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Message: [QUOTE="Chris_TC, post: 826684, member: 19538"] Now wait a second. I assume that you were the preflop raiser in these examples? I also assume that this is 6-max. If that's the case then you certainly don't have marginal hands in those spots. You can't be scared of a single overcard, that just doesn't make sense. In the first example, you should almost always bet out, mainly to protect your hand, but you may even get called by a KQ type hand. Bad players do it all the time (and not with the intention to float). In the second example, it depends on your opponent. You will often induce bluffs from bad players if you check your JJ to them. You will definitely call a bet, and often times you should be very willing to call a second barrel as well. C-betting this flop isn't too bad either. Against a bad player, you can probably check the hand down after you get called (they won't usually bet their A7 for value on any street). A good player will rarely have an Ace after he flat-called you preflop, but if he has a pocket pair he'll call your c-bet and possibly another valuebet on the river. I used to have the same problem. 39% is definitely too low for 100NL and above. You should try to get this up to ~42%-45%. This is a similar situation to your first example. Since your hand is vulnerable, you should be happy about taking down the pot on the flop. I would almost never play this hand "extremely passively". Also, you can definitely get called by worse. Bad players will call with a 3, a gutshot draw or two overcards. You obviously won't get a Jack to fold, but your opponent won't have hit the Jack very often. In general, a few things to consider are: [B]1) [/B]C-bet more than you used to (65%-70% might be a good range). Good spots to c-bet are dry highcard flops (Q93dsh, K82ssc) or flops that miss your opponent most of the time (858hcd). Bad spots are coordinated boards (568hhc). Also, don't be afraid to c-bet 3-way pots. [B]2)[/B] Double-barrel more. Bad players call your c-bets with all kinds of hands. As your bets get bigger on later streets, even calling station types will fold. Good players will often float you, so double-barrel them or check-raise their turn bet. Excellent turn cards to double-barrel are overcards to the flop. Most players who had top pair on the flop won't fold there, so a triple-barrel may be in order. This is all very situation dependent of course. [B]3)[/B] Play your draws aggressively, especially out of position. If you have a decent flush draw, just keep betting it. You have fold equity, and when you do hit your opponent has a hard time putting you on a flush. [B]4)[/B] Take down uncontested pots. Especially when you're in a heads-up pot against a limper, you can often just bet and take it down. Multiway pots that are checked to you in position can also be taken down very often. If none of your opponents shows any strength whatsoever, it's time for you to show some strength. [B]5)[/B] Bluff-raise sometimes if you flat-called a preflop raise. If you always fold to a c-bet when you miss, then flat-calling preflop becomes unprofitable. Opponents who c-bet a lot are ideal candidates to bluff-raise (or bluff-check-raise). Good boards to do it on are those dry boards that most people will c-bet. Careful against thinking opponents though: if he thinks that you can't possibly have much on that board, he may play back at you. But I don't think this is a major concern at 100NL. Floating and betting the turn is another way to make preflop flat-calls more profitable. And finally, sometimes you may want to donk bet into the preflop raiser and possibly follow up with a turn bet in case he calls. [B]6)[/B] 3-bet more than just QQ+ and AK. If you have position against a preflop raiser, the 3-bet is very powerful and you don't need a big hand. If you get called, you will c-bet most flops in position and show a long-term profit. 3-betting out of the blinds means you won't have position postflop, but that makes your play look even stronger. CO and Button usually have wide opening ranges, so you can 3-bet very liberally. I'd much rather 3-bet a 89s than call with it. I think those are the most important factors. You really don't need to bluff a ton to improve those non-showdown pots. Obviously, at higher stakes more people will start playing back at you and you'll have to add things like 4-betting light or 5-bet shoving as a bluff into your arsenal. I've lost numerous buy-ins doing this at 50NL before I realized that just about every 3-bet means "very strong hand" and 90% of all 4-bets mean "KK or AA". [/QUOTE]

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