londonsystem

Hello londonsystem,

Welcome to the Course! Hopefully you will enjoy around here.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, we will be around for you. Meanwhile good luck on tables, we will be waiting for your homework.

It seems that you already have tried a lot of different play-styles. Do you plan to stick to some specific variant of poker? Since it would be much better for to learn just one and then when you kinda feel being good there and earning enough you can always try something else.

Best Regards.

Originally posted by veriz
It seems that you already have tried a lot of different play-styles. Do you plan to stick to some specific variant of poker? Since it would be much better for to learn just one and then when you kinda feel being good there and earning enough you can always try something else.

Thanks for the comment. I actually tried two so far, DoN SNG and PLO8 FR/6-max, both in micro level. I think starting from DoN was actaully bad for my learning, as after I learned ICM for DoN, there was nothing more to learn. I played solely PLO8 6-max this year.

I agree that one should not jump around too much, but I think I could learn just one more cash game now. One of the main drive is that the player pool for PLO8 is so small, sometimes I could not find any tables, especially non-Stars sites.

Question 1: What is your motivation for playing poker? (Be as vague or specific as you want with this one, but try to think of all the reasons and elaborate on them.)

First, it's a mental challenge. I used to play online chess, but these days, poker is much easier to find a table and sit down for 15- 30-minute session. Beating the opponent by better play is really satisfying. Learning new things also excites me.

Second, I wish I could get enough skill to earn some extra money to justify why I'm spending my time on the internet.

Question 2: What are your weaknesses when playing poker? (What are the mistakes you know you are making during your games? Are you playing while you're tired? Are you tilting easily? Want to see the showdown too much? Write down as many as you think are affecting you.)

1. After winning 3-4 sessions, I start playing loose and lose BIs early in the session.

2. I used to tilt after early loss, but not any more. However, I still tilt when I lose pots or blinds continuisly as I'm more tight passive player. And during tilt, I tend to try punish my opponent with draws.

3. I need more stamina. I could not play my A-game more than 40-50 minutes now. I lose concentration.

4. When I correctly read my opponent and convinced that I'm the best on flop, I tend not to re-evaluate the hands on turn or river.

Question 3: What does it mean to play tight aggressive? (Describe in your own words what playing tight aggressive is and why does it work.)

Tight means mainly good starting hand selection pre-flop. It could be boring or too nitty at times, but it's a correct play till you learn how to play in a marginal situation.

Aggressive usually means the bet/raise play in post-flop, but you could also use it to raise, 3-bet pre-flop. It is to play your good hand (either made or good odds) betting instead of calling. However, it needs to be combined with the estimated range of the opponent. Sometimes calling or check/fold is correct by the board texture and your postion and/or hand strength.

Tight agressive, in most basic form, is the ABC play. It works pretty well in micro limits as 1) your opponents does not know how to exploit ABC play and 2) your opponents tend to try to run you over even when you have a good hand and show strength.

Welcome to the Course and Best of Luck. Good job! Homework #1 Done!

About starting to loose money after winning session it could be the case that you just seeing that you winning a lot and then just loosing up your ranges. Which means also a lot new spots, difficult spots and most likely even spots where you gonna loose money. Rather try to continue playing same style than wide up your range. If you even are running good then let it be.

Easiest way to fight against tilt is to set up stop-loss technique. Which means if you for example have lost more than 3BIs for a session then you just stop the session for some time. The BI amount is set up from your own results. Some may put it higher, some lower. Also after the stop you can spend some time with evaluation part to become better.

Stamina is for a lot of players something new. It's not something what you will have from the 1st moment. You have to practice and get used to it, get used to play longer sessions. Also get used to play A-game whole sessions. For example you could set a plan for yourself when you play and how much. With practice and time you will definitely get better and most likely will be able to play good enough.

Most of the weakness you wrote can easily be fixed by posting hands (analyzing your session). We will start writing feedback to your play. Usually negative feedback will put you into thinking phase and trying to fix all those leaks. It's almost the same as you lose money, you will remember it more than winning part. By this situation it's gonna be that negative feedback you gonna remember and try to avoid them next time.

Tight style is usually called playing selected hands. Like following the Starting Hand Chart. Aggressive should be also pretty clear that already the word says how you should be playing. But the problem playing aggressively is that you have to watch that you don't play too aggressive. Find good spots, find good targets. About The tight-aggressive strategy you can read in this article: "What is the Big Stack Strategy?"

