Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)
Known players:
[tg]MP2$5.80:///////;MP3$1.80:///////;CO$5.45:///////;BU$5.00:///////;SB$5.24:///////;BB (Hero)$5.16:///////;[/tg]
Preflop: Hero is BB with J:s, 5:s.
MP2 raises to $0.10, 3 folds, SB calls $0.08, Hero calls $0.05.
Flop: ($0.3) 3:s, 7:h, 5:d (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.18, MP2 calls $0.18, SB folds.
Turn: ($0.66) Q:s (2 players)
Hero bets $0.40, MP2 calls $0.40.
River: ($1.46) J:h (2 players)
Hero bets $0.88, MP2 calls $0.88.
Final Pot: $3.22.
Results follow:
MP2 shows two pairs, queens and jacks(J:d Q:d).
Hero shows two pairs, jacks and fives(J:s 5:s).
MP2 wins with two pairs, queens and jacks(J:d Q:d).
Preflop call is marginal and not necessarily mandatory, but some important postflop concepts are illustrated here.
Flop - The first concept is that we don't want to make the mistake of checking to the PFR here. While it can never terrible there are some clear advantages to leading this type of hand on the flop.
i) By checking we risk giving a free card to 2 players, our holding is pretty vulnerable and the average villain cbets pretty tight multi-way at these limits
ii) Seeing as the average villain cbets pretty tight, it becomes tougher to check/call profitably. Our hand becomes closer to a check/fold.
iii) We miss out on fold equity by check/calling, opponents are guaranteed to see an additional card, whereas by leading we give ourself the chance of taking down the pot uncontested.
Turn Again we could imagine that we have enough equity to check-call on the turn. We'd actually be correct. This doesn't necessarily mean that checking is the best option however. Q♠: is generally unlikely to hit MP2's flop calling range. As it happens he actually holds Q♦:J♦: here and the Queen is a great card for him. In the long run however he is more likely to have some type of pocket-pair below a Queen or some type of pair+draw such as 67s.
Not only do we have good potential to improve to a good made hand on the river, we should also feel pretty comfortable about being able to fold villain out by the river when we miss, assuming he isn't a huge calling station. If we have any fold-equity whatsoever cbetting the turn will generally be considerably stronger than checking since we have additional ways to win the pot by the river. By checking we often need to improve on the river in order to win.
River We spike a Jack on the river. Not the greatest card for us, we would have preferred to hit a 5 or a flush. Again we could make the mistake of thinking that checking is good since value is pretty thin. However thin-value-betting is a crucial concept in beating the lower limits. Opponent may decide to look us up with some weak pairs including turned or rivered Qx/Jx hands. These are not overly likely, but the possibility that we are beaten here is also pretty low. Most better hands our opponent would be raising on flop or turn meaning we should definitely value-bet here. If anything the sizing used could be smaller but we typically don't want to make the mistake of checking here.
Opponent tables Q♦:J♦:
