[EGO]

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Of course I'm not worried about a higher straight beating us - but splitting is another matter.

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dude

listen to yourself, "I'm devaluing my straight draw because someone else might have the same two cards even though I have no reason to put someone on that hand"

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Yes. Not by much, though. Not more than a passing thought (I beat x hands, I tie x hands, I lose against x hands), and it's really not a key decision here. I'd argue that the possibility of a split certainly doesn't make my hand better... does it? Like I said, though, it doesn't matter.

My comment was directed at the use of the phrase "idiot end", which I perhaps define differently, and I should have phrased it less glibly. In micro-limit hold'em online, where even the tight players don't fold, you need to weigh your chances with any draw tempered with the ability to make a winning pair. With a J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] board I'm more likely to play with K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] in this spot because I've got a better chance of making the best hand with a pair. Both straights draw to the nut straight, but one is clearly better. The worse of these I'd call the "idiot-end". (Notice that splitting in either case doesn't really matter much.) It might not be the classic definition of the term, but in micros, I use it as such.

In a higher limit game, I wouldn't worry about it too much, because I'd expect to have much better reads other than "typical loose passive." No fault to the OP, though, because often these are the only real reads you can have at .25/.50.

I like to think about poker, and when I do post in these forums, try to find hands to respond to where my advice will cut against the grain.

I think this hand is instructive. With a draw you'll usually want more, rather than less players - particularly with a hand that can't "buy any outs" - but the reverse is clearly more true here. I read about the "horserace" concept in a book sometime recently (forgot which of the 2+2 titles it was), and this hand seemed to apply. The OP could draw against either a Kx or a flush draw, but not both. This concept seems far more interesting than my possibly unacceptable usage of the term "idiot end".