Hopefully you will enjoy the Course. Some points earned.

Originally posted by veriz
Easiest way to fight against tilt is to set up stop-loss technique. Which means if you for example have lost more than 3BIs for a session then you just stop the session for some time. The BI amount is set up from your own results. Some may put it higher, some lower. Also after the stop you can spend some time with evaluation part to become better.

Thanks for the feedback.

In PLO8, Once I found that if I lose 2 BI's early in session, I tend to lose 5-6 BI's. So I worked on it and 1) review the original big pot loss, if it was a good/bad/marginal play, and 2) If I lost again, and I was chasing a marginal draws, I quit. One of the technique I'm working on is to sit-out one or two rounds and analyze my last big pot.

Originally posted by londonsystem

Originally posted by veriz
Easiest way to fight against tilt is to set up stop-loss technique. Which means if you for example have lost more than 3BIs for a session then you just stop the session for some time. The BI amount is set up from your own results. Some may put it higher, some lower. Also after the stop you can spend some time with evaluation part to become better.

Thanks for the feedback.

In PLO8, Once I found that if I lose 2 BI's early in session, I tend to lose 5-6 BI's. So I worked on it and 1) review the original big pot loss, if it was a good/bad/marginal play, and 2) If I lost again, and I was chasing a marginal draws, I quit. One of the technique I'm working on is to sit-out one or two rounds and analyze my last big pot.

Well, usually the tilt wont go away that easily. I mean I would still advice to close the tables and maybe get some water and get something with sweet to eat and after like 10-20 mins if you see you are calmed down you can always go back to the session. If you have bigger tilt then you wont calm down after few mins.

Question 1: What do you think you could play differently than suggested in the BSS Starting Hands Chart and why? (Are there any hands you would play differently? Do you have a problem or question about how a specific hand or hands should be played?)

I would have trouble raising with AKs/AKo when raised. The chart says to raise against one raise. Expecially when I'm on the blinds, I would rather call as flop play becomes difficult from out of position.

Also, playing suited connectors are still to speculative for me. Even so, I would call from small blind with 76s, fold to a raise by big blind. The chart says to fold from blinds when all folded. I don't think it makes sense.

Question 2: Do you have questions about your preflop play? Post your hand for evaluation. ( Post your hand in the Hand evaluation forums and provide a link to your hand in your private thread in the Locker Room.)

Not at this point. I'm just trying to follow the chart. I memorized the chart, but when I'm on the table, sometimes it is hard to pull it out quickly.

Question 3: What is the equity of AKo against the top 5% range? 5% means 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo. ( You can either calculate this yourself or use an equity calculator such as the PokerStrategy.com Equilab.)

I used propokertools site (mainly because it supports PLO8, too).

And it is 45%.

Thanks.

Good job! Homework #2 Done!

Usually the easiest way to remember is that AKo ain't good for multiway pots and AKs is. AKo rather 3bet/Fold even than play it in multiway pot. Since if you get from a tight player a 4bet his range will usually rather dominate yours.

Suited Connectors can actually be a very strong hands. They have very good implied odds in multiway pot and as well we could even play them more aggressively and take the initiative and isolate. Therefore I don't even mind you playing them.

About Question #3:

       Equity     Win     Tie
UTG    46.32%  37.92%   8.41% { AKo }
UTG+1  53.68%  45.27%   8.41% { 88+, AJs+, KQs, AKo }

Hopefully you enjoy the School so far. Sorry for delayed answer because of the Christmas hurry.

Thank you veriz for the explanation, especially about the difference between AKo and AKs.

Question 1: You are holding KQ. What is your preflop equity against an opponent who has 33? How does the equity change on this flop: J53? (Tip: you can use the Equilab to help you with this task.)

I used Equilab.

Pre-flop:
KQx vs 33 - 48.36 : 51.25

Flop : Js 5c 3d
KQx vs 33 - 3.72 : 96.28

Question 2: What would you do in the following hand? (Remember that it is important to explain your reasons, simply posting "Fold" or "Call" isn't enough!)

No Limit hold'em $2 (9-handed)

Players and stacks:
UTG: $2.00
UTG+1: $2.08
MP1: $1.92
MP2: $1.00
MP3: $3.06
CO: (Hero) $2.08
BU: $2.00
SB: $2.00
BB: $1.24

Preflop: Hero is CO with AJ
5 folds, Hero raises to $0.08, BU calls $0.08, SB folds, BB calls $0.06.

