2 Hands from Today's Session.

[MTPaid]

These are 2 hands of 2/4 Held'em taken from my journal. Would you do anything differently? Hand #2 is a real riot.

Hand #57
In the BB with [Kd]. 1 limp, 1 rase and I 3 bet it in the BB. Both call.
Flop: [3c][Qc]
I bet and both call. I'm not thinking that I'm ahead here, but I think the scared the preflop raiser. JJ or TT for him.
Turn:
I bet and both fold.
Result: +$16 Now this was tricky because after 42 hands played the preflop raiser had not raised 1 single hand before this hand. However, he had not gone to the showdown once and his AF was under .4 so I figured that even though he was super tight with his raises, unless he has KK or higher I could probably take it down, especially if an overcard hit to whatever he had and I was right. I think he probably had either Tens or Jacks. If he would have called the turn bet, I would have shut it down unless I hit an A or K on the river. I think I stole this one.

HAND #2 (I was so aggrivated after this hand that I stopped paying attention for about the next 10 hands.)
-[Jd][9h] in the SB. 5 limpers, I complete and 7 to the flop.
Flop: [8h][5c]
I have a gutshot draw. Normally not good, but I might take one off on the turn for the nuts with this many in the pot. 3 checks, 1 bet, 1 call on the Button, I call with $17.50 in the pot believing correctly that I have implied odds here and they won't see my straight if I hit it. 1 last call and the turn is 4 handed w/ $22 in the pot.
Turn:
BINGO! I check it though because I want the flop bettor to bet again so I can check-raise. He does, there is a fold and I check-raise. It's back to him and he re-raises, I cap it! I'm bringing home a MONSTER! $54 in the pot.
River:
I don't like this card, but there are only 2 hands that beat me still. AK which I know he doesn't have because he didn't raise preflop and K9 which I also am pretty sure he doesn't have because that would mean that he got into a raising war on the turn w/ nothing, but a gutshot. I bet he raises. WHAT THE ???? I call and he turns over [Ks]
Result: -$28 I know you can say that I was just as lucky hitting my gutshot on the turn, but NO I wasn't. I called on the turn for 1 small bet. He got into a raising war and hit a double gutshot!!!

[CFlannagan]

[Tiburon]

Ok, now I'm curious. Let's break down the hand.

Pre-Flop:
You (SB):
Villain: (you don't mention his position, but I assume MP)

Pre-Flop, you're a 2-to-1 underdog to him, but like I said, you're getting enormous odds (11-to-1) with 7 to the flop, so why not?

Flop:
You're still about a 2-to-1 dog to him, but with 4 outs to the nuts, it's not the worst call you could make. You're getting 8.75-to-1 to call, with fairly high implied odds waiting for you. You're 10.75-to-1 to make your gutshot on the turn, and 5.07-to-1 to make it by the river. Ok.

Turn:
Yahtzee. Herein lies the problem. You've made the nut straight, but it's vulnerable now that there is a flush draw on the board. You're a solid 3-to-1 favorite now, but he still has 11 outs to the absolute nuts, so can he really lay this down? I don't understand his re-raise here though, unless he thought you were bluffing. You check, he bets, you raise, he re-raises, you cap. Very well played. Only thing is that you have to be aware that a lesser player will chase a flush. The fact that he had a gutter to a straight only incited him to chase it more. For him, he sees that even if you MAKE your straight (which you did), his 11 outs are good enough, and he has a draw not only to a better straight, but also to the absolute nuts, assuming you don't have trips of some sort (with a redraw to the boat).
Here's my assumption. He knew you had the straight, but had to see the last card with a pot that was quickly escalating. He took a shot at one of his 11 outs that he KNEW would beat you. His last call gave him 13.5-to-1, well within range of a solid call, especially given the 3.18-to-1 odds he had to make his hand. He bet to try and win the pot. You raised--he figured you for a bluff, so he 3-bet it. When you capped, he knew you had the straight, but couldn't lay down a shot a $50 for only $4 more. He wasn't going to go away with that many outs. Any J or any spade gave him the nuts. The gave him the stone cold mortal nuts, but any of the cards would make his hand good.

River:
He hit one of his outs--nothing you can do. You played it right, he took a chance and won. Now if he played AKo, THAT's bad.

[MTPaid]

God, your absolutely right. I just went back and replayed the hand again. How could I
miss that. He did have the Royal Flush draw. I was so furious after that hand that I
didn't even notice that there were 2 spades on the board until you just brought it up. So
I guess we both played it right. Still sucks, but it does make me feel a little better. The most important thing is to get confirmation that I am making the right decisions. Took the night off, went out and got drunk, and I'll try again tomorrow with renewed confidence. Wow, I can't believe I was soo ticked off that I missed that.