How do you proceed when you have the nuts on the flop?

[ednaroza]

Recently I had a game where I made the nut flush on the flop, out of position, with one more player in the hand. He had re-raised me preflop, so I decided to play passively and check on the turn, he bets, then I re-raise and he folded. Then I realised maybe I should have continued playing passively, so I can trap - the way I usually like to play.

So I was wondering how do you guys generally play the nuts out of position? Do you let your opponent bet, or do you risk to scare them off by betting first (because let's face it - it is really tempting to fire when you know the strength of your hand )?

 

[fundiver199]

It depends a lot on the board texture and stack depth. As a general comment though, in order for us to win a big pot we need not only to have a strong hand, but also for the opponent to have another strong but second best hand. And the issue with flopping the nut flush is, you monopolize the board quite a bit. Especially if your other card is also high like AK, AQ or AJ. And in general there is nothing you can do about it. If the opponent has nothing, they are not going to put in a lot of chips, even if you slowplay.

 

[Pokerpoet2]

Recently I had a game where I made the nut flush on the flop, out of position, with one more player in the hand. He had re-raised me preflop, so I decided to play passively and check on the turn, he bets, then I re-raise and he folded. Then I realised maybe I should have continued playing passively, so I can trap - the way I usually like to play.

So I was wondering how do you guys generally play the nuts out of position? Do you let your opponent bet, or do you risk to scare them off by betting first (because let's face it - it is really tempting to fire when you know the strength of your hand )?

Raising a player when you already have him beat is pointless because if he was bluffing, as he probably was with you holding the best hand, then there is no way he will call a raise, If you had Tanked for a few minutes giving him the impression you might have a Draw and then just called his bet, then you have two more opportunities to get him all-in,
If you checked the Turn card and he bets out at you again, then you could raise if you think he might have hit something, as you now have an extra bet out of him, but again if he is bluffing and he has now put in two bets he might be in a position where the only way to win is to bet huge on the River.
Even if he checks behind you after the Turn, then you need to bet on the river regardless as he could think you are making a bluff move and shove all-in to get you to Fold.
I always believe that if you give them enough rope, eventually they will hang themselves.