So where from here ?

This is a hand from my live game last night, 2 hand of the game, 8 players on the table. Blinds 25-50, starting stack 2500.

UTG - Table maniac limps
Seat 3 (Solid player, prob playing a medium pair)- Limps
CO (Calling station)- Limps
Tenbob on the button with 7♣ 8♣ - looking good, in position multi-way pot, I decide to see a cheap flop.

SB (New player, no reads)- Completes

BB(veryyyy agressive if he picks up a piece of the flop)- Check

So we have 6 way action. Flop.....
7♥ 8♥ 7♦

NICE ONE ! It gets checked to me on the button, so with a semi-cordinated board, a pot size of just 300, whats your play here ?

I would bet the pot or maybe less to try to get as much chips from the other players as possible.

Definate Pot bet here.. you know you will have at least 1 caller with the maniac and/or calling station.

What do you perceive your own table image to be?

F Paulsson said:

What do you perceive your own table image to be?

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The fact is I rarely bluff, I am top of our poker league by a decent margin, they see me as a rock, I dropped pocket kings for all to see the week before last after an Ace came on the flop, to gasps of awe and wonderment

This was the best flop I could have hoped for, i wanted their chips and not just a few, but as much as i could feasible get.

His has a very solid image at our tables, only plays major hands. Rearly limps in.The odd steal towards the end. But to be honest table image only plays a part when your up against some of the better players at our tables. If ya catch my drift.

(he got there before me)

Is it worth a check here to try and get someone to bet into you? I see this a big hand if someone catches a card on the turn or river. You have flush and straight possibilities here. You want them to catch but you need the $ signs in their eyes when they do so you cash in. The problem is with a bunch of limpers you don't have any idea what any of them have and you will not know if they have improved enough to call any bets with the next card or somehow beat you.

You bet it out on the flop and with a semi-scare flop like that and you may loose everyone. You are also afraid that any card above the 8 could wipe out your top hand with an A7 or K7 suited in the blinds can take the pot away with a better full house. You sweeten the pot after the flop and hope someone goes for the steal on the turn.

I personally would bet it out with a bet of around 200. It is still early and not a large amount of your starting stack to get people to call. You want to get the people with two overcards or a pocket pair willing to call for one more card . It is going to look like a positional bet anyway, so make it just enough to entice callers.

Slowplay it on this street, then. Your hand perfectly matches the conditions required for it. Short of being hit by a higher set (someone with 88 or with 99-AA hitting their two outers, or some freaky runner-runner straight flush), your hand will stay the nuts.

And I don't see the possibility of someone having 99-AA and not betting this flop.

F Paulsson said:

Slowplay it on this street, then. (someone with 88 or with 99-AA hitting their two outers, or some freaky runner-runner straight flush), your hand will stay the nuts.

And I don't see the possibility of someone having 99-AA and not betting this flop.

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Indeed i agree here on your opening point here FP, with one tiny stipulation, THE ONLY reason not to slow play here with a check would be if you thougt it might get checked through. If you are more than 40 % sure someone will make a stab at it after you and you can get many callers from the table b/c your image is so tight i feel the slow play is not wrong here. Then again neither is putting in 200, two thirds the pot and thinning the number of players in the hand. It depends on the table really. Where will you get the most in the long run , the ONLY hand that has you beat on that flop is pocket eights and (save another eight) the board can only help others get sucked into your trap.

Ok here's how i played the button here, I felt a pot sized bet was a little too strong, so I decided to bet out 100 chips into the 300 sized pot, at least i knew for a fact that UTG would certainly call, and seat 3 our table rock will be getting massive pot odds to call with any sort of draw, and our calling station will call to the river anyway.

So I bet 100 into the 300 pot,

SB- FOLD
BB- CALL
UTG - CALL
Seat 3 - CALL
C/O- CALL

wow didnt expect that, the pot now stood at 800, turn comes [5h] leaving me with a board looking like

[7h] [8h] [7d] [5h]

Im still liking the look of my boat, but why so many callers, now im figuring there is at least another 7 out there, but the board now has loads of possibilties, I still like my boat, and still think that i have it.

So once again the table checks to me............ 800 pot now whats the play.

Bet the pot. A straight and a flush will either have hit now, or they are very close to it, and you like that. Give them the chance to checkraise!

Pot bet this, but what about them wonderful low suited connectors, they are a possibilty of the straight flush.

Whomever is on a straight by now.. had better bail(not that you would want them to but that be the smart move on thier part).

Ok so i decided i wanted to look like i was on a steal, so i throw out a red 500 chip, casually in front of me like i dont really care. Thats when the action happened, just like i wanted from the start.

BB - RAISE from 500 to 1000
Seat 3 - (our solid player) - CALL 1000
Everyone else folds, so the action is back to me.

TENBOB-RAISE ALL-IN
BB-CALL
Seat 3- Goes to the tank for a good 5 minutes and folds his [Jh] [Qh] flush face up.
BB flips over [7c] [Kh] for the second nut flush draw and trip 7's.

The goal was achieved. Got everyone into a huge pot when i held the best hand.

wow, that was alot of callers, I don't think you could have sweetened the pot any better than that. You got the action on the flop to sweeten the pot and all bets on the turn of all-in. Don't you love when people do the betting for you.

Let me guess, the river was a K. LOL That is what would happen to me anyway.

tenbob said:

TENBOB-RAISE ALL-IN

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That should be about another 800 or so, right?

Well played, sir. Surprised to see the flush lay it down to a relatively small raise.

/FP

We all had approx 2500 (ish) starting chips, i had slightly more after taking down a small pot on the first hand.
pre-flop = 50 chips
flop (my underbet) = 100 chips
Turn i bet 500, raised to 1000
So my all-in bet was actually more like 1350, the guy that folded the flush told me later that he figured me for a boat after my underbet on the flop, its something i rarely do. And he was not totally crippled after the hand with the blinds still small.

The discussion point on this thread was to discuss withir the above plays were the best in extracting the most chips from my opponents when i was a massive favourite.

Now as usual we tend to forget hands that we won and do a bit of analysis of hands we lost. Of course the dreaded K came on the river, but thats neither here nor there, I felt i played the hand correctly, and its not that often we flop the nuts, so a little discussion on how we play when we do can only be a good thing.

I was left with 250 chips after this hand, but it bolstered my confidence and I managed to come in a very respectible 2nd place in this game.