Playing 88 with a coordinated board

[coinflip]

Trying to get comfortable raising mid pairs in LP with few limpers. First time sitting with villain; I've got him at 17/0/?? over just 15 hands or so. He has yet to show down a hand.

Party Poker 2/4 Hold'em (10 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 8/images/graemlins/club.gif, 8/images/graemlins/heart.gif. Hero posts a blind of $2.
<font color="#666666">4 folds</font>, MP2 calls, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero (poster) raises</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, MP2 calls.

Flop: (5.50 SB) A/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 2/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 2/images/graemlins/diamond.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
MP2 checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP2 raises</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP2 caps</font>, Hero calls.

Turn: (6.75 BB) 5/images/graemlins/heart.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">MP2 bets</font>, Hero folds.

Final Pot: 7.75 BB

Seems like my options were to just call it down or play back at villain on the flop. Heads-up on this board, is a calldown with position superior? In retrospect it seems like I'm either way ahead or behind, and I get to see the showdown for only 1SB more than my line cost.

[Nick C]

Probably I would have folded to the flop checkraise, as MP2 is checkraising a preflop raiser with an ace on the board. But there are some complications.

One is that MP2 might just have a flush draw. (That starts looking less likely, though, when he caps your flop 3-bet.) Another is that he may think your preflop raise, as the poster, was a play, and you raised light. So maybe he'd checkraise with a pocket pair lower than yours, thinking he might be best, and also thinking that, if you did raise with a premium hand, maybe he can push you off of, say, QQ.

I think MP2 is probably checkraising with aces up, though. And if he does just have a flush draw, he'll go on to beat you with it more often than you'll outdraw aces up.

The turn decision wouldn't be easy for me, as you do now have a flush draw. This won't do you any good if MP2 has, say, A /images/graemlins/spade.gif 2 /images/graemlins/spade.gif and is playing his flopped boat fast. Also, you could be against a better made hand and a bigger flush draw, if your opponent has something like A /images/graemlins/club.gif K /images/graemlins/heart.gif. The possibility that MP2 was checkraising and capping on the flop with a flush draw also can't be entirely dismissed. Still, I don't think MP2 has to have anything better than aces up with no hearts, and while you should certainly discount your flush outs some, there are also two cards that will give you 8's full, in addition to your potential flush outs.

So, getting nearly 8:1, I'm tempted to call on the turn and probably would.

But I don't think I still would have been in the hand, at that point.