4-flush on the board

I got lucky, I think, on the following hand.


I get KsTs in the BB. UTG+3 raises, next player calls, I call.


Flop comes pretty good:


Kh Th 3d


I bet, both players call.


Turn is another heart, 8h.


I bet, both call.


River is a 4h, bringing the 4th heart.


Without hesitation I bet, and both fold!


Who would check here with the idea that no worse hand is going to call? Who would bet, hoping a low heart will fold?

Well, how can you be so sure they were both on a flush draw?


Maybe UTG +3 had J's or Q's and you other caller had maybe...J9s (off suit from board) and then started working on a straight and didn't get it.


I would definitely bet in your situation as you want to play that hand aggressively. In fact, I might have even check-raised the flop...

If my opponents had the hands you suggest, a bet on the river would be useless.


I don't assume my opponents were on a flush draw. They just might have had one heart in addition to something else, like a pair of Kings (perhaps a KQ, but who would fold the Qh on the river?? perhaps a KT, but would raise or call a raise with KToff??), or perhaps one had Js with one being a heart.


Since it's hard to find hands that beat me that would have played the way my opponents did, I think my river bet was wrong.

I would check/call or check/fold (if middle player bets and the next player calls).


No flush is laying down here. And probably no hand that you beat is going to call.


However, you might induce someone to bet here and represent the flush.

So we agree....

Steven,


I don't like the river bet, but i've certainly done it myself. It's like you're saying "My hand was good before this %#$@ing river card and I'm going to show you". I can't think of a hand that would contain a single heart under 10 that is still in the hand at this point, so there aren't any hands that beat you to force out. That only leaves hands that beat you. If you check you might induce a bluff from someone.


The rest of the play was pretty straight-forward. I don't like check-raising boards like that because they often get checked around.

Steven---

I like the bet in this type of situation. Most of the time, nobody has one of the suit and you were, as the saying goes, "bluffing with the best hand". On your best days, you'll get better hands to fold a small suited card (can't do that if you check!). Just keep in mind that once in a while somebody will look you up with a suited 3, not even expecting to win and take the pot. I think, overall, this type of bet has a positive expectation in the long run.


ML