[redbeard]

i feel like my goal on this street should be to thin the field and get as reliable an amount of information as i can. in general, i assume that the preflop 3 bettor has the same goals. therefore, i need to figure out a way to face the maximum number of people with calling two bets cold to force them out of the hand. given the positioning of my opponents and the pfr on this hand it is about as hard as possible. if i were seated to the pfr's immediate right or left then i could either bet and have him raise or wait for his bet and raise respectively -- both facing the entire field with calling two bets cold. in this situation i cannot do this and believe the best option is to bet out. this will almost certainly result in his raise at least forcing the two blinds to call two cold and thin the field as much as possible. i may also get one or both of the cold callers to fold not wanting to get raised. if i check, then they may have the same plan as i do and force me to call two cold so i'm not happy about that at all as i can see a nightmare scenerio where the oppontent on my left bets w ace worse kicker and the pf 3 bettor w/ kk raises and i fold the winning hand. to me this hand is definately worth two small bets on the flop so why not spend them betting and calling the inevitable raise from the pfr 3 bettor. also note that if i bet and someone else raises and the pfr three bets or he raises and the blinds three bet then i can safely fold and have garnered this information for only 1 small bet. IMO this is all cause for betting this hand out on the flop.