Top pair weak kicker in blinds battle

Game type: 1/2 NL
Your image: You’ve been playing fairly aggressive poker
Opponent’s image: TAG
Your hand: Q♥4♥

The setup: You’ve had a rush of hands lately but most of the pots you’ve played haven’t gone to showdown so your image is pretty aggro. In this hand everyone folds to the SB who completes. You decide to check. The flop brings top pair:

2♥T♦Q♣

Your opponent leads out for $4 and you raise it to $16. They think for a bit and call. The turn is 6♦. Now your opponent checks. How do you like to play this?

6 COMMENTS (Jump to comment form)

matt tag

I voted lead for 1/2 pot. The key for me was “they think a bit” – I think I’m ahead after they think a bit, probably to either a pair of Ts or 2s or a str8 draw. The 6d doesn’t help either.

If they checkraise me, I’m gone

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Sted Ruckus

I’m betting the pot here and trying to end the hand on the spot. If he calls and checks the river, I’ll check behind and showdown. At the moment though, I think I’m ahead to a middle pair of straight draw, like Matt Tag said. So i’m betting it hard to make a call to expensive.

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onlinepokerincome.com

This is one of those spots where it absolutely doesn’t matter how you play it, as it will have no effect on your long-term results. Even the staff can’t really decide as no concrete answer was given.

Make the decision based on how you want your image to keep developing. Being as in this game I have an aggressive image I probably want to keep that up so that I am more likely to win somnebody’s stack when the right hand comes up. So I voted bet 1/2 pot and might have to throw it away to a check-rasie semi-bluff.

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Rob L

Where’s the bet 2/3 the pot option? 1/2 is almost the came bet he called on the flop, and a pot sized bet is too much to risk if you’re going to throw it away for a check-raise. I like a $23 bet here… It also is large enough that if they hit two pair or a crazy straight, they might try for a check-raise on the river, and no matter what comes I’d be checking (except maybe a 6)

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no_donkey

Stay aggro – keep the pressure – full pot bet.

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Chad Gerson

Full pot. It is unlikely your opponent has a better hand, and you don’t want to let him draw to one.

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