Nut flush draw with bottom stack (25BB)

So this is my HH post. I've been playing a lot of sngs and enjoying them a lot. They've also been pretty profitable for me .

Anyways...Villain had been raising big with big PPs and betting weakly after the flop if at all with draws no matter how strong they were. He also enjoyed limping with garbage. Looking back at this hand I feel like I definitely could have played this much much better.

First, I think my raise pre flop was too small. Knowing his ability to call with marginal hands, I'm not sure this would have taken down the pot or not.

Second, I didn't have a plan going into the flop. I don't think the check call was horrible on the flop, but check raising might have been more profitable. I'm not sure if it would've taken down the pot but...

On the turn, again, check-calling with the implied odds on hitting my flush doesn't seem terrible, but again check raising could have been a good play.

On the river: I think my bet just screamed busted flush, I should not have done that.

PokerStars Game #25019429355: Tournament #141363207, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2009/02/16 16:50:51 ET
Table '141363207 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: stnkboot (3010 in chips)
Seat 3: Smokin Grim (2115 in chips)
Seat 4: bucket429 (1230 in chips)
Seat 7: kryptons (3095 in chips)
Seat 8: galaphile361 (2835 in chips)
Seat 9: bluendgold10 (1215 in chips)
galaphile361: posts small blind 25
bluendgold10: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bluendgold10 [Qc Ac]
stnkboot: folds
Smokin Grim: folds
bucket429: folds
kryptons: calls 50
galaphile361: folds
bluendgold10: raises 150 to 200
kryptons: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2c Kc 5d]
bluendgold10: checks
kryptons: bets 150
bluendgold10: calls 150
*** TURN *** [2c Kc 5d] [8d]
bluendgold10: checks
kryptons: bets 200
bluendgold10: calls 200
*** RIVER *** [2c Kc 5d 8d] [3s]
bluendgold10: bets 665 and is all-in
kryptons: calls 665

I would have played the flop more aggressively, either bet out first or check raised. What were you putting him on, top pair mid kicker?

Preflop raise size is fine.

C-bet the flop for 250-300 for sure since you were the preflop raiser. If you check, the other option would be to check-raise all-in rather than just flat call opp's flop bet.

As played, I guess the turn call is OK given the pot odds you're getting but you have to realise that your implied odds on the river aren't that terrific because a third club will stick out like dogs' balls.

The river shove is just spewing chips, opp will never ever fold considering the pot odds he's getting, I would check and only call a very very small bet (100 or less).

Originally Posted by taipan168

The river shove is just spewing chips, opp will never ever fold considering the pot odds he's getting, I would check and only call a very very small bet (100 or less).

If I check-fold the river, do I just go into shove-fold mode or can I wait a while?

Originally Posted by rcommins

Originally Posted by taipan168

The river shove is just spewing chips, opp will never ever fold considering the pot odds he's getting, I would check and only call a very very small bet (100 or less).

If I check-fold the river, do I just go into shove-fold mode or can I wait a while?

Yes, you do go into shove/fold mode but make sure that you're adjusting for the fact you have a 13x BB stack (at least until the blinds double next level).

There are 400 chips in the pot on the flop and you have 1000 left in your stack. I'm almost always happy to get all-in on the flop with the nut flush draw when the stack-to-pot ratio is under about 6 to 1. Check-shoving the flop is OK as is betting 250 or 300 on the flop and calling an all-in. The river is really bad since he has a king most of the time and he's never folding it. If he folded the river then he most likely had a hand that he would have folded anyway to a c-bet on the flop.

if you made a stronger bet on the flop it probably would've helped. but yeah idk thats tough

I'm happy not to raise preflop as I'll be OOP with AQ post flop, but the raise is ok. I think as played cbet is best, then CRAI then maybe c/c c/c c/f (I don't call a very small river bet)

I think I'm most uncomfortable raising 4x in BB. Our hand is strongish, but being OOP with a large pot we almost have to cbet could leave us crippled a lot when we miss. Not optimal strategy if we wish to conserve our stack. I raise less if at all

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I liked to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air




I just couldn't help myself

Originally Posted by gingerwizard

I think I'm most uncomfortable raising 4x in BB. Our hand is strongish, but being OOP with a large pot we almost have to cbet could leave us crippled a lot when we miss. Not optimal strategy if we wish to conserve our stack. I raise less if at all

I see your point, but whether to raise or just check is one of those situations where it is very difficult to show the EV either way. To me, the problem with making it 3x is that since we're OOP it would be nice to take it down preflop and I think the extra BB will get more folds. Again, can't prove it empirically.

Take your point about raise/c-bet putting us in a potentially rather short stacked position though.