Flop: ($0.25) 263 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BU checks.

Turn: ($0.25) 5 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.22, BU raises to $0.44, BB folds, Hero...?

***************

Preflop : raise per starting hand chart.

Flop : If in a really passive 2NL table, I would cbet 2/3 pot ($0.16) and take down the pot. However, in most cases, I would check and see the turn. If I bet and raised by BU (or even BB c/r) at this spot, I had to fold.

Turn : I would bet 1/2 pot ($0.12), and fold to a raise. Usually, BU would call, and on the river chk/chk and I might win with ace high, or chk/fold. I could represent A4s as a pre-flop raiser, but if I had A4s, I would have bet on the flop. As played, I would fold to BU raise. I could not call here and c/f river, so I could either fold or bluff-raise. Buffing from out of postion does not work well. I suspect BU has probably over pair, like 88-TT, and just fold.

Question 3: Do you have questions about your postflop play? Post your hand for evaluation. (Post your hand in the hand evaluation forum and provide a link to your hand in your private thread in the Locker Room.)

I don't have any yet as my postflop is really bad. I have played about 3,000 hands so far mainly just to get famaliar with the starting hand chart. My current postflop is very predicatable. On flop, I would cbet with any overcards or better, fold to a raise. Turn and river I usually lead till I got a raise, then fold.

Good job! Homework #3 Done!

About Question #1:
Preflop Equity:

Equity Win Tie
UTG 50.78% 50.40% 0.38% { KsQs }
UTG+1 49.22% 48.84% 0.38% { 3d3c }

Postflop Equity:

Board: J♠5♦3♠
Equity Win Tie
UTG 26.46% 26.46% 0.00% { KsQs }
UTG+1 73.54% 73.54% 0.00% { 3d3c }

About Question #2:
There are several occasions on turn:
a) If we take just odds for the FD and we take into account that all our odds are clean. Which means:
Total Pot = $0,91 ; We have to Call = $0,22 -> According to that it means we are getting ~4,16:1 odds. For flushdraw we would need 4:1. Which tells us that we are getting perfect odds.
b) If we consider the opponent having sets here:
Which means we have to discount outs, for example 6:c and also 3:c. Which means we have 7 clean outs so that means we need 6:1 odds. That tells us that we need ~$0,41 on river to make it profitable. If we expect the opponent being loose enough and being able to pay us no-matter what then we can do the Call here properly.
c) We might even have overcards as outs or even 4 as a out:
Although this kind of situation ain't that likely. I'd rather discount that one and either pick a) or b). Most likely towards Call.

You are doing great progress, keep going! Happy New Year!

** Thanks veriz for all the feedback. I had been quite busy both at work and home, but I would continue this. **

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation in which you have the initiative postflop. (Post your hand in the Hand evaluation board, and provide a link to your hand in your private thread.)

NL2, Q6o CO limped, Q-set on flop

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members. (Choose a hand from the Hand evaluation board and post your own evaluation in the thread. Post a link to the hand you have evaluated in your private thread. You can evaluate as many hands as you want, but try to choose hands not yet evaluated by other users.)

NL2 Set on draw-hevy board.

Question 3: You are on the flop with KsQd. The board cards are Js, 9c, 8h, and your opponent holds 7c7h. What is your equity in this spot?

From PropokerTools:
KsQd - 41.41%
7c7h - 51.59%

** This is interesting. I thought over cards should have more EV on this type of board especially with gut shot potential. I think the implied odds are big on KsQd, so if KsQd bet out on the flop from position, pocked 7 could not call from out of position.

Good job! Homework #4 Done!

This weeks homework was a bit easier. But the idea of that is to help you go through last weeks stuff if you didn't go through everything. Or either way maybe even read some more articles, watch some videos and of course attend in the coaching. What will also help for your game is the evaluation part of other members hands and of course posting your own hands.

If you have interests you could try calculating the equity with a formula which you can use even on tables(either playing online or live poker):
(Amount of outs x 4) – (Amount of outs – 8) = Your Equity

About Question #3:

Board: J♠9♣8♥
       Equity     Win     Tie
UTG    41.41%  41.41%   0.00% { KsQd }
UTG+1  58.59%  58.59%   0.00% { 7h7c }

Hopefully this wasn't too easy homework for you.

