What to do with the nuts

[onegaucho 0]

I'm a novice player so pardon the question:I played in my first live tournament the other day. No-limit.I had A -7 and the flop came K -5 -3 . I raise pre-flop and 2 people call after me. It's early in the tournament but the turn came another . What do I do at this point? Go all in? Slow play to keep both players in? Or place a bet I think the players involved will call (or raise) - which is what I ended up doing. I placed a semi-large bet that one player called (she had pocket Ks). I look back and wonder if I should have put her all-in, which I think she would've done.In general, what do you do when you either:a) flop the nutsB) get the nuts on the turnc) on the river

[Wilderness 0]

In general, what do you do when you either:a) flop the nutsB) get the nuts on the turnc) on the river

That really really depends on the blinds, stack size, any pre-flop betting, stage of the tournament, etc ... It also depends on what the nuts are, because you will play 4 A's on a AAA flop a lot differently than if you held 64o and the flop came 357 unsuited.

[gobears 0]

I'm a novice player so pardon the question:I played in my first live tournament the other day. No-limit.I had A -7 and the flop came K -5 -3 . I raise pre-flop and 2 people call after me. It's early in the tournament but the turn came another . What do I do at this point? Go all in? Slow play to keep both players in? Or place a bet I think the players involved will call (or raise) - which is what I ended up doing. I placed a semi-large bet that one player called (she had pocket Ks). I look back and wonder if I should have put her all-in, which I think she would've done.In general, what do you do when you either:a) flop the nutsB) get the nuts on the turnc) on the river

First off, she made a bad play as she made top set on the flop but let you and the other player have free draws (no reraise?).Looks like you were first to act so your bet seems fine to me; based on the betting pattern, there's no way I would have known she had pocket K's In general,a) I like to check the flop but after the turn bet out; I might check the turn too if say I have a boat and there are flush/straight draws out there. You want someone to hit the flush/straight.B) I probably would check it and then bet on the riverc) If I'm first to act, I would bet it - you're really hoping for a re-raise or bet if you check it; but wihout any read on the other player, I would normally just bet and hope for a call.

[gobears 0]

In general, what do you do when you either:a) flop the nutsB) get the nuts on the turnc) on the river

That really really depends on the blinds, stack size, any pre-flop betting, stage of the tournament, etc ... It also depends on what the nuts are, because you will play 4 A's on a AAA flop a lot differently than if you held 64o and the flop came 357 unsuited.

Very true as the advantage with the 64o example is that your nut hand is very well disguised; it's going to be really hard for another player to put you on that hand.I actually like Wilderness' answer better than my earlier answer as "in general" doesn't give enough information as to the right play.

[Wilderness 0]

I'm a novice player so pardon the question:I played in my first live tournament the other day. No-limit.I had A -7 and the flop came K -5 -3 . I raise pre-flop and 2 people call after me. It's early in the tournament but the turn came another . What do I do at this point? Go all in? Slow play to keep both players in? Or place a bet I think the players involved will call (or raise) - which is what I ended up doing. I placed a semi-large bet that one player called (she had pocket Ks). I look back and wonder if I should have put her all-in, which I think she would've done.

For some reason I didn't think you mentioned what the other persons hand was when I first read it ... since you are early in the tournament, you both likely have pretty good stack sizes, so how did the betting go? What were the blinds? Did you have any kind of feel for the player?If you could get her to bet so you can check-raise, that would be good, but betting out with a nice sized bet is good as well. What happened on the river? If the board doesn't pair up on the river, you want to try and get the most out of her that you can, so if putting her all-in isn't an outrageously big bet compared to the pot, that's probably a good move. Otherwise you want to bet a pretty good amount, hoping to get a call or even a re-raise (unlikely).

[Fira 0]

a) You check-raise only if you think your opponent will bet into you, if they are loose aggressive players.B) You bet big if you believe they have a formiddable hand such as 2pair, trips, or straightc) You bet small or medium if you believe they are on a straight or flush draw.d) If your opponent reraises, put them all in. It is crucial not to give them a free card on the river.Remember it is best to play the hand as if you were bluffing, such as betting big and reacting quick after the turn to seem like you are "representing" the nut flush and hoping your opponents take the bait and reraise you all in with a weaker hand such as trip kings.

