10 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $9.85
UTG+1: $4.15
UTG+2: $1.01
MP1: $2.49
MP2: $3.78
MP3: $3.53
CO: $5.58
Button: $4.57
SB: $5.17
Hero: $5.10

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is BB with J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
3 folds, MP1 calls, 2 folds, CO calls, SB calls, Hero checks.

Flop: J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] ($0.2, 5 players)
SB checks, <font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $0.2</font>, MP1 calls.

Turn: 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] ($0.6, 3 players)
<font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $0.6</font>, MP1 calls.

River: A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ($1.8, 3 players)
<font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $0.9</font>, <font color="#cc0000">MP1 raises all-in $1.64</font>, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $5.08
<font color="#ffffff">MP1 shows 10h Qs</font>

[Lottery Larry]

[ QUOTE ]
By the river, could I have played it better? I guess I could have just checked but given that his stack is very low, how could I not pay him off if he goes all-in?

River: A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ($1.8, 3 players)
<font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $0.9</font>, <font color="#cc0000">MP1 raises all-in $1.64</font>, Hero calls.

[/ QUOTE ]

First, what happened to the SB on the turn and river?

Secondly, what do you put him on that he could call you to the river with, short-stacked? Now, of those hands, which ones is he going to just call on the river with, that you can beat?

He had almost a pot-sized bet, so I wouldn't call that "low" enough to automatically pay off. There are a number of two-pair hands that just screwed you, with that Ace. You could possibly lay it down... if you hadn't led out on the river first.

I would have checked the river. A worse hand probably isn't calling a bet, but might bluff?

As for calling afterwards... you could be betting a flush draw, so you'd have to evaluate the player as to whether he'd bet a loser after you check.

[PantsOnFire]

Here are some things to consider.

1. The pot bet on the flop was good because it was into two players and you want to find out what's up. I presume SB folded and now you know MP1 is interested. At this point he could have a straight draw, a flush draw, Kx, AQ, AJ, 66 or perhaps JJ if he is passive.

2. There is no need to make a pot bet on the turn. If he is on a draw, a bet of .40 is enough to make his call incorrect.

3. There is no need to bet the river. If he had Kx, he won't like that A. If he had a flush draw, he will fold to any bet. If he had 66 or JJ or QT, you are simply going to call his bet since it might be a bluff. Actually, these are the times where you can now fold a good hand on the river if you feel his bet is meaningful. He likely would just check Kx. He may bluff a missed flush draw. But more likely, he will bet with a better hand than you have.

4. If this player is loose, you might have moved all-in on the turn. This would make his call a collossal mistake and his A on the river very lucky. These are situations you want. Forget about whether he gets one of his eight outs. You want to have players nailed to the wall and him calling an all-in turn bet would do just that.

Edit: By the way, your subject question is not one you should be asking. You will never be able to say exactly what this guy has like QT and that's what you are asking. You need to ask what are all the hands he could have, like I did in my point 1. Then you start assessing the likelyhood of each of these. Then you need to assess which of these hands you beat and which beat you. If you find there are lots of hands that beat you and one that you beat, well you should fold. If you find lots of hands you beat and one that beats you, well then bet or call.

One of the few things you'll notice watching poker on TV that is actually useful for us is when the announcer says "Joe Blow is facing a river bet but all he can beat is a bluff." This means the hand played out such that the entire villain range of hands are all better than whan Joe is holding (except a bluff). So at that point, the player should assess the likely percentage of a bluff from this particular player at this particular time, look at the pot odds and decide if calling is profitable.

[Lansingg]

yea

[HeroInBlack]

[ QUOTE ]
2. There is no need to make a pot bet on the turn. If he is on a draw, a bet of .40 is enough to make his call incorrect.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think potting the turn in NL5 makes you more money in the long run. They are calling pot-sized turn bets with top pair, any draw (even a lot of gutshots), and even two overs. They do it constantly. I think you may leave money on the table by betting less than the pot on the turn versus most NL5 players.

Of course, you should be observing the players and figuring out how much to be versus each one, but my default line would be to pot it here, too.

[Guojing]

Thanks larry and pants. Yeah, that ace at first set some warning on whether he may have made a higher 2 pair, aces up. That was the first thought that came to my mind, instead of him making that straight.

I guess betting half the pot on the river was a bit of a "defensive bet" for me but when he raised me all in, it became a crying call.

But yes, I agree that checking on the river would have been better and I should have folded to an all-in bet, and maybe call some smaller bets.

I guess my main mistake in this hand was paying them off at the river or what Sklansky would say, "justifying their optimistic call"?