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have based your decisions on the stats of your opponents. (Post your hand in the Hand evaluation board, and provide a link to your hand in your private thread.)

NL2, missed OESD, paired river raise bluff

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members. (Choose a hand from the Hand evaluation board and post your own evaluation in the thread. Post a link to the hand you have evaluated in your private thread. You can evaluate as many hands as you want, but try to choose hands not yet evaluated by other users first.)

KJs 16.03.

Question 3: Consider the following situation:
$10 NL Hold'em (7-handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($10)
MP ($8)
MP2 ($9)
CO ($10)
Hero($10)
SB ($10) (17/13/2.6/24/1212) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]
BB ($10) (27/9/2.0/29/333) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 6Diamond , 7Diamond
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, SB calls $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Flop: ($1.20) 3Diamond , 3Heart , TDiamond (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($1.20) JDiamond (3 players)
SB bets $1.00, BB calls $1.00, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

I would fold. I have a decent pot odds with my 7-high flush, but there is one more street. Both players has a good AF 2.0+, so one might have a better flush or flush draw. I think I have too much reverse implied odds if I'm against another flush.

Question 4: Consider the following situation:

$10 NL Hold'em (8-handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($8)
MP ($10)
MP2 ($9)
MP3 ($6)
Hero ($10)
BU ($10) (25/21/3.8/26/1250) [VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]
SB ($10)
BB ($10)

Preflop: Hero is CO with JHeart , JSpade
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.40, BU 3-bets to $1.30, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.30

Flop: ($2.75) 6Heart , 9Spade , TClub (2 players)
Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

As I don't have the postion, I think I would like to c/f more than half of the time. I would consider check/raise about 40% of the time, if BU is not a player who does cbet and call any raise regardless of the hand and/or board. I don't like to b/f from oop, because when called, it's quite hard to find a good card on turn to double-barrel.
His 21% PFR suggests he could have 3-betted with any decent AT+, TT+. And he would cbet almost always in this kind of board with AF 3.8. However, if raised, he should suspect what I have. I could represent a set, 78 suited, or QJ, KQ, AT and so on. If there is more than 50% of chance he would fold missed Ax, I would c/r. However, in micro limit, just c/f in this spot might be not the optimal play, but +EV in the long run.

Good Job! Homework #5 Done!

About Task #3
It's a very close decision: does protection or pot control weigh heavier here? Do you want to protect against hands like 3x or A:dx and K:dx? Or do you want to control the pot size and try to induce a bluff on the river in case there is no T, no J and no additional ♦?

Raise/fold is out of question - with the given pot size and the good made hand you have, it can't even be considered.

In case you decide to go broke, you can't really be blamed either. It's not a sign of weakness that the rather tight small blind decides to bet into two people here, though. I would say a call is to be slightly favored, while the many outs against you are annoying. The big blind who calls rather loosely speaks in favor of a raise/broke again. Both options are finally considered equal, which shows - all things considered - how close and full of variance these spots really are.

About Task #4
You've called pre-flop and then hit a good board. You basically have two choices now: either you assume that your opponent will go broke loosely or puts you on a bluff often and you thus check/raise - or you play check/call in the spirit of way ahead / way behind. The problem with the latter is that there are a lot of cards you don't want to see in the later course of the hand. All in all, it depends on your balancing as both lines make sense under certain circumstances.

A check/fold would be really pointless, of course. It's hard to say whether you should donk-bet here; donk/fold can be discarded as that would turn your hand into a pure bluff and your opponent would interpret this as weakness and start raising you out of flops with hands like AK/AQ/air. So, if you want to donk-bet, it has to be a donk/3-bet.

Good luck on tables and with the Course.

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation where you have either a) freeplay, b) slowplay, or c) multi-way pot situation. (Post your hand in the Hand evaluation board, and provide a link to your hand in your private thread.)

b) slowplay.

www.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?threadid=184019

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members. (Choose a hand from the Hand evaluation board and post your own evaluation in the thread. Post a link to the hand you have evaluated in your private thread. You can evaluate as many hands as you want, but try to choose hands not yet evaluated by other users first.)

