How Would You Holdem?

Hey guys! Welcome to How Would You Hold'em, one of the Internet's leading Omaha, No Limit Texas hold'em, and PLO blogs. Click on the link below to view a video of today's hand, complete with my personal audio narration.

Today's hand deals with what to do if we sneak into a hand and flop top pair while facing some questionable bets. I see this situation all the time when playing on Full Tilt and Pokerstars. We're playing 1/2 No Limit Texas Hold'em, and this hand is an Intermediate hand. We'll be in the big blind for this hand, with a mediocre starting hand, J-8 off-suit:

Naturally, we're going to fold if anybody raises, but no one does, so we see some free cards. We hit top pair right away, but we're going to check,as we have two players behind us that had the confidence to call and may have us kicked. The second player (the one in position) bets. This is a suspicious bet. Many people try to steal the pot in this position, and we have top pair, so we're going to call and see if he hits the brakes:

The next card comes a blank, and we're going to check again. He follows with a check. This usually tells me that this player was trying to buy the pot on the flop, and I'm pretty sure I have the best hand:

The river comes. Essentially another blank. I'm going to check one more time because many people in this position take another stab at the pot. He does.

So: How Would You Holdem? Because I'm calling.

Boom! Caught him. He's using a pretty sloppy betting pattern, checking on the turn and then trying it again on the river. That check on the turn tells me that he was scared by my call on the flop, which makes me think that he was trying to buy the pot.

I'll see you guys next time!