Did I really deserve a keyboard lashing for this play?

[shant]

I think your thinking is a little off about the getting it heads up thing.

Preflop raisers will almost always raise a flop after raising preflop and being bet into. You bet, 2 people are trapped inbetween and call, PFR raises, people behind him may even coldcall because this is Party afterall. Now it's back to you, you call so you don't shut out the callers inbetween.

Now you can checkraise the turn and you just got lots more bets from the flop.

[Jonny Melon]

You opponent is crying because his all-powerful aces got cracked. Pre-flop call is absolutely fine.

I play this flop differently, and bet out. It would be lovely to trap players between yourself and CO. If CO raises (and he often will), then call and go for the lovely turn C/R, as you did.

Jon

[ErrantNight]

assuming you were berated for not leading the flop... yes!

[PokerBob]

I think you should say, "I was in the blind". I love it when people use that defense to call a raise with K4o.

Nice hand, by the way. The only potential error that I see is that you may have been able to bet the flop and still c/r the turn.

[colgin]

Pre-flop call is fine.

I would lead this flop though.

[Nick C]

Preflop is fine, as others have said.

Here are, I think, some reasons to bet and then 3-bet the flop:

(1) Lots of times players will take a look at the turn and then fold at that point anyway.

(2) It isn't any more immediately expensive for the trapped players to call two call on the flop (if you 3-bet) than it is for them to call a turn bet (if you stop-n-go).

(3) You get the money in while people are most willing to pay. Also, you get it in while you know you have the best hand. Although you can catch a backdoor flush (or even straight-flush, if you're really lucky), there's no other way your hand can improve. It can, however, easily get worse. You might as well build a pot so that there'll be more money to chop if, say, an 8 falls on the turn.