[Catt]

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A free SD raise is generally a raise in position that is intended to be the last money you put into the pot unless you improve on the river. If it is a true free showdown raise, you are folding to a three bet.

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I don't think it is really. a very common example is a weak suited ace that pairs and has a flush draw..

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I'd categorize that as a traditional semi-bluff - we probably don't have the best hand but lots of outs to the best hand, and we'd be happy to have opponent fold immediately. It's a bit of semantics, though, since even my use of the term is a form of semi-bluff. I think most people on these boards refer to raising with what may be a second-best hand but with lots of outs to improve as a "semi-bluff" and raising with what may be a second-best hand that has few outs to improve as a "free showdown" raise -- the principle difference being that in the former you're calling a three-bet and in the latter you are probably not. You ideally want to make both plays when you think the chance of getting three-bet is small, but in the latter a three-bet tends to ruin your play while in the former it elicits a grumble. If you're raising a nut flush draw with a a medium pair (one that you have ample reason to believe is second best), you better be doing so only if (1) there's a decent chance Villain folds to the raise, and (2) there's a very small chance Villain three-bets, and (3) there's a small chance that Villain stop n goes the river.