5NL TT on Qxx BTN v BB

Hey ChangNoi77,

Preflop is fine.

In most cases we flat 2nd pair. In situations where the draw is especially drawy and our pair is vulnerable then thin value raises become more of an option. (Generally we fire turn on safe card and check back river). We play raise/fold on flop also.

I think vs average donk-2barrel range we might be able to find a tight fold on the turn here, although I don't have any huge issues with calling turn and folding river if opponent looks reasonable aggro. (One issue is that even if our opponent semi-bluffs turn frequently enough we can't really call river if he continues to bluff).

If our opponent is not aggro do you think raising for thin value would have better EV?, we don't end up laying down the best hand so often I would imagine. Though we do open ourselves up to getting bluffed on the river if we raise flop and check behind turn when some draw comes in.

Value raising is definitely thin here. A decent chunk of the EV comes from protecting our hand vs our opponents equity and also in buying a showdown a little more frequently (so our equity is still relevant). The actual value raise it's self doesn't have a huge amount of value.

But yeah, there is a decent chance it may have a higher expectation regardless, but not hugely so compared to flatting since we do keep our opponents range a little wider this way.