I see a few other salient points in the

original post:


- you said that your opponent was loose; I would

have expect that past play would have given you

some clue that he might be hard to push off a pair

under these conditions. If so, a check on the

flop is a better play. (Notice that if you get

there with the flush, it's much harder for them to

put you on it after you checked the flop. Also, there

was another opponent; what were the chances that one

of these two might call your flop bet with a pair,

figuring that your possible hands were high cards

or an overpair, and that you were likely to bet

either way?


- Moving all in on the flop as you did can easily

be construed as a sign of weakness! I would expect

many players with an overpair in this situation to

actually be more likely to call than to move in.

I don't know your play style, but there are many

players for whom I'd respect the all-in bet less

than the call. Go figure.


- Just calling his raise might decrease your effective

odds, but it massively increases your deception. Given

your decision to commit, consider the following play:


1) just call his raise, with the intent to re-evaluate


on the turn


2) if he moves in on the turn, you have an easy lay


down assuming you don't get there


3) a possible turn play from him is a feeler bet,


maybe half the pot. Now your all-in bluff is


much more convincing; he'll reason that surely you're


expecting him to call (given the pot odds), so it's much


more difficult for him to believe you're bluffing.


My opinion is that you played the hand in a straight

forward manner, which obviously isn't a mistake but

which didn't maximize your chances of getting him

to fold. The fact that he called with an actual

shit hand instead of a mediocre one might also suggest

you had a tell.


- cheers