Do you like this call or not?

[dalecooper]

Here's the situation, in broad outlines. I'm on the button in 6max and raise 3xBB with A8. One caller from the big blind.

The flop is 554. He checks, I make a standard continuation bet, he calls.

The turn is a jack. He checks, I check behind.

The river is an 8 giving me second pair plus the 5s. He bets the pot, I call.

Do you like this call, or not? My logic was this: with my pretty standard line (raise pre-flop, continuation bet, then a check showing weakness on the turn) he knows (or thinks) that he can steal the pot from me with a forceful bet on the end. He also may think that I think he is slowplaying the trip 5s, although I do not in fact think this. The particular size of the bet on the end - pot-sized - led me to believe he did not have a 5, and his check on the turn led me to believe he did not have a jack, either.

So that was my thinking, and why I called. What do you think? I will tell you the outcome in a bit.

[Theeggman]

If it were me I would think 1) he was slow-playing the 5. 2) He took a chance playing 76s for a 3xBB raise, or 3) He hit his 2pr with an 8 on the river just like you. I call to find out. Tough one tho.

[mgobluefb]

Tough decision: Many players slowplaying the trips will make this play, so I would fold.

[dalecooper]

The outcome: he had garbage (Q9 I think) and was bluffing.

[daluchy]

That looks like how I'd slowplay trips or I guess maybe a 4 of a kind...only hand that would come to mind to still play after a 3x BB raise.

Was the Q9 they even suited & the flop give him a flush draw?

I'd probably make the call just for information to get a read on the guy for later, especially with chips invested pre-flop and flop already and a semi-decent hand.