Hello,
as advised, I shall post the hand first... then after that will say who won...
$0.5/$1 No Limit Holdem
7 players
Converted at

Stacks:
UTG ($107.75)
UTG+1 ($132.65)
MP ($48.25)
CO ($19.50)
BTN ($110.95)
SB ($102.85)
Hero ($73.55)

Pre-flop: ($1.5, 7 players) Hero is BB [9d]
UTG raises to $3, UTG+1 calls $3, 3 folds, SB calls $2.5, Hero calls $2

Flop: [Td][Qd] ($12, 4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 bets $10, SB folds, Hero calls $10, UTG calls $10

Turn: ($42, 3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 bets $46, Hero goes all-in $60.55, UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $14.55

River: ($163.1, 2 players)

Final Pot: $163.10


What I want to know is did the winner play the above hand correctly or would you have done anything different?

I was kind of frustrated playing in the $.25/50 games as people were going all in and doing all sorts of other things with no reason... they eventually went bust... but someitmes they caught people with lucky flop (me included...) and busted them, so i tried the .50/1 game... and won the above hand.

I was playing pretty tight (maybe too tight.. as i was scared to move up) but called the above because the pot odds were pretty good and i already had something in the pot being the BB.

Even tho I won, i would like to know a few things:
1. Do you think I was right in checking? or should I have bet when I flopped my flush?
2. After I checked, he bet 10, I just called instead of raising.. i was pretty sure i had the best hand and wanted to trap, plus i wanted to see if i make a srt8 flush

He could have had a combination of QK or A which would have screwed me over totally... so did I play the above correctly?

Thanks!
R

When you flop the 3rd nut flush in a raised pot and you only have 3/4 of a stack to start the hand, you absolutely positively cannot ever be thinking about folding (unless a 4th diamond comes). As long as there are only 3 diamonds on the board, and the board is not paired, the only question is how to get the money in the middle. Worrying about getting the straight flush is not good, it's almost never going to happen (2 outs = 4% chance on the turn) and when it does it's going to kill your action entirely unless your opponent happens to have the .

It looks like your opponent was aggressive, or else had a very big hand. If you have notes on him that he's aggressive then you want to give him enough rope to hang himself, so this was perfectly done. If he's passive I'd prefer a lead on the turn. If you get lucky you can get UTG to come along too. But it's always hard to know how to maximize when you catch an obvious big hand out of position. IMO you played this fine.

It means bet the turn yourself rather than going for the CR. (Because you're going to be hating life if it checks through and the river is a diamond.)

At first i used to be a bit pissed that having such a good hand i would get peanuts because everyone would fold as i bet...so i used to slowplay but then i realized its better getting peanuts than actually paying out to some lucky idiot!
I still fall into this trap of slow playing... dont know if its inexperience or stupidity/greed/over confidence/something else, or just luck (although I suspect its very little of the last)

At first i used to be a bit pissed that having such a good hand i would get peanuts because everyone would fold as i bet...so i used to slowplay but then i realized its better getting peanuts than actually paying out to some lucky idiot!
I still fall into this trap of slow playing... dont know if its inexperience or stupidity/greed/over confidence/something else, or just luck (although I suspect its very little of the last)

One comfort for what's it worth. I still do it now and then but less and less.

Thanks Tommy, it is a bit of a comfort

Strange how good you feel when you beat someone who slowplayed (kind of thank your lucky stars) but feel like kicking yourself when it happens to you... nah?

First, you always want to have a full stack - the more money you have in front, the more you can get in the middle (and win). In a $.50/$1 game, I'll generally reload as soon as I drop below $95. If there are fish at the table with more than a full stack, I'll reload after every hand in which I put any money in the middle.

Second, I probably fold that preflop since I'm OOP. If I'm on the button and he already has one caller, I would call, but not from the blinds. More often than not you're going to flop some kind of draw with that hand, and if villain has a clue, he's not going to give your correct odds to chase your draw.

Third, RAISE THAT FLOP!! You almost certainly have the best hand here, and you want to get as much money in on the flop from anyone with /[Kd] as you can. If another diamond hits the turn, one of two things will happen -

1. You still have the best hand, but nobody will pay you off now.
2. You don't have the best hand, and will have to fold if someone puts a lot of pressure on.


One thing I've learned at this level - anything less than a flopped full house (since you usually have the deck crippled) isn't worth slowplaying. People will chase all sorts of junk, so get the money in while they're still chasing.

Everything stickdude said is good. One more important thing is bankroll management. "I was losing money playing $50 NL so I moved up to $100 NL" is almost always a sentence that is a prelude to going bust. If you're having trouble beating the $50 games then move DOWN, not up. If you're not having trouble beating the $50 games but you hate the variance, then again, it's time to move down, not up, until you get psychologically adjusted to variance.