[LeeDanger 0]

I was going to post a reply but all these responses are very well thought out and very informative.

[onegaucho 0]

I realize I hadn't given out as much information as necessary to give a fully qualified answer (ie. blinds, pot size, players' characteristics, etc.)Fira's answer is sufficient and what I was basically looking for. Thanks to all for your responses!

[LeeDanger 0]

I think another important point and something that you can learn from is that what would you do if your positions were reversed and how you would play that hand.

[FromTheRail 0]

First, I have to say I don't like your early positin raise with A-7s with a couple people left to act behind you, it is too risky unless your tabel is EXTREMELY tight. With that said, the important question is what was the action like on the flop? The action pre-flop and action on the flop would dictate how you play this hand from the turn on. It would be nice to know the stack sizes and the blinds to figure out how much money was in the pot, but here is a general thought as to how to play minus this info.Since you were the preflop aggressor, you have a duty to bet on the flop, which I hope you did. At this point the set of kings should have reraised you, signaling you were beat and forcing out your flush draw. Instead, the kings opted for a slow play to get someone all in on the turn with a weaker hand (the A-K you were representing). After your flush hits the turn, you have to lead bet again, becaue a check looks way too suspiscious and smells like a trap. You may think you could have checked here because a third flush card hit, but in reality you couldn't without looking like a trap. To this point it looks like you raised with A-k, hit your king then bet on the flop to protect the king and force out flush draws, so why would you be afraid of the third flush card if you forced flush draws out on the flop with your bet. So, once the players hung around after your bet on the flop, they are going to either call your turn and river bets or in the best case, reraise you to really see the strength of your hand at which time you can try to get all your money into the middle, while also conceling the true strength of your hand. Basically, you are asking the most important question in poker. How do I play to get maximum equity for the strenth of my current hand and the answer is each situation is different.

[Aburame Shino 0]

It depends on the table. If I'm playing against people who are pretty loose and are willing to stay in with a straight/flush draw or a low flush, I'll bet about 2/3rds the pot, hoping to induce a call/raise. If the table is tight and won't stay in unless they think they've won, I'll usually check it, hoping for somebody to bet.

[Guest XXEddie]

depends what the nuts are. If I have 10 j of hearts and the flop is AKQ of hearts...thats a scary flop for my opponent. but if I had 24 and the flop is A 3 5....Its hard to say he has 2 4

[LeeDanger 0]

post number 666 for eddie... very scary

[Guest XXEddie]

post number 666 for eddie... very scary

"you cannot beat the devil"-in a WPT home game someone said it with 3 6's...it was one of the 8 baldwins...probably eric

[MrConceit 0]

In general, what do you do when you either:a) flop the nutsB) get the nuts on the turnc) on the river

First off, she made a bad play as she made top set on the flop but let you and the other player have free draws (no reraise?).Looks like you were first to act so your bet seems fine to me; based on the betting pattern, there's no way I would have known she had pocket K's In general,a) I like to check the flop but after the turn bet out; I might check the turn too if say I have a boat and there are flush/straight draws out there. You want someone to hit the flush/straight.B) I probably would check it and then bet on the riverc) If I'm first to act, I would bet it - you're really hoping for a re-raise or bet if you check it; but wihout any read on the other player, I would normally just bet and hope for a call.

I just wanted to chime in with the (made) nut flush you often want to bet at least some before the river. You want somebody with a lone Kd or Qd to pay you to chase (while drawing dead). Otherwise if you wait too long people such as that won't pay you anything on the river (if they miss). Also if you wait, some guy with a lower flush might also be waiting to slowplay and you don't get as much as otherwise possible. Though this part isn't a big deal in NL, since you can bet any amount. But if he has like a 8 high made flush, he might fold if another diamond comes, and you wouldn't want that.