.10/.25 NL Hand: Help a newbie please

I'm brand new at NL play...trying it out at the .10/.25 blind game on UltimateBet.


I am in the SB w/ As4s.


Five players limp, I call. Pot = $1.50

Flop is 5s 3c Kd. Rainbow.


Four players (including me) check. Fifth player bets .50.

What should I do? I see a backdoor flush draw and a draw for a very hidden straight.


I called. So did two other players. Turn makes it 5s 3c Kd Ts.

Gives me a flush draw. $3.50 in the pot. I check, flop bettor comes out for $2. I call. Everyone else folds. $7.50 in the pot. Correct call?


River completes my hand. 5s 3c Kd Ts 2s. I am lost on what the proper play here is. Any suggestions?


Mojay

The call on the flop was questionable, only $1.50 in the pot and you were going to bet 33% of that on a longshot flush/inside straight draw. I guess if you know that particular opponent to bluff or be a loose caller if you complete your hand then you did the right thing.

Now I don't understand you being lost on the river, you have the nut flush right? Based on what you've seen of that player you could check to him and then raise if he raises, that'd probably be best because if you bet outright he'll know you've completed your hand. But hard to tell for sure, there are guys there that will call anything. Sklansky's book has a very good chapter on betting on the river. Sometimes it's better to bet/reraise a smaller amount so your opponent will call and you'll get their money. If they fold you won't get their money.

I'm pretty green at this myself and have been playing NL extremely cautiously there. There is one guy today whose name I won't mention who has gone broke of the buy-in several times and keeps coming back and following his bottom or middle pair to the river and getting burned.

whats his stack size and what are your chances of getting all of it when you make your hand are important things to consider here.


if he folded to your pot-sized river bet then you really werent getting odds to draw imho.

One problem you had with drawing to this hand is position. Since you are acting before him, you make it difficult for yourself to extract the maximum in the event of making your hand.


With your position you can lead into him, but he will likely just call, assuming he has enough to even do that. You can check and raise, but there is no guarantee he will bet.


However acting after him you will always make the right decision. If he continues to bet you can put in a bigger raise, than if he just checks it to you on the river. If he checks bet approximately the size of the pot to lure a call, if he bets into you, you may be able to go allin.