[Roland]

There’s one problem with this play: you have to be sure you can get it heads-up. Specifically, a loose player in the bring-in often means trouble.

Nevertheless, at the right table, it’s a good play. I don’t think I’ve ever tried it at 5/10, but I’ve used it at 10/20 a few times. What’s especially nice is that in the 10/20 structure some players (LittleMoon for instance) won’t even call the completion without an over card if you get it heads-up (correctly, of course), so you win it right there.
Like you said, there’s really no defence against this play; against a LAP you can’t fight back because he isn’t going to fold, and against a TAP, you can’t risk it because he’s going to have something the vast majority of the time. The only defence would be to find a game that’s less tight-aggressive or to simply stop limping with 3-flushes first in from EP unless they are very live and/or contain over cards; or you do limp but then just fold if you find yourself HU (that’d be my choice).

One more thing - I think that this play probably works better in tightly structured games, because good players are less likely to call you on 4th and 5th (because the pot is smaller and because you’re supposedly more likely to have a real hand [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ). In a higher ante game, on the other hand, you’ll probably often get a call from 3-flush + pair type hands etc. IIRC, 7CSFAP even mentions this - something about semi-bluffing more on the early rounds because the pot is smaller.

Maybe blmpkin has some more thoughs on this. I’m sure he uses this play to excess. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]