5/10NL Party - Tough decision on flop...or is it ???

[True]

lots of people read high stakes and respond without having any clue about poker

[Vammakala]

Isn't this a midstakes hand anyway? ;]

[BingBangBoom]

what was your reason for reraising? it seems like you did it just to do it..if you were doing it for value if u hit your flush..then u shouldnt be folding a push right?

[The_eel]

First off apologies, for posting this in the hi stakes section and not mid.

BingBangBoom, the reason I raised his flop bet was because If he doesn’t have an A, or draw, he folds to my raise. If he calls my raise, I can check behind for a free card. This play is better than calling his flop bet IMO. As it happens for me he pushes...I think I have to let it go... He played it well..I played it fine too IMO.

[LarsVegas]

It boils down to purely a math/range problem on the last call. You are getting close to 1.5-to-1 on the last call (if villain had $1100 prior to the pot), so it's very very close (need 40%+ equity to make it a call). There is not a single hand out there that have you down to less than 28-29% equity, and against most hand you will be closer to a coinflip. In addition you beat 8c6c and 6c5c badly which are very likely hands on his part, IMHO (maybe even more so than bare nut flush draws such as KcQc or Kc8c). Well it's close.

I am calling, not raising, this flop almost every time. You have position and a good draw, lets take that advantage beyond several streets with deep stacks to play with. If he doesn't have the Ace, you are winning the pot frequently anyway, either through catching the best hand (a J or T will usually be enough if he doesn't have the Ace) or through a bluff at a later street. If he fires like $200 on the turn, you could still easily just call, or even consider a push as it will now look much more like a real hand, as well as the risk/reward part of the hand looking a lot stronger.

A flop raise could either earn you a small pot right there or blow you off this good draw without seeing another card, whereas a turn push to a normal sized bet will leave you with some outdrawing equity as well as a much bigger pot to win without the showdown.

Another strength to just calling the flop and even the turn, is the metagame aspect of it, in that many No-Limit players ideally would like to call this flop in position with a marginal hand, like A-4 or Q-9 and await further developments (obviously not looking to play a major pot), while a strong, but vulnerable hand such as A-7 or 9-7 will want to raise straight away at this fairly draw heavy board. Obviously good players catch up to this, which is why good players will need to mix this strategy up a little. It will keep your opponent guessing when you just call in these spots in position, particularly when it's excactly the scare cards that are helping YOU. I think calling here on the flop, and frequently on the turn, is a very nice play for metagame purposes. It mixes very well with calling once, and sometimes twice, with hands such as A-4 here, which obviously can't stand heavy bets in front at all three streets.

lars

[ace93rd]

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First off apologies, for posting this in the hi stakes section and not mid.

BingBangBoom, the reason I raised his flop bet was because If he doesn’t have an A, or draw, he folds to my raise. If he calls my raise, I can check behind for a free card. This play is better than calling his flop bet IMO. As it happens for me he pushes...I think I have to let it go... He played it well..I played it fine too IMO.

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I dont like your logic, sayin "If he calls my raise, I can check behind for a free card"...by playin it this way you are basically turning your hand face up...if turn is a blank and he checks to you, and you check despite your re-raise on flop, and despite the draw heavy board you are screaming you have the draw, so if your draw hits you surely wont get paid much.

[ace93rd]

[ QUOTE ]
I do not play these stakes, but I would expect to see 88, Q9 a lot here... (happened to me just yesterday).

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now this just confuses me ???