[Aviston]

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The Q7 hand on page 52 seems to happen to me a lot. Unfortunately, the villain is not raising but merely calling the flop. For example:

I have Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], one player limps, the SB calls and I check in the BB.

The flop comes Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] giving me TPWK. I lead out a bet of 2 BB (into a 3 BB pot). The player in MP calls, and the SB folds.

While the pot now only contains 7 BB, I'm not interested in playing even a remotely large pot at this point. That usually infers a check on the turn, however, I feel at that point, most typical opponents will bet the turn after my check and I'll either a) be giving up and folding with no questsions asked, or b) calling down far too often and feeling like a donkey. On top of that, if my only goal was to fold all of the players on the flop and scoop the 3 BB pot, then I don't need any hand at all (much less a TP hand) to make that play.

Any advice on this situation? It's tough for me not to bet the flop with TP (even with a weak kicker) in a limped pot. On the other hand, I'm not interested in playing any type of medium-large pot with an extremely vulnerable hand (and one that is easily beaten by a caller).

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This is the type of situation where I think its best not to put any more money in after the flop. I know what you're thinking - you have top pair and it can be difficult to let go of a hand that has a good chance of being best in an unraised pot. However, your kicker is weak and you are out of position, with a hand that has very little chance of improving. I would advise that you let this go and wait for better spots.

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in a three-handed pot you likely have the best hand. i usually check this and call flop if bet, play on from there. but you certainly can let it go. no one sees what you fold, so there's no virtual moped involved.

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Assuming I check/call the flop, am I right in assuming we'll play this hand out as long as the pot stays small? For instance, if I check the turn and he checks as well, I might value bet the river. If, however, I check the turn and face a large bet, then I can safely fold and assume I was beat. Is this correct thinking?