NL2$ KQs - top two pairs, 4flush 4straight board

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$25 NL Hold'em (10 handed)

Stacks & Stats
UTG ($25)
UTG+1 ($25) rock
UTG+2 ($25)
MP1 ($25)
MP2 ($25) LAG
MP3 ($25) maniac
CO ($25)
Hero BU ($25)
SB ($25)
BB ($25) calling station

Preflop: Hero is BU with QHeart , JHeart
5 folds, MP3 raises $1.00, CO calls $1.00, Hero calls $1.00, 1 fold, BB calls $1.00

Flop: ($4.10) 3Heart , JClub , ADiamond (4 players)
BB checks, MP3 checks, CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($4.10) QClub (4 players)
BB bets $2.05, 2 folds, Hero...?

What action would you take, and why?

I would call and call down most of the river.

My hand : I got a decent mid two pair and possibly behind to AJx, AQx or KTx, but ahead or other Ax or flush/straight draw. If I raise, I might be only called by the better or some Ax+flush draw. I could not fold, especially when I'm heads up with position and the pot odds are 3 to 1.

Also, if I fold in this spot without having a set or top two, I would never get action when I actually made a big hand.

BB''s hand : And BB is a calling station and when he bets out from oop, I should think the Queen of club should have helped him in some way. It could be a made straight or top two, but in most cases, it would be queen pair and the straight/flush draw.

And two pair always have the implied odds to make a full house and take the whole stack.

Good Job! Homework #6 Done!

About Question #3:
Two lines can quickly be discarded here: fold and raise/fold; your hand is simply too strong for those alternatives.

It's hard to assess whether you should put in a raise here. When a rather passive player decides to bet into three players while being out of position, it does look strong. It's more likely an indication of a made hand than that of a draw.

A raise naturally protects, but you run the risk of isolating yourself against very strong range. Which weaker hands could your opponent possibly continue playing here?

The deciding factor finally comes in the size of the pot. This tiny pot simply isn't worth putting yourself into a tough spot where you could potentially end up risking your entire stack. A raise would be overplayed here and pot control takes the precedent over protection.

Best of Luck on the tables and with the Course.

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation.

NL4, bottom-set on textured flop, in position, without lead

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members.

nl5 zoom AQo

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$100 NL Hold'em (9 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($100)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($100)
Hero ($100)
CO ($100)
BU ($100)
SB ($100)
BB ($100) (18/15/3.7/23/732)[VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 8heart , 9heart
4 folds, Hero raises to $4.00, 3 folds, BB calls $4.00

Flop: ($8.50) 3heart , 6Heart , 8diamond (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.50 BB calls $5.50

Turn: ($19.50) Jheart (2 players)
BB checks, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

I need to bet half to 2/3 pot to protect my flush from his possible higher flush draw. It is not likely that BB called with mid cards like 75x or T9x, so he would not pay me with a straight. And if he made straight on turn, he should bet/fold. It is a little pity that if I bet and he folds all his hands losing to my flush, but that's the price of playing 9-high starting hand.

If I bet and he just called, I should call river in most cases.

If I bet and get raised, I would rather fold as most mid-flush would just call on this spot.

BONUS Question 4 (optional question): Consider the following situation:

$200 NL Hold'em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
MP2 (Hero) ($327.95)
MP3 ($207.45)
CO ($415.55) (TAG)
BU ($373.60) (TAG)
SB ($200.00)
BB ($218.00)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7heart , 8heart
Hero raises to $7, 1 folds, CO raises to $23, BU calls $23, SB folds, BB folds, Hero calls $16

Flop: ($72) 7club , 8spade , 8diamond (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU bets $52, Hero calls, CO calls

Turn: ($228) Kdiamond (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU checks

River: ($228) Qheart (3 players)
Hero bets $110, CO raises to $340.55 (All-in), BU folds, Hero?

What factors and concepts that you have learned so far would you use in evaluating this situation? What would your action be?

I don't think it was in this BSS course, but I use the PF-raiser-hide-and-ambush factor here. If a TAG reg raises PF, calling flop/turn, but bet out or raise river, it's rarely a bluff. PF raise by CO indicates strength above average, so JJ+, AQ+. Flop, BU bet could be a bluff or another 8, but he called 3bet from BU, with A8x? Turn checked, and BU is not betting, so it was not a made hand. Made hand needs protection from a flush draw. River, Hero bet indicated strength at least two pair. And CO raise all-in. If he had AQx or AKx, he might call, but not raise. It could be busted flush draw, but more likely Q-set or K-set.

