Stud hi - playing straighty & flushy hand

[roggles]

3) Is 3rd street completion ok?
4) I think 4th gives away FD, but I see it as kind of a value bet with the straight draw.
5) Should I raise here? I wanted to, but I didn't. Obviously being results-oriented I shouldn't, but please disregard later streets in your action.

6-7) Now, I think it is fairly obvious I have a straight flush on the river and I don't think he should cap the river. Against a better player, should I perhaps not cap on 6th?

7 Card Stud High ($2/$4), Ante $0,40, Bring-In $0,50 (converter)

3rd Street - (1.20 SB)

Seat 2: xx xx 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]___brings-in___folds
Seat 3: xx xx A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]___calls___raises
Hero: 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]___completes___calls
Seat 5: xx xx 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]___folds
Seat 7: xx xx J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]___folds
Seat 8: xx xx 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]___folds

4th Street - (5.45 SB)

Seat 3: xx xx A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]___bets___calls
Hero: 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]___raises

5th Street - (4.73 BB)

Seat 3: xx xx A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]___bets
Hero: 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]___calls

6th Street - (6.73 BB)

Seat 3: xx xx A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]___bets___raises___calls
Hero: 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]___raises___raises

River - (14.73 BB)

Seat 3: xx xx A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] xx___bets___raises___calls
Hero: 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]___raises___raises to $15.30 (all-in)

Total pot: (24.38 BB - $97,50)

[Rush17]

Seeing the Ace has already limped in, I probably wouldn't raise on 3rd, but in the right games (ie;where the players are pretty tight, passive, and give up easily on 4th~5th etc.) then raising will have its merits when your opponents miss and wind up folding the better hand (even when it's just Ace high). Just don't overrate the hand because it has str8 flush possibilities; it's still a weak flush draw and a gutter straight draw.

If it's online,on 6th, you cap the betting if given the opportunity, and if it's live, keep pumping it until he's the one who lets up. His most likely hand here is either AAA or A's full, and if he's full, there's gonna be lots of bets going in the middle (even if you're facing a good player)--the difference being, a really good player will lose less overall, but with A's full (unless it's O8 where the stone cold nuts are always more likely to be out there and also easier to read),or unless you're actually showing a 4-card str8 flush on board, you're gonna lose a lot of chips.

Look at it this way---when he reraises you on 6th, why do you think he's doing that for? He's telling you he has a monster hand so why on earth would you not act like you're over playing a flush/straight like a donk and make the max? Forget that, he's not even thinking about your hand if he has A's full (I mean, he WILL, eventually...once he's beat over the head a few more times, but for right now and for the next 5 or 6 bets or so, he won't be, so you gotta exploit that).

[roggles]

Well, the thing is that I am not a donk (on later streets at least. I am loose on 3rd and 4th). I had been playing solid poker, and the same guy in this hand had just given me a couple of horrendous beats in O8, each time I had been showing the nuts on turn. There is just no hand to put me on except straight flush. I do not think I'd cap with a FH.

Maybe not capping 6th is getting too tricky for my own good though

[chucky]

This 3rd I dont like to complete. You dont have much straight draw power with your hand. with 678 diamonds i would complete. raising 5th is a bad idea since villian has trip aces.

[roggles]

How can you be sure that he has trip aces? I think limp-reraising with aces on 3rd is a pretty weird play. First of all he usually won't get anyone to complete unless a donk like I decide to play a hand. Secondly, he risks playing a big multi-way pot with a big pair, which is a pretty bad situation because it's so hard to know when to fold on later streets. I'd much rather do the limp-reraise thing with a 3-flush of spades or something like that, but I'd also raise if only one other player gets in the pot (like in this case), representing an ace.

But yeah, you think most players will have split aces in this spot?

[chucky]

Without a pair and having bricked 4th, I just dont see a bet by villian on 4th(especially since you caught well). If you raise on 5th you reduce the amount that someone with just aces or aces will put into the pot on 6th and 7th, while ensuring that you put the maximum into the pot if villian has trip aces.

[Rush17]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, the thing is that I am not a donk (on later streets at least. I am loose on 3rd and 4th). I had been playing solid poker, and the same guy in this hand had just given me a couple of horrendous beats in O8, each time I had been showing the nuts on turn. There is just no hand to put me on except straight flush. I do not think I'd cap with a FH.

Maybe not capping 6th is getting too tricky for my own good though

[/ QUOTE ]

Didn't imply you were a donk...

Anyway,

You're not capping it with A's full? Are you serious? I'm not going to lose mega bets with A's full, but if you're not at least putting in 2-3 raises with it, you're missing bets.

And, if the 2 hands were reversed, and you were able to read it for a str8 flush, don't think that everyone reads hands at the same level of accuracy, because they don't.

Bottom line, if he can reraise you on 6th, there is no good reason for NOT raising him back. This is what happens when you raise----he either reraises (yaay for you! Now you can raise it again and collect more bets!), or, he just calls. Keep in mind that for all the times that you do reraise and he elects to just call...you're still gaining 1 extra bet (and add that bet up over time...and it's a lot of $ that you're leaving on the table ).

I'm pretty sure that folding was not in this guys plans so you really don't need to think of ways to try and trick him into making a mistake and paying you off...he's paying you off and then some (at least that's the way I'm reading it given his play throughout the entire hand and looking at his board. And, the bigger the hand that you think he holds, the more you need to think about getting him to committ as much of his chips/stack as possible.

[roggles]

[ QUOTE ]
You're not capping it with A's full? Are you serious? I'm not going to lose mega bets with A's full, but if you're not at least putting in 2-3 raises with it, you're missing bets.

[/ QUOTE ]
No, I meant that in this particular hand I would not cap into him if I also had a FH. Although, I can't even have a FH because my board is not paired. Just saying, when I'm capping there isn't much I can have except a straight flush

[Rush17]

Sometimes, when players hit big hands ( I mean BIG hands, like A's full or quad A's), they like to raise a lot, and it'll be rightfully so *most of the time*. And, perhaps he would lose more bets on the hand then say you or I would lose on it, but that's one area that defines and separates being good/average/bad.

Yes, you were showing 3 to a straight flush on board, but if he has a BIG hand, his wake up call will often come after he already committed a big chunk of his chips.

I don't know what else to say here really except that trying to be tricky is just going to cause you to lose bets, not gain them. And, if you read him for A's full, can you see how reraising is the only choice here? You got him chained by the balls, come on. Seriously, anything less would be a huge loss of value.

[Rush17]

[ QUOTE ]
6-7) Now, I think it is fairly obvious I have a straight flush on the river and I don't think he should cap the river. Against a better player, should I perhaps not cap on 6th?



[/ QUOTE ]

How does not capping 6th become the better choice if you're up against a better player? He bets, you raised, he reraised. Then what happens on 7th? Are you gonna raise him then when he leads out? I'm sure you would, right? He's gonna do one of two things with any big hand that he holds---he's either gonna reraise you, or he's gonna call.

I think you're forgetting that you're not the only one who holds a big hand, and he's not going to fold if you cap the betting...not even if he's a great player.