How to play the nuts in multiway pot?

[Inthacup]

Online 3 6

I have AQ spades in LP, 3 limpers before me, I decide to limp. (I can justify it, but flame away if you want). Folds around to BB, who checks. See flop 5 handed.

Flop is

Ks, 10s, Jh, beautiful, I have nut strait, with 4 cards to royal. BB bets out, and I call, I feel a raise here is a huge mistake, with very little concern about getting drawn out on and no reason to limit the field. 4 call.
Turn 9d

This is the best card I could have wished for. Everyone with queens now has a strait, and I will beat them with my higher strait. BB checks, EP bets, I call, wanting to see the texture of the calling. LP calls, SB raises! EP calls, I 3 bet and everyone calls.

River 6s

Now I have the nut flush, and I bet out, all 4 call. 2 players have queens, one has KJ!?

I know that I maximized my profit on this hand, but does anyone raise outright on the turn, with 2 left to call behind? This is one of the rare times when I think a slow play is applicable. Comments on turn call appreciated.

[Mike Gallo]

Limping preflop with AQ suited from that position, isnt a terrible mistake.

I think you played the hand well. You played the turn very well. You went for the overcall, and then got to cap it.

The river you got paid off nicely.

Good hand

[Ulysses]

Raise the turn. With your limp pre-flop and flop call, you're unlikely to be put on AQ. Anyone who would call 1 bet (any queen, maybe two pair, maybe flush draw) will call 2 with this pot and implied odds. And if you're lucky it'll get 3-bet giving you the chance to 4-bet it. Your aggression here will also make it more likely that you will get paid off or even raised by a smaller flush on the river if a spade falls.

I think you played this pretty well, but don't think you maximized your profit here. On a board like this with nuts and a great draw on the turn, I try to get as much money as possible in right then.

[Dynasty]

Limping preflop with AQ suited from that position, isnt a terrible mistake.

It's atrocious and will cost you lots of money in the long run.

[Dynasty]

You certainly did not maximize your profit on this hand. You played it horribly. You should have raised pre-flop, raised the flop, and raised the turn, and then dragged a substantially bigger pot. You easily left a half dozen big bets on the table.

You seemed to be concerned that your raises will knock somebody out. However, nobody with an Ace, King, Queen, 9, or spades is going to fold. You just made it cheaper for them while they were drawing dead.

[Inthacup]

Dynasty, I agree with you at higher limits, where the raise would push marginal calling hands out. However, at the 3 6 tables I play at everyone would just call the extra bet. In the event that an A falls on the board, my AQ is very vulnerable to draws, and if I had raisee preflop, there is very little chance that I will have the opprotunity to raise the flop to protect my hand. I understand the reasonings for raising AQ in many cases, but in this case, I can't see it being atrocious.

[Inthacup]

If I had raised the flop, there is no way I could have extracted more bets. If anything, it would have cost me on the turn. Had I raised the flop, the q's aren't going to play me as aggresively on the turn. Calling the flop, and turn, deceived the SB into checkraising, and I was able to 3 bet, that type of action would not have been possible had I come out raising, at best I would have been even money.

Here's the second most likely scenario.
I raise preflop, all call.
Flop: Callers check to me, I bet, they call.
Turn: EP bets out strait, fearing I'd check my "non queen" hand. I raise and all call.
River: I bet, All call.

This seems like a realistic alternate scenario, given I wasn't playing any maniacs, or overly aggressive players.

That would mean I would get +4SB preflop and -3BB on turn. Playing this hand more aggressively would have cost me a BB here, assuming everyone calls.

[Dynasty]

You want them to call. When you've got the best hand, you always want them to call with hands that are badly dominated. You're not raising to drive anybody out. You're raising to get as much money into the pot when you have the best hand.

[Dynasty]

Considering that the small blind checkraised the turn with his straight, I don't see why you think he wouldn't do the same if you had raised pre-flop. It's quite possible that he could have checkraised the flop as well with his open-ended draw allowing you to 3-bet.

Even in your worst case scenario, you only get one fewer big bet. It's hard to believe that wouldn't have earned more by betting and raising with the best hand rather than passively calling. It's not logical.

[anatta]

Regarding the flop play, raising is mandatory here. There was a quiz by Sklansky a while back here were he asked what was the biggest pre-flop error and the failure to raise with ATs in late position after several limpers was the winner. You hand is probably best and doesn't mind the big field.

Your post has some inconsistancies in it. You say you call the flop and all fold to the big blind. You see the flop five handed. Then on the turn, there is a SB check raiser and a LP behind you.

If you were last to act on the flop, I would raise, since players who are in for one bet, would probably call another, and mabey even 3 bet. On the other hand, with the SB and a late postion player to act, with no callers in between you and the BB, I would probably just call, but with the intension of raising the turn.

[Ed Miller]

Limping preflop with AQs in late position after a pack of limpers is one of the worst preflop mistakes one could make.

[bernie]

preflop...

id have raised, but there is some justification in loose games about limping here that ive read in some book....but id still raise. your hand is great multiway. raise to build the pot...not knock players out...

flop...

fine...if theyre loose callers, its not a huge mistake to raise here...table texture dependent...

turn....

not sure id have just smoothcalled right off here...you have the nut hand, *for now* what if you got your flush...woo hoo... aahhh but the board paired? you really like your hand now? you couldve gave a 10 out draw a cheap ride. you mentioned they werent aggressive idiots playing, i wouldnt have been suprised to see 1 set in there...even maybe top 2 pair...

the hand doesnt end with the flop, or the turn. you kind of rested on you laurels a little in the middle of the hand here from what i read...though it worked out for you in the end, it doesnt seem like you took all the possibilities into account...also, if anyone is calling with a smaller flush draw, and they miss, you wont collect anything from them on the river, even though you have them beat now...and theyre drawing dead.

a couple good draw outs on this 'nut' hand will cure ya of that...ive flopped the nut str8 nut flush draw before and got beat on the river. it sucked...now i know better. been there, done that. hard lesson...

the pot isnt yours til they shove it your way, and it seems you were stacking the chips on the turn. in your analysis, i didnt see you mention any possibility of being beat on the river...just about the chasers...

also, you dont 'call' the turn with this hand to see the texture of the calling....didnt you maybe get that info on the flop?

the time to really overcall the turn is with the near lock hand...like the FH or quads. not when someone could be drawing to those hands...

some ideas...

b

[Hat Trick]

You needed to raise pre-flop and raise the turn. The call on the turn seems OK to me under the cicumstances.