5/10 NL, you get KT of spades in LP. 2 limpers to you, you limp as well. SB completes, BB checks. You have a full stack, everyone has you covered, but not by much.

Flop Pot = $50.

SB bets 25, BB folds, limper1 calls, limper2 folds, you raise to $75. SB folds, limper1 calls.

Turn ; Pot = $225.

Limper1 bets $200. What do you do?

Thanks!

D

Let's see. The pot is $425 on the turn, if you match the $200 it becomes $625, and you have about $700 left, which is slightly more than the pot. What could limper have called with on the flop? It looks like a draw to me. I'm thinking [Ts], [9s], [9s], one of those mega-draws. If this is the case, he is not getting away from his medium flush after you put in that deceptive raise on the flop. What I think would work best here is a min-raise and let him push allin if he's got the flush, and if not, get the rest of the money in on the river.

I'm pretty sure that a "full stack" at 5/10 NL is $1000? Unfortunately, I don't know first hand... yet... I would just let the time run WAY down and call... He's gonna come back betting again, and I would raise him allin as long as the board doesn't pair... I'm just afraid raising the turn a significant amount to matter may scare him off whatever it is he has... The only problem is that, if a spade hits, you're action is probably gonna get screwed unless he happens to be sitting on the ... He already has close to $300 in the pot, and any significant bet on the river by him will pot commit him...

I agree with the small raise on the turn, perhaps he was slow playing his set of aces by just smooth calling your flop raise or his three 8s (more likely i think). You have the absolute nuts here but its not a guaranteed win at the river. If you just smooth call here (which might look fairly suspicious...) and then the river pairs the board and he moves all in, you're forced to fold and lose out on your 200+ the rest of what he had. I would definitely try to get all in on the turn here, but if you can't I'm not really sure what you would do next if the river paired.


take this with a grain of salt since the highest I play online is a twentieth of the buy-in you're at here..

But, doesn't everyone here say that minraising is the most suspicious thing in the world... wouldn't just calling make it seem a little more weak?

I'm not saying a min-raise is the best thing here, but its better than letting him catch his pair to fill up :\. You would hate to raise him off a hand however because if you reraise big he may now see your flush. Min-raising builds the pot and also gives him a chance to move all in on the turn. He will now call a value bet on the river if he only has a set or top two since the pot has been built a little more. If another spade comes it may kill your action, but at least you got more in the pot while you could...

I was a bad boy. I slow played a nut flush and got lucky that the guy didn't fill up:

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em, $.50 BB (9 handed)

UTG ($27.05)
UTG+1 ($19.05)
MP1 ($22.30)
MP2 ($28.45)
MP3 ($39.30)
CO ($14)
Button ($47.35)
Hero ($35.60)
BB ($24.65)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
4 folds, MP3 calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.50) , , (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP3 bets $1.5, Hero calls $1.50, BB folds.

Turn: ($4.50) (2 players)
Hero checks, MP3 bets $4.5, Hero calls $4.50.

River: ($13.50) (2 players)
Hero bets $13.5, MP3 bets $13.5, Hero bets $27.

Final Pot: $54

Results in white below:
Hero has 2h Ah (flush, ace high).
MP3 has Kc 9s (two pair, kings and nines).
Outcome: Hero wins $54.

I dont like the min raise here, it screams. I made a flush and want to pot commit you here. A good player is going to see right through it and a min raise, is giving him odds to call with a set to try to fill up. He is 5:1 to pair the board on the river. So the pot is already $225 buy min raising here you are giving him odds since he is calling 5:1 to fill up. Even worse is if he is a good player and he doesnt fill up he is going to fold the river if he misses and your not going to get his stack. What else would you min raise here other than a made flush? I would play this one of two ways. Make a real raise, make it $400 on top this raise looks like you are protecting a hand, not making a milking bet. That is option 1, option 2 is to smooth call.pray for a nice river card and hope he leads into you again, so you can raise. Me personally, I go route 1, there are to many cards that make it so you dont his stack on the river if you just call. Another spade is going to kill your action unless he has the even then it is going to be hard to get his stack, since you didnt build the pot on the turn, obviously if the board pairs you cant reraise a bet. So I say raise $400 on top and try to get him to push.

I push all in. He most likely has a flush also and will call.

I like to push with the nuts sometimes to give me cover for the times I push trying to protect my hand. I think this is the perfect time to do it.

If he doesnt have a flush and you just call. He not going to bet the river and hes probably not going to call when you do.

Hes not going to call a min raise without a set, which he doesnt have anyway. But in case he does, I want him to pay full price to try to fill up.

Push push push. I can guarantee you he doesnt think you have the nut flush. He thinks you have something like AQ with Qs.

Thanks for the replies.

I went with iceman's suggestion and pushed. He called instantly and I scooped when he had the . I thought it was clear that he had one of two hands - a smaller flush, or a strangely played set. I was almost certain he had the flush here. Since I raised on the flop, most players dont put me on the flush. I think that this is a perfect time for the all-in - it looks like Ax or a set - thus I think his set or flush will pay this off near 100% of the time. If he is bluffing, I wouldnt have gotten any money out of him on the river anyway, so I agree with ice - I think the all-in is the right move here.

As for the min-raise on the turn - I NEVER min-raise at any point in the hand unless I'm playing against a bad player who I know will pay me off. This guy didnt fall into that category. Most players at the 5/10 NL recognize that the min-raise on the turn = the nuts.

D

Do not just call in situations like this -- a big reason being if a spade puts a 4 flush on the board at the river or if the board pairs on the river, then your opponent will be very wary of a big river raise and you just missed your chance to bust him. Raise the turn and hope he had a set or a smaller flush. You wont get a lot out of him anyway at this point unless he has one of these, but you can lose a lot if a scare card on riv shuts him down. Also, like Ice said, it adds some fear when you make this play in the future without the nuts.

droqqa - I also do not minraise very often but in this case, to me it was so obviously that he had exactly what he ended up having - a s.f draw turned into a medium flush - that I thought it would be good for you to give him a chance to hang himself. Who on Earth is gonna get away from the third-nut flush on the turn to a minraise?

You also want to avoid seeing a 4th flush card (although it wont happen often given that you have 2 and you think he has 2 also)