I think with the line taken, you have to call the river bet. Maybe the OP was planning to c/r the turn, but the Q spoiled that? You are getting over 3:1 and I think you’re ahead of his range.

However, I would have led out $4 on the flop. Hey, I raised and a bet OOP looks like AK. I’d expect to take it down there.

Past that, you could c/r the flop, especially HU. I think a near pot size raise would be in order. I would even bet the turn when then Q came. I don’t think there are many hands that can call you … AJ, KQ, KJ, AhXh, or anything you might have been behind previously KK, TT, 55. He plays it weakly enough that it looks like a scared King, K9 maybe. If he calls my bet/raise on the turn, I am done with the hand as whatever he would call with has me beat. But taking the more aggressive approach, I think we can get him to fold often enough. It’s not like we are bluffing

He bets small, so we call again because our hand could be good/we could improve/Villain could check river to see a cheap showdown.

On the river I would most likely fold barring any reads because he doesn’t really expect you to fold for this $6 bet that often, given that you’ve called flop/turn and he can just check behind his Tens.

I wouldn’t think he would be value betting worse PPs or Ace-high either.

the other line is check raising the flop and then potentially leading the turn or being done with the hand…

the way this was played was the least desirable option for me… we have learned nothing about the villians hand and are facing a call that we probably should make but could easily be dominated… id much prefer to define the hand much earlier on…

Ed- What do you think of a check raise on the flop? It is 6 max- sure he might have a K but I think a lot of time he doesn’t.

Also- JJ is a classic low limit NL players favorite hand to stick in an oversized PF raise with the stupid saying “only 3 ways to play em and they are all wrong… id rather win a small one than lose a big one”— this is why these limits are so beatable– JJ is a top 10 starting hand… particularly in 6 max… i hate people that hate JJ- learn to play post flop and you’ll learn “the right way to play em”

When someone makes an oversized PF raise and I have a read on them and can put them on JJ I will call with speculative hands and steal the pot from them if a Q K or A hits… but when you play a LAG style you are forced to improve your flop, turn, and river play

Ed- Why don’t you play higher limits? You have a gift for explaining poker strategy but I don’t understand why you only play 2/5 live and smaller games online– do you just prefer it as it is less stress?

Sorry, I wasn’t entirely clear there, was I.

I’m betting because I’m betting that board with 100% of my range. This is one of those rare spots where you can put a lot of pressure on an opponent OOP. JJ isn’t exactly 72, so we have more flexibility on later streets, but it isn’t the nuts. Again, I would do that with a large part of my range. There isn’t a whole lot we’re getting to fold that beats use, but there are a lot of hands we can get to fold on the turn that have very good equity against us. We’d like many of those to fold before a bad card comes on the river and we have a difficult decision. As it happens in this case I do have showdown value and the guy is a fish, so it may well turn out to be a value bet.

I’d take this line as opposed to trying to c/c it down even though we might be best.

I get value and charging drawing hands, but what FE are you aiming for? Precisely QQ? What else folds that beats you or that has enough equity that you’re pulling for a fold?

Although it’s possible for a bet to have both a value component and a bluffing component, these two sentences leave me confused about what you’re trying to accomplish.

“Barreling” implies to me that you don’t think JJ has much showdown value, so you’re playing it as a bluff, trying to get better hands out. In other words, JJ is now 72 to you. Is that what you meant, or am I out of tune with current terminology?

Of course value betting makes sense if you expect worse hands to call. I haven’t played much online 50 but I would expect AT or various draws to call a flop bet. Do you expect those hands to call a turn bet, or do you suggest a turn bet as purely protection plus bluff?

MP could easily be semibluffing the heart draw, or betting a lower pair such as a T after you showed weakness by checking. If the K were an A, or if this was full-ring multiway i probably would reconsider the c-bet and possibly call a bet or maybe even check/fold, but this is a relatively good flop for JJ in a 6-max game and you need to lead out for value, folding equity, and to charge any drawing hands.

I don’t see a strategy of routinely playing passively with hands like JJ (especially as the pfr) on these sorts of boards as being profitable in 6-max games.

I’m interested to read ed’s analysis of the hand.