please,some help to explain this.

[edy g]

-----HAND 19------
Game #2838778364: Hold'em NL (75/150) - 2006/06/29 - 01:02:43 (GMT)
Table "SixPak200 2936072 - 1" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 2: __axel__ (1015 in chips)
Seat 4: Wallyayay (1828 in chips)
Seat 5: philly (1207 in chips)
Seat 6: bohoco (1950 in chips)
philly: posts small blind 75
bohoco: posts big blind 150
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to bohoco [ ]
__axel__: folds
Wallyayay: folds
philly: calls 75
bohoco: raises to 300
philly: calls 150
----- FLOP ----- [ ]
philly: checks
bohoco: bets 300
philly: calls 300
----- TURN ----- [ ][]
philly: checks
bohoco: checks
----- RIVER ----- [ ][]
philly: checks
bohoco: bets 300
philly: calls 300
----- SHOW DOWN -----
bohoco: shows [ ] (A Pair of Fives, Ace high)
philly: shows [ ] (Two Pairs, Nines and Fives, Ace high)
philly collects 1800 from Main pot


 my image would have been solid/tight,with very few raises,i could get my head round it if philly bet the turn.this was a £200 sixpac on betfair.

[Royal Flush]

I fancy he was going to bluff the river if you checked the turn, or bet of a spade dropped, instead he hit!

[Table Manners]

Sorry to go slightly off topic, but what's the reasoning behind min raising pre flop? It's unlikely anyone will fold to it given it's so small, yet why would you want a pot builder when your cards are so weak? wouldn't you either want to just check it, or raise an amount that might get a fold out of them?

I see loads of people make bets like this this, but I just don't understand why they do it. Can anyone enlighten me?

[Bongo]

I did an experiment once - I played a whole MTT where i'd only raise small amounts (started at 2.5* the BB and then down ot the 2* min raise as the blinds got bigger) and I was suprised by how many people folded - it seemed to be as effective if not more than raising a larger amount. I'm not sure how it would work shorthanded though.

[edy g]

hi table,i think bongo ansered that pretty well,my reasoning was to show exteme strength[i had been rather passive until then]how he can call 300 of his 900 remaining is still beyond me seeing as he didnt bet the turn.

[Table Manners]

Min raising like that to represent aces or kings i can understand, so if you been pretty tight up until then i can see where you're coming from. It's the people who do it constantly, so you can pretty sure they haven't got aces or kings that i can't understand. I suppose if it works like bongo say tho, then why not?

As for the hand, I can't see what he was doing at all. If he's calling to bluff, then why did he check on the turn?  he can't think he's got the chips to push you off it with a check raise. Maybe he was expecting you to check the turn also and then he was gonna bluff the river. Which obviously became unecessary when he hit.

[Bongo]

I've just noticed he was in the SB and had already completed so maybe the min raise won't be quite as effective here...

Maybe he thinks you're bluffing and thinks you'd bet the turn if you had anything but check it otherwise.

Then he can check the turn and get away if you bet but move in on the river if you check.

After he hits the river he figures that if you have a better hand you won't pass and if you have a worse hand you're unlikely to call so he checks hoping you bet so he can pick off your bluff and lose the minimum to your better hands.

It's possible he misread the flop and thought he had a flush draw of course...