Flush Draw #1

[rtucker5]

Fairly loose/passive 15/30 game at the Taj. 2 limpers to a decent MP player who raises. I am next to act and just call with AKd. 2 more cold callers, both blinds and limpers come along. 8 to the flop for 16 small bets.

Flop: Jd 9d 5s

Checked to the PFR who bets. I call and 3 others call. 5 to the turn for 10.5 big bets.

Turn: Qs

SB bets out, folded to PFR raiser who raises. I cold call and the SB calls. 3 to the river for 16.5 big bets.

River: 5d

Checked to me, I bet and they both call. My hand is good.

Should I have played this more aggressively at any point?

[OrangeHeat]

Preflop - I Would Reraise

Flop - You haven't made your hand and calling keeps the dead money in. There are st8 draws there too...I would be tempted to raise if I thought one or two of the callers would call 2 cold.

Turn - sb makes two pair or str8 MP says his kk looks good. I probably just call here - u may be up against made hand or full house draws etc...wait for a nice river card to raise. Of course if you had raised the flop u may have had a chance to peel for cheap.

River - Oooh nice river card - Yup bet away.

Orange

[JPolin]

You should have played more aggressively on every street. AKs is a powerful drawing hand, so although your reraise would not knock anyone out of the pot, it will build equity for your strong drawing hand.

So you should definitely 3-bet preflop. On the flop, you should raise
a) for value
b) to take control of the hand
c) to clean up overcard outs

I think that if you took control on the flop you may not have had to deal with the aggressive action on the turn. That way you may have hit your draw less expensively. Don't forget that you picked up a gutshot in addition to your nut flush draw.

Obviously you value bet on the river.

-Justin

[Noo Yawk]

With the exception of not 3 betting pre-flop, I think you played this perfectly and got the max out of your hand.

[rtucker5]

I decided to not 3 bet pre-flop because I knew I needed to catch to win. I knew the PFR had JJ, QQ, KK, AA, or AK. He had tight raising standards. I didn't want to knock anyone out of the pot that might call behind me. I decided to just call the flop for the same reason. I had too many outs to fold on the turn with the flush draw and gutshot, so I called 2 cold.

The funny thing about the hand is that the PFR claims he folded JJ which was J's full. I didn't say anything while I was stacking the chips. Either he misread the board or I did.

[elysium]

hi rt
i'm glad you posted this hand not because of this hand, but rather because it gives a glimpse into your over-all playing style and how your opponents perceive you.

the failure to raise pre-flop tells me anyway that you're playing too tight. calling is no good for you here rt. you need to think about getting this heads up to give your over-cards the best chance to take this thing down.

on the turn, you again are presented with an opportunity to get heads up by forcing the SB to call 2 cold. you must reraise in this spot every time rt.

now rt, you must listen to mr. elysium in spite of the fact he has just chummed the waters a little here, and we will soon come under attact by many because of the above advice. is that o.k. with you rt? very good.

rt, you need to break-out of the tight box you've painted yourself into by your text-book playing style. you do this by taking control over the table. we all hear the experts telling us that we need to be the force to contend with at the table, but no one ever tells us how to do it. well, you do this by bringing your opponents up into cognition that if you are involved in a hand, they must never be so sure what you are going to do. you must force them to ask, "where are you taking us rt?" and you don't condition the table to turn to you for leadership by calling. i can assure you rt, that a reraise on the turn will do more for you in the way of free-cards when needed than calling will, even though your hand can improve and you may want to allow this one hand to improve at bottom dollar.

but rt, this is a card-room, not a flea market. bottom dollar mentality will never produce a leader.

you must reraise the turn rt. you must get this hand heads up so that if you don't improve, you can close the action on the river by calling. you cannot allow the SB to dictate to you like he's been doing throughout this whole hand. you want him out, and you want to decide when the action officially closes. an extra BB or 2 is a small price given the image enhancement a reraise will give you. you hit your hand, now let's win.

the river) you didn't need the d. a K would have won this for you had you gotten heads up.

[JPolin]

"you do this by taking control over the table. we all hear the experts telling us that we need to be the force to contend with at the table, but no one ever tells us how to do it. well, you do this by bringing your opponents up into cognition that if you are involved in a hand, they must never be so sure what you are going to do. you must force them to ask, "where are you taking us rt?" and you don't condition the table to turn to you for leadership by calling."

I've tried to apply this sort of idea to my game. I play mostly 5-10 though in the last few months I've dabbled in 10-20. With adequate bankroll, these type of take-charge plays really do buy free cards and scare the s**t out of your opponents. Though it seems like these types of plays increase your variance, I find that my opponents have extreme difficulties in reading me and pay me off far more than before. And I don't mean one opponent. Often 2 or 3 poor players will call me down in situations where it is clearly wrong.

If 5 people see the flop in a 10-20 game, I will make every effort to win the pot after the flop. Whether it takes check-raising with a mediocre holding to trim the field, or raising to buy a free card, you absolutely have to increase your chances of winning the pot. I have a friend who I play with online all the time and his style is much more passive. I feel that I have made the jump to 10-20 more comfortably than he has because he plays weak-tight ABC poker which works at 5-10.

Once you get to 10-20 there are (usually) a few thinking players. Yes, ABC weak-tight poker can win a soft game, but aggressive, marauding poker is more effective. And that's the poker that one must play at limits above 10-20. I find that I win now because when I sink my teeth into a pot I don't let it go until I'm convinced that I can't win it, one way or the other.

And money aside, I find it far more intellectually satisfying to think at that aggressive level, battling wits with other players who think similarly, than to beat up on loose players who do not think at all.

-Justin