by k3nt » Wed Sep 28, 2005 10:46 am
Nice thread, guys.
I like Axs a lot too, for a limp in MP to LP. I sometimes limp in EP but usually regret it.
(At the $20 Prima tables I made a very solid profit from Axs in EP as well as MP/LP. With 5-6 seeing a typical flop and small bets after the flop, Axs is about the best hand to have. You either catch and win a big pot or don't catch and fold easily on the river. And about 1 time in 15 somebody has the lower flush and donates their whole stack. Most tables aren't as loose-passive as the Prima $20s though.)
On the flop, if I hit the flush draw in LP, I treat it just like I do a set or top two pair: raise pretty much any bet a solid amount. I agree with gdaviet on this one: it's good to have another hand that you play exactly like you play a set, so that even observant opponents don't know what to put you on. You look like an action player when you're raising strongly on a semi-regular basis. If they fold every time they have TPTK or two pair for fear of my set, they lose. If they raise or push every time hoping I'm on the flush draw, they lose that too, because I'm only calling with my sets and stacking them. If they just call, I still have position and life is good.
Most people I play with will flat call my flop raise, and then they let me see my two cards. Plus, they do tend to pay me off when I hit, at least somewhat. It seems like they pay off MORE if the flush hits on the river, because my turn check behind after my flop raise confuses them and they think their TPTK or whatever has to be good.
Also, it seems like lower flush draws will always call along no matter how many bets are going in. It's always nice to have significant dead money in the pot -- pretty much makes any play +EV.