Big Bets on TPTK

[Off5th]

I think that this has to be an issue for a lot of players and I consider it to be a little leak in my game. Suppose you just entered a $25 N/L table and the first hand that you play, AK (you raised $2 preflop) the you get TPTK after the flop (rainbow) the pot is 4 dollars with two players including you. Yourfirst to act and you bet $3, the player calls. Turn is a rag you bet $4, and you opponent raises $8 so 4 more to you. My question is are you will to go to a showdown and pay at a high price to gain information on your opponent or do you put him on a set and wait till you have a monster hand when you go up next time around. There are a few times where I feel like I didn't get enough value for my TPTK. Is betting hard on TPTK -EV? Sometimes I have a fear of sets when I bet hard on my TPTK and I get called.

[Checkways]

I think that this has to be an issue for a lot of players and I consider it to be a little leak in my game. Suppose you just entered a $25 N/L table and the first hand that you play, AK (you raised $2 preflop) the you get TPTK after the flop (rainbow) the pot is 4 dollars with two players including you. Yourfirst to act and you bet $3, the player calls. Turn is a rag you bet $4, and you opponent raises $8 so 4 more to you. My question is are you will to go to a showdown and pay at a high price to gain information on your opponent or do you put him on a set and wait till you have a monster hand when you go up next time around. There are a few times where I feel like I didn't get enough value for my TPTK. Is betting hard on TPTK -EV? Sometimes I have a fear of sets when I bet hard on my TPTK and I get called.

First off, your bet on the turn is a little weak. For just a little bit more, you can get a more convincing read on your opponent. Also, the mini-raise from your opponent is also weak. Because of that, you should probably know that the showdown won't be too expensive (if he pushes ai then just fold). As a matter of fact, if he's really clever, he's just mini-raising you to take control of the betting. That way, he can check the river with his TPMK and see if he has the best hand.

But anyway, disregarding those bet sizes...

You are clearly telling him that you have top pair, maybe even an overpair. So when he plays back at you like that, you must wonder what he's thinking. Either he's bluffing (which is a really dumb bluff because the board looks harmless, he's mini-raising, you're the pf raiser, and you're showing strength) or he can beat top pair.

Honestly, I think 20% of the time you're either facing a moron that is overplaying their TPMK or a bluff. So I think 80% of the time it's the correct fold.

Just my opinion.