Good Job! Homework #7 Done!

About Question #3:
In this case, you decided to bet out yourself and two players behind you go all-in. You would have to invest $8.40 in order to participate in a $22 pot, which corresponds to an equity of 27.63%.

Board: Q:h 3:s 2:h
Dead:

Equity Win DrawLoss Hand
Player 1: 38.538% 38.538% 0.000% 61.462% 5h4h
Player 2: 14.540% 14.540% 0.000% 85.460% QQ+
Player 3: 46.921% 46.921% 0.000% 53.079% 22-33

You get the required odds even when you're exclusively up against very strong hands!

About Question #4:
Top pair / top kicker has been and will always be a hand that's tough to play, especially in a multi-way pot. In this case, you've hit a nice flop, but you're up against 3 opponents on a dry board which doesn't allow for any dangerous draws.

A fold on this board is, of course, too weak. You can't really hit much better and there might be worse Ax hands willing to pay you off.

If you think that your opponent(s) is/are often willing to go broke on the flop with worse hands, raising might not be the worst of choices. But one thing is clear: if you raise, you have to go all-in on the flop! Raise/fold with your top pair is absolutely out of question.

Even though this might leave a bitter aftertaste in a 4-way pot, you should play this like a way ahead / way behind spot here - by playing it passive, you will extract the maximum from weaker hands and bluffs while avoiding big losses against stronger hands.

Best of Luck on the Tables.

Question 1: Post a hand for evaluation. (Post your hand in the No Limit: Hand Evaluations board, and provide a link to your hand in your private thread.)

NL2 FR, 8-set from pocket, not getting value

Question 2: Evaluate one of the hands submitted by other members. ( Choose a hand from the No Limit: Hand Evaluations board and post your own evaluation in the thread. Post a link to the hand you have evaluated in your private thread. You can evaluate as many hands as you want, but try to choose hands not yet evaluated by other users first.)

SH NL10 whale goes all in

Question 3: Consider the following situation:

$100 NL Hold'em (9 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
UTG ($100)
UTG+1 ($100)
MP1 ($100)
MP2 ($100)
Hero ($100)
CO ($100)
BU ($100)
SB ($100)
BB ($100) (18/15/3.7/23/732)[VPIP/PFR/AF/WTS/Hands]

Preflop: Hero is BU with 8 , 9
4 folds, Hero raises to $4.00, 3 folds, BB calls $4.00

Flop: ($8.50) 3 , 6 , 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.50 BB calls $5.50

Turn: ($19.50) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero...

What action would you take, and why?

I would bet pot. If called, I could call up to pot sized bet on any river, fold to a push. If raised, I could fold.

As the board contains only flush cards and one face card, it's not that wet. Betting pot would get value from opponents trying to draw an higher flush with a lone Ah or Kh. As there is not much other draw, betting small like half a pot does not enduce that much call or bluff raise.

BONUS Question 4 (optional question): Consider the following situation:

$200 NL Hold'em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats:
MP2 (Hero) ($327.95)
MP3 ($207.45)
CO ($415.55) (TAG)
BU ($373.60) (TAG)
SB ($200.00)
BB ($218.00)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 7 , 8
Hero raises to $7, 1 folds, CO raises to $23, BU calls $23, SB folds, BB folds, Hero calls $16

Flop: ($72) 7 , 8 , 8 (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU bets $52, Hero calls, CO calls

Turn: ($228) K (3 players)
Hero checks, CO checks, BU checks

River: ($228) Q (3 players)
Hero bets $110, CO raises to $340.55 (All-in), BU folds, Hero?

What factors and concepts that you have learned so far would you use in evaluating this situation? What would your action be?

CO 3bet pre, it means he could have some premium hand, and TT+, AJ+, KQ+ is possible. When flop was a miss for that, kind of hand, CO checked, and called position bet, which does not mean much. Turn was a King of diamond. If he was drawaing for a flush, he could just check, but if it contains King, he could also check on 3 handed board. The river is not connected to any straight or flush. And Hero makes the first initiative action on river. It really looks like a AQx or Kx. If CO has KJ+, he could win more that 50% of the time. So CO could shove in lightly.

My hand is too strong to fold, and it is 2:1 pot odds to call. I need to win only one out of three times. I would snap call.