AKo, flops TPTK

[superwomble]

I've just sat down at this table and this is my first hand. I have no hands on Villain, but he is up almost two buyins.

IPoker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.20 BB (6 handed) - IPoker Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($20)
Hero (BB) ($20)
Villain (UTG) ($54.43)
MP ($7.16)
CO ($15.58)
Button ($20.15)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K, A
Villain calls $0.20, MP calls $0.20, 3 folds, Hero bets $0.60, Villain calls $0.60, 1 fold

Thinking I should have raised a bit more here - 3BB is my standard but usually add 1BB per limper so should have gone for $1...

Flop: ($1.90) A, 5, 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $1.25, Villain calls $1.25

Turn: ($4.40) 6 (2 players)
Hero bets $2.80, Villain calls $2.80

River: ($10) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, Villain bets $10, Hero ?

I should probably have bet out on the river too (?), but decided to check as if I was raised I'd probably be losing. Obviously leaving money on the table if he then checks behind with a hand I beat that he would have called with, but figured if I checked he'd bet a lot of them and I could then call for the same price as a bet but without the worry of being raised.

However, his bet was bigger than I'd hoped for, and I've always kept in mind the maxim 'Don't go broke with top pair'.

What do you reckon?

[WPIL]

I would have kept going on the River but as played Call
(I am WPIL though and just hear to learn!)

[rbc_mike]

Good that you've identified you should be making it bigger pre, $1 sounds gd to me.

Think flop and turn are pretty standard, obvs getting value from all worse aces, stubborn mid pocket pairs etc.

decided to check as if I was raised I'd probably be losing.

There is nothing wrong with bet/folding, esp against fish.  If you get raised, meh it's an annoying spot but if you can hand read ok then it's not a problem.  Like I doubt he's ever turning 88 into a bluff if you bet the river.  May be raising a bare Ace to get you off what he thinks is a chop.  Otherwise his value range is any 5, a6, aq/aa (unlikely given limp), 66, which isn't many hands! So if you think he's not bluffing such a dry board on the river, then bet/fold is the best line, because it's really bad for us if he snap checks back Ax and we've missed out on a tonne of value.  Just as a little side point, b/f is much better than c/c in alot of river spots because people generally play the river the worst, and aren't usually reading hands well enough to turn hands with showdown value into bluffs to get the hero of the weaker part of his range.

So anyway now we've checked it's close, but I don't think I'm folding this river.  When he pots river it's really polarising, which is why I feel your pain. Doubt he's ever floating like kqcc or qjcc oop so not really many hands that are bluffing this river.  Just comes down to how often you think he will bomb the river with a worse Ace, if he's a fish then he may be more inclined just to check back.  Fish can show up with random hands too, he may realise 88/99 isn't going to win because you have an ace so much of the time, so this increases our equity here when he bombs river.  Either way, it's a gross spot.

So in conclusion, I'd probably make a bad call and get shown  or something like that!

[Honeybadger]

Raise bigger preflop. Much bigger.

Bet/fold river.

As played, call river. Whatever villain shows up with make a note on him accordingly. This last point is very important.

Tbh, there are two schools of thought in this type of spot:

One school of thought is "Man, everyone is so passive at the micros ... when you face that big bet/raise you've just gotta fold cos they always have you beaten. If you think that AK is ever good here then you are very optimistic and don't understand just how passive these guys play. Fold your hand, it is never good"

The other school of thought is, "So many people are donking around at the micros, and they have no idea of the real strength of their hand. Your opponent might think A3o is the stone nuts here for all we know. Call... you're going to catch him being weird/spazzy/bad often enough to make a profit on the call and you get to see his hand at SD too".

Without a particular read on an opponent all you are left with is to make reads based on the general tendencies of the player population at microstakes... and there are two schools of thought on this, so just randomly take your pick I guess.

Personally I usually go for the second school of thought, and make the call. It makes me a massive station in these spots, but I am always getting a price right? Plus I like to take the line that leads to a SD so I can see villain's hand.

[BulldozerD]

Was just about to post but it's just been nailed above, much prefer to bet/fold river.
Unlucky if he has AQ or 56s or something

[pleno1]

1) Bigger pre, 5x is fine.

2) Bigger ott, $3.50ish is fine

3) Bet river for value to get paid by worse aces that call thinking their kicker has improved, with the intention of folding to resistance

4) probably fold now, looks like a value bet

[superwomble]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I did eventually make the crying call but I should have followed pleno's advice as Villain showed  for the flopped FH - he done me like a kipper!

Wish I'd bet the river and saved myself some BBs... you live and learn!