Alas, An Overcard

“The turn was the Q . My reader checked, his opponent bet $2 into the $10.25 pot”
“That turn bet, especially, reeks of weakness.”

If the opponent really was weak (and especially if he was on a draw), why didn’t he just take the offered free card? A $2 bet as a semi-bluff doesn’t make any sense: we had called a larger bet on the flop.

How about raising the turn to, say, $10? It is a semi-bluff. True, it represents nothing, but an opponent who would bet $2 into a $10 pot probably won’t be thinking about that.

Hero could have avoided this uncomfortable situation by making a resteal (i.e. check and raise) move on the flop or turn. When an opponent telegraphs weakness with wimpy bets like this, he’s very vulnerable to a raise, and you can probably get a weak king (his most likely holding) to fold. A second reason for such a play is that you need to mix aggressive moves into your play anyway, and this is a good place to do it. But the most important reason to raise early in the hand is that it’s a cheaper way to find out how much your opponent likes his hand than calling bigger and bigger bets till the end. If your opponent calls a check-raise and still keeps coming at you, you can fold your jacks with a clear conscience.