Bad turn in 3-bet pot (NL$200)

PFR is 25/18 over 40 hands and the cold caller was a donk.

$1/$2 No Limit Holdem
FullTiltPoker
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG DckInABox ($204.70)
CO scragglefish ($203)
BTN BEATME2WIN ($228.80)
SB Finmacul ($267.80)
BB Hero ($203)

Pre-Flop: ($3, 5 players) Hero is BB
1 fold, scragglefish raises to $7, BEATME2WIN calls $7, 1 fold, Hero raises to $31, scragglefish calls $24, BEATME2WIN folds

Flop: ($67, 2 players)
Hero bets $38, scragglefish calls $38

Turn: ($146, 2 players)
Hero checks, scragglefish bets $55, Hero?

Why why why would you check the turn now?? I know the stacks are awkward and all but I don't think you should consider the ace a bad card as it will allow you to barrel and bluff a lot, and on more then one occasion it will save you on turn.

What am I trying to bluff off?

I can see him maybe folding JJ but I block 1/2 those combos.

Yes. He is probably not folding QQ or KK here (if he by chance has those) and you get value from it when you bet turn with the spiked ace yourself, no?

I didn't mean you will bet as a bluff now, although I fail to see what worse hands would call the turn bet besides a draw (and those might shove sometimes as well).

What is your question really lol ? To fold or to jam turn after his bet?

Yeah I'm curious about the turn line in general. I'm fine with betting the turn if you think he has Tx/JJ enough, I simply did not (hence the check) but could of course be wrong.

As played I am curious whether to call/fold/CR.

On this turn I think you can bet and win with the best hand often, scare him off an equal or better T sometimes, and once in a while fold out JJ-KK too. So betting might not be too bad of an option given all those things. The downside is that donks like this love to peel flops with AJ+ and still may not fold JJ-KK here.

Now the 2nd part of my post is a bit of a hijack but I think it's more +EV to call with this hand preflop than to 3-bet. If it were JTo then I can see how squeezing would be good, or KJo+ then we can 3-bet for value against the donk.

I would check fold this most of the time.

I try to solve spots like this with CR lines which I also need for draws ( I dont want to fire a second bullet in a 3bet pot with a draw, just to fold it after the oponnent shoves).

1. I think ace is a great card for you to continue bluffing, so when you check you either have something with showdown value, and you dont want to turn it into a bluff, or you have an ace, draw or monster and you are prepairing for a big turn CR (Jonny Vincents style). You should have complete air also unwilling to make a CR, rare enough to make his betting mediocre hands unprofitable.

Knowing this, your oponnent will check his mediocre hands in hope of improving, or in hope you are on the draw. I think he doesnt want to give you the chance for CR when he is medium strenght and must fold with uncertainty after CR happens. Most players would rather go for a showdown; JJ, QQ, KK, K10, Q10 especially since they beat most of your showdown value hands.

He can have smaller pocket turned into a bluff ( if he correctly concludes you have something given the line) but his betsize is afraid of a call and he must be the one with great coolnes and composure to concept the bluff that way. If he is bluffing he must be ready to fire another bullet on the river. Most players I think will bet more on the turn giving themselves a bigger hope you let your hand off.

Also betting $56 with a draw is bizzare, cause he must fold it if you CR him.

So, I think checking turn most of the time is fine and it will be checked back to you often enough. Then you can bet river for value again.

When he bets, especially with this betsize, I would fold.

Betting turn is also a good option because, but still B option for me.
You are still ahead of his range a bit and sometimes you will get value from worse cards. But you will make yourself more vulnerable: lose your bet when he has an ace, and be pushed away when he ocasionally jams some kind of a draw.
Personally I balance check/fold with betting turn in check/fold favour, but I need both lines here.

Whoa whoa whoa Johnny Vincent style.... did you post on pokercrack? Johnny Vincent is a hudge DoctorHandles fan btw and posts about him all the time IIRC, simply drop my name and he will give you a high five and buy you a beer.

As for the hand, I could not put him on a hand for the life of me despite agreeing with you that my hand looks like what it is and finding is somewhat odd that he would fold so I jammed. He folded btw but very unsure if that's right or not.

That said I agree with everything you said but since you do fold, what are you thinking he has? Like AQs that decided to float?

Also I'm really liking your posts a lot in general Martini, Red should give you another gold star imo.

Actually I probably shouldn't even joke around about the Johnny Vincent as I really doubt Red wants to any pokercrack silliness happening on this site.

I recognize that sloth from PC

Hmmmmmmmmm I don't and I just realized my earlier post made no sense.

Basically I just didn't see what he could have, so I jammed, but this seems like a spot where I showed something strong and bash my head against the computer desk more than I'm right so maybe I should be folding despite seeing 0 hands he can have other than the rare AQ.

DoctorHandles wrote:

Whoa whoa whoa Johnny Vincent style.... did you post on pokercrack? Johnny Vincent is a hudge DoctorHandles fan btw and posts about him all the time IIRC, simply drop my name and he will give you a high five and buy you a beer.

Yes I posted on Pokercrack under the nick: Dummeraugust long ago, but I remember some discussions you and JV had.

DoctorHandles wrote:

That said I agree with everything you said but since you do fold, what are you thinking he has? Like AQs that decided to float?

He can probably have all sets (at least TT) and maybe A10, or even A4, A3 two pair, AXcc, or even AK ( I think a gameflow often justifies just calling 3bet with AK or AA in position).

DoctorHandles wrote:

Also I'm really liking your posts a lot in general Martini, Red should give you another gold star imo.

Thx!