[Brian]

Hi Griffin,

I am afraid that there is no easy answer that will apply to every situation that comes up. In fact, I can't think of one that applies to even half of the situations that come up. It all depends on what you think of the pre-Flop raiser, what you think he thinks of you, what exactly the board is, how many other players are in the pot, etc etc etc. The only way to learn how to apply these concepts is to post a lot of hands and get used to dealing with it, because it certainly comes up often.

In this particular situation, going for a check-raise on the Flop would be too dangerous because your hand is very vulnerable to overcards and the Button may check it through. Once the Button raises you, you have to ask yourself, is this the type of player who would raise his overcards into a bettor with 2 players still left to act? If the answer is no, then just call his raise, and check-fold the Turn. If the answer is yes, go ahead and pop him back and see what he does. But most typical players will not.

In this particular situation, even if he is the type who would raise his overcards, you still have the EP player to worry about, who just called 2 bets cold on the Flop. You don't have a very good kicker and EP2 could have the infamous JT, or any other Ten with a better kicker. Assuming EP2 isn't complete garbage, on this relatively drawless board, I would call the raise and hope to spike a 9 on the Turn. A Ten may be good as well.

On the Turn, you are almost certainly beat, but you are getting 10:1 to call and hit a 5 outer. I would check and fold the River.

-Brian