With only eight players showing up for my weekly tournament last night the winnings weren't expected to be too great, so losing a massive chip lead and going out in sixth wasn't too crushing of an experience. Besides, I still profited $120 for the night from the cash game afterward.
Speaking of the cash game, I had one hand I wanted to get down on paper. I don't think I misplayed it or anything like that, except maybe making an overcall at one point, but it was an interesting situation to be in and I question whether I should have gambled a little bit more in this particular situation.
We were playing $1-3 hold'em and there were six of us at the table. I was in the cutoff spot. Everyone limped into a family pot and with 7-5 of spades I saw a flop against five opponents. The pot has $18 in it.
The flop was 2d-3s-4s and it checked around to me. Sometimes I bet these kinds of hands when I have multiple draws and overcards to the board, but with five opponents I elected to check and see if a free card would be available. After checking the button player bet $15. The small and big blinds fold. The under-the-gun player puts in a minimum raise of $15, making it $30. The player on my right folds.
There is now $63 in the pot and it is $30 to call. I obviously don't have the best hand right now, but if I hit a 6 or an ace I am sitting pretty and a spade gives me a mediocre flush (unless it is the 6 of spades, in which case "YAHTZEE!!!"). I probably have to rule out winning if I hit just a five or a seven and I'm probably not good hitting two pair or three fives (since a lone ace would make the straight). Even going runner-runner sevens might not be a good thing as one of the two players I am against could have flopped a set of twos, threes, or fours.
Drawing to a straight flush is always fun, but I don't want to commit everything I have right now to a straight draw I know will be good and a flush draw I can't be too sure is going to hold up. I decided to simply flat call the $30 and see what developed from the button or how the under-the-gun player decided to play the turn. So I call $30 and action moves back to the button.
Well, the fun of a possible straight flush ends when the button re-raises $50 more. And things get even more clear when the under-the-gun player moves all in for $85 total ($35 on top of the $50). So it comes back to me. Let's recap the betting really quick. After the pre-flop limp-fest, we have $18 in the pot. It checks around to the button, who bets $15 (pot is $33). Under-the-gun check-raises to $30 (pot is $63). I call $30 ($93). Button re-raises to $80 ($158). Under-the-gun goes all in for $85 ($243).
It is now $85 to me and I am covered by the button. I had another $150 behind the $85 and was pretty confident I would have to call an all-in from the button if I simply called the $85 before seeing a turn card, much less a river. At this point I am 100% sure I am beat by either a set or a flopped straight (most likely from the under-the-gun player) and the other player (probably the button) either has two pair, a set, a straight, or a better flush draw than me. This is a pretty easy fold at this point, but I know it is going to hurt if I end up folding the winning hand after all is said and done.
After I fold, the button calls the $35 (pot now has $278). He said he was going to move all in had I called. The under-the-gun player shows a set of threes and the button shows queen of spades and four of hearts (not expected). He said he put us both on drawing hands and thought he had the best hand at that point. The turn was the queen of hearts, which created more drama by giving the button more outs, and the river was an inconsequential eight of hearts. I ended up missing all my draws and the set of threes took it down.
I was correct in thinking I needed a straight or flush to win, but I was wrong in thinking my flush might not have been good had I needed it.
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