[elon05]

Sorry I havent been active the last couple days guys. I've been busy moving into a new house and havent had internet.

A $15-$30 game. You are in middle position with the . Two early players limp in and you raise. The cutoff, the blinds, and the limpers call. There is $180 in the pot and six players. The flop is: , giving you top pair, top kicker. Both blinds and both limpers check. You bet. The cutoff and the first early limper call. There is $225 in the pot and three players. The turn is the . The early limper checks. You bet, the cutoff folds, and the early limper calls. There is $285 in the pot and two players. The river is the ?? putting a backdoor three-flush on the board. Your opponent checks. What do you do?

[bobdmb]

this is no easy hand (at least for me).
Hands I could set him on: ace with a weaker kicker, suited connectors (something like 8,9 of hearts giving him a open ended straight draw plus a flush draw which he both missed). The check could also be a trap, but since he called two times I won't set him on two diamonds.

I'll raise. if he reraises, i'll call.

[iceberg]

I would raise and call any re-raise. You have top pair and best kicker. He's only been calling, so in the long run you will come out ahead. He may have AQ, AJ as well.

[IvanDrago]

If you came out with a BIG juicy bet on that flop for lets say 80% of the pot, and he just called. I would say you got em. He seems very weak not to reraise you and to just call when if he did have the better hand hes still just giving you free cards which is just stupid. I cant believe that. So I would dsay easily you got the best hand and on that river you should through out not a big bet nor a small one, just a value bet so yuo can extract more money off of the guy .

-Drago

To the End!

[Arjonius]

IvanD, it would appear this hand is in a limit game, although it's not explicitly stated. This would mean, of course, that the size of the possible bets is pre-determined.

As for how to play it, one factor that would seem to require strong consideration is the playing style of the opponent. Most important, is he the kind who's likely to call a bet at the end with a hand that's less than top pair top kicker?

Assuming no read in this regard, if you check, you win or lose $285 depending whether your hand is better than his. If you bet and he folds, you win the same $285 you would have won by checking (neglecting the fairly small chance that betting will cause him to fold with a better hand than yours). Among possible hands, this covers the opponent having a busted straight and/or flush draw, and some opponents will have gotten this far with a weaker A and will fold if you bet once more.

If you bet and get called, you win or lose one additional big bet. Some opponents will call one more bet with a weaker A. But if it's a good kicker like AQ or AJ, limping pre-flop and then not raising after the flop to see where he stands is a possible combination of actions, but not necessarily all that likely. The other hand that might call is two pair; i.e. the opponent hit his A and his kicker. If so, you obviously lose at showdown.

If you bet and get check-raised, you can win or lose two additional big bets. Is there a hand you beat that will check-raise in this situation? Possibly, but the likelihood seems pretty low, so I'd assume that in this situation, you'll lose almost all the time - most likely to either a set or the aforementioned two pair.

When I bring the three possibilities together and weight them in terms of probability, it looks like I have more to lose than to gain by betting. So I check.

[elon05]

Here is what I would do in this situation

Bet. Since your opponent did not raise you on the turn, you can probably rule out him having two pair, a straight, or any hand that beats yours, except for a flush. The 3 does makes a flush, but it is backdoor. Your opponent cannot be sure you will bet here if he does have a diamond flush, so the odds are that he does not have a flush, given that he has now checked. You probably have the best hand. Will a worse hand call? Any weaker ace will certainly call. With all this dough in the pot, he might even call you down on less, hoping you were on a busted draw.