[Jake (The Snake)]

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If your one goal was to protect against a gutshot straight draw then you should probably go for the turn raise, but there are more hands that can beat you than just those, and more importantly, those hands are much more likely. I'm talking about hands like the naked Q/K of spades, sevens, and pocket pairs. These are hands that can either call profitably or almost profitably for one bet but can't do so for two.

[/ QUOTE ]

Another very important point which I was just about to comment on. Good post.

If the 7 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] had been the T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], or Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], I would be more likely to wait for the turn, since now gutshots become likely and dangerous. Right now, we CAN protect our hand on the flop from hands like pocket pairs, which are a more likely danger to us, as you point out.