Flop is Y X X , and you hold Y. You ?

[mister]

I've begun to really hate being in this situation. I guess we can talk about 3 cases, and for now let's say nobody raised preflop (10 handed)

case 1)

Flop is something like 55K, you hold a K. I always find this one to be tricky because you never think a 5 is out there. But then they have 56s, or A5s, or even just A5. How do you play this ? I bet out to thin the field, and the raise usually always comes on the turn or river. So what's the idea here. Raise the turn and fold to a 3 bet ?

case 2)flop is something like JJ4, you have the 4. I barely even make plays at a flop like this now. I find a lot of people call that first bet, you almost always get outdrawn (assuming the J isn't in someone's hand), and a mid sized pocket pair is coming with you to the river often. How do you get away from this hand ?

case 3) AXX, you have the A. At least here you're not getting outdrawn by a bigger pair, and it's even harder to let this go. What's the line ?

[ckessel]

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I've begun to really hate being in this situion

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First, it depends a lot on the number of people at the flop. HU I'm much less concerned than with 8 people.

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Flop is something like 55K, you hold a K.

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I play it like I do a rainbow flop. Assume I'm best until someone shows me otherwise. With 2-3 villians I might call down, but if it's ever 2 bets to me, fold.

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case 2)flop is something like JJ4, you have the 4.

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Unless you're HU, fold. This is a worthless hand.

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case 3) AXX, you have the A.

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I play it just like hand 1.

There's just not much you can do if you're beat, but you can't assume you're beat if you've got a quality hand. If you bet all the way through and get called by trips, count yourself lucky they didn't suck another bet out of you at some point. If they check-raise the turn, I typically fold, particularly if they're check raising a large field.

[mister]

I found that at 5/10 a lot of good players will make it 2 bets with nothing, knowing that as you recommended, you'd fold to 2 bets. What then ? Instinct ? Occaisional raise back ?

[JoshuaD]

I see a showdown if it's HU. I tend to push pretty hard on the flop to get it that way.

Example: I've got AQ, flop AJJ, 4 to the flop for 2.

Someone bets, I raise...

If I get any cold callers I'm treading really carefully, if it gets HU, I'm paying off.

[mister]

so you'd call if it's 3 bets on the river ?

[Nick Royale]

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so you'd call if it's 3 bets on the river ?

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How can it be 3 bets on the river when HU?

[ckessel]

I don't play 5/10 so that's tough for me to say. It really depends on pot size, field size, and player post flop aggression.

I tend to discount flop raises and give more credence to turn raises when the board is paired on the flop.