I should turn barrel here, right?

Villain is 27/9/2.0 over 80 hands. No other reads.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.05 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($10)
BB ($6.34)
UTG ($7.07)
MP ($4.98)
CO ($2.63)
Hero (Button) ($10.46)

Preflop: Hero is Button with J, A
1 fold, MP calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero bets $0.25, 2 folds, MP calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.57) 9, 3, 10 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets $0.40, MP calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.37) 4 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks

River: ($1.37) 8 (2 players)
MP checks, Hero checks

Total pot: $1.37 | Rake: $0.05


I should have bet the turn, right? I figure I'm a slight dog against his calling range, and he folds a good amount of time?

Na , you only have A high , you dont want to be building the pot.

Originally Posted by celtic123

Na , you only have A high , you dont want to be building the pot.

That's right, I want to be taking it down.

Originally Posted by celtic123

Na , you only have A high , you dont want to be building the pot.

Having Ace high isn't enough to warrant not betting. Otherwise his flop bet would be bad. We're talking about semi-bluffing so it's not a big deal. :]

If you consider your opponent's range, it looks like a draw or some type of Tx with the occasional 9x or maybe 88-77 type hand. You aren't getting very much of this range to fold, but any Ace or Jack is likely to give you the best hand. Additionally, the turn card doesn't improve your fold equity since it doesn't function as a type of scare card (ie if the turn was a King or an Ace and you bet, he's going to be likely to fold even Tx sometimes). Finally, the turn card doesn't improve your hand to a better draw.

I wouldn't mind barreling a King or even a Queen here as a bluff sometimes. It improves our hand by giving us four more outs, and increases our fold equity by providing a scare card. The only problem is that both of those cards could improve his hand to two pair or a straight a lot of the time, so you might consider checking anyway since your implied odds are going to be higher when you hit your gutshot and you're more likely to be check-raised off of your draw.

You know what? I actually miss read this hand, despite taking about 30 minutes to think about after. For someone reason I assumed he wouldn't have folded a bunch of spade suited connectors on the flop.

This changes things somewhat, but I'm still not sure it's quite as clear cut as you're saying, spoon. Mainly because I think he can have a lot of different pocket pairs when he calls my cbet. I've always got the impression that pretty much everyone but taggs, or nittaggs are calling my cbets with any pocket pair. That's the assumption I play under, but maybe someone has an argument against that? This is 5nl, remember, but I'm also moving up pretty soon, so I'm interested in all limits.

I also think that a lot of people fold those pairs to turn barrels, as well as a 9 sometimes, and certainly a 3.