Would you call or fold in this spot?

On a scary looking River, there are many bluffing possibilities just watch out for the calling trap.

This week, we’re looking at this hand from our Hero, bogec84, playing this hand against another reg, wilmots83.

Hero decides to protect his Small Blind against a Button steal by 3-betting with & and so expects a wide calling range from his opponent. It may include pocket pairs, aces, broadway combos or connectors.

The flop proves favourable, dropping , & into the game, meaning there are not that many combos for the Villain to hold on to. In this case, c-betting 1/3 of the pot should be enough to get value from the weaker part of his range.

The on the Turn doesn't harm us much, but it's no blank card either. There's a limited number of strong draws to keep calling our Hero's value bet while marginal holdings will most likely give up. On the stronger side, the Villain may have improved to a top pair or possibly slowplayed trips or better. So Hero chooses a passive line this time and calls a small bet by the Villain.

Now, the most interesting part starts on the River with the arriving on the scene. It's not good news for our Hero, so he decides to check again. But the Villain seems very happy with that River card, and now Hero has to face a bigger value bet.

So, now's the big question - should we call or should we fold?

While the River looks scary, the bet is not that big and there are many bluffing possibilities as well including the missed diamond flush draw.

Still we must remember that we are playing against a seasoned regular who may be value betting the perfect amount to lure ourselves into a calling trap. What do you think?

Last week's poll results

Last week we quizzed you on this high stakes hand and gave you a three choice next move. A total of 833 of you got involved and in most communities, checking for a free river card proved to be the most popular decision. This ranged from 43% in the Russian community to 61% in Italy.

Between the other two options, betting 1/2 the pot was the most preferred. Only in Italy was this vote a tie, with 19% for both betting 1/2 and 2/3 of the pot. The exception is our Portuguese community with 50% for betting 1/2 of the pot and only 36% for checking behind.