[TomBrooks]

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Preflop: Fold
Flop: Bet
Hand plays differently after that
River as played: Call

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Why?

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PREFLOP
The starting hand chart says to fold. I suppose for the usual reasons: Not good enough to call with and play multiway, not strong enough to raise with and try and get HU with. Susceptible to domination.

FLOP
<u>Use Your Position</u>
Because it's checked to you and you have position on the field. Using that position you can often win the hand right here. You probably have the best hand anyway or are second best only to a King which will be hard pressed to call a bet from you.

<u>Get Better Hands to Fold</u>
You can get other better hands to fold such as any five, six, 77, 88, 99.

<u>Don't Give a Free Card</u>
If you give a free card here, you give someone who might have folded a free shot to make a good or great hand like a set or a straight.

<u>Semi-Bluff, You Have Outs.</u>
You also have other outs. Both your cards are higher than the middle card on the flop and either one would probably make top pair. You have a backdoor flush and BD straight draw.

<u>Clean up Your Outs</u>
The King [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] might correctly fold here, cleaning up your 8 Backdoor Flush outs.

Any KQ or QJ might correctly fold here, cleaning up up to six of your Q and T outs.

<u>Set Yourself Up to Take it Down on the Turn</u>
If betting doesn't win the pot for you outright on the flop, it may set you up to take it down on the turn. The [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] that came set you up nicely to make another semi-bluff bet, but you no longer had the initiative that would help you take it down now, so you might as well just call this street.

RIVER
You might have the best hand. You likely have the top pair. The CO might be betting a pair lower than yours. Hope he didn't make a flush, straight, two pair or a set. You win this more than one time in 9.