The flop is Jc-9c-7h.

There is $60 in the pot and you have to call a $50 bet with one player behind you.

You are not sure what the bettor before you is holding, but you are pretty sure the player that acts after you will call off anything on a flush draw.

What do you do?

I have seen this scenario countless times. Right or wrong, in this situation I fold the set and flush draw if I am certain my opponent flopped the straight. For me, it is a coin toss based on the feel of the hand if I think my opponent has both a straight draw and flush draw, making them a 60% favorite to win the hand.

Back to the hand above. I bet out the $50 hoping to take it down right there.

The player to my immediate left takes about 20 seconds to act. He decides to shove his stack of $300 into the middle to win $110.

I am sure of two things at this point: the player left to act is on a flush draw, and he will likely fold if he knows I am calling. Gaining this information came from the long time it took the other player to make a decision.

And that is what this game comes down to. It is not about chasing cards, or calling a certain size bet with a certain hand. It is all about making the right decisions. Profitable decisions.

As the three stacks of red hit the felt, I announce “call”.

Yeah. I acted out of turn. But, with the next player to act watching me for 10 or 15 seconds for an indication of what I am going to do, I figured he needed the extra help.

Besides, I really did not want the flush draw in the hand in case I get unlucky. I would rather go up against any set over a flush draw. For whatever reason, I seem to beat sets after flopping a straight nearly 100% of the time but lose to flush draws almost just as often.

Flush draw folds.

“Jack no good,” my opponent says as he turns over 9-9.

“Straight.”

“Ah fuck,” he says as he sees 10-8 for the nuts.

The board does not pair and I take it down.

It reminds me of how people play pocket Queens wrong. It goes something like this:

I’m gonna tell you a story ’bout Mary Lou
You know the kind of woman make a fool of you
She make a young man itch
She man an old man faint
The way she took my money was a crying shame
Mary Lou she took my watch and chain
Mary Lou she took my diamond ring
Mary Lou she took the keys to my Cadillac car
Jumped in my kitty and drove off far

I watched one player go broke with Queens last night.

Twice.

Another player raises to $12 in early position and gets seven callers. Including me.

The flop comes 10d-8h-7h.

There is a potential straight on board and a flush draw.

Any player with a straight draw and flush draw has at least 13 outs to make any pocket pair a 40% dog.

This player is first to act and bets $25 into a $100 pot.

She gave anyone on a draw or anyone that is a 4-to-1 dog at least 5-to-1 on their money.

Everyone folds around to me.

I call.

The turn is 2s.

My opponent bets out $50.

“You have pocket Kings or Queens. Feels like Queens. I raise you all-in for another $100,” I say.

She stares me down.

“You have Queens, right?”

“I can’t get away from this hand,” she says.

“Let me help you,” I say.

I show 9h.

She stares at the board. Stares at my 9. Then calls.

I admit I was trying to get her to lay the hand down.

I was on a draw, but confident I would win the hand.

Now, when there is a straight and flush draw on board AND someone calls your hand, how could you call?

I mean, if someone ever called my hand (which still has not happened yet) AND they are playing back at me, I would fold!

Not this lady. She could not get away from a lousy pair.

Truth be told, I needed any 6, 9, 10, Jack, or heart to make my hand. That is 20 outs.

The river? Jack baby.

I turn over the Ten and say “Straight.”

Had she bet $100 or even $50 on the flop, I go away. Probably.

Instead of winning a small pot, she lost a big one.

I am amazed at how people mis-play these hands.

They underplay them at the start then overplay them when a completed hand, like a straight or flush, hits the board.

Big Bob was right. The ladies are trouble, unless they are treated right.

Where many fall short is they think they can take a marginal hand and outplay weaker players that are calling stations.

It won’t work.

You need to have the stone cold nuts against these types of players.

That said, it is HOW you play the nuts against the players that makes the difference.

I was in two hands with two different players yesterday where I flopped the nuts.

The first hand, I just sat down in the big blind with J-10 hearts.

A player in middle position had the look of a cocky “let me give you poker lessons” type guy.

He raises pre-flop and gets several callers, including me.

The flop comes 9-8-7 rainbow.

I could tell from his tells that he flopped either two pair or a set.

He starts stacking up chips.

I decide that check raising him may lose him as a customer.

So, I bet half the pot.

He plays back at me with a min raise.

Everyone folds around to me.

I also know that if I jaw at him, he will go on insta-tilt and give me all his money.

“I am not used to people playing back at me Sir,” I say. “Frankly, it pisses me off. I re-raise $100.”

He glares at me for a brief moment and shoves $200 in the pot.

I push the rest of my stack into the pot and he insta-calls.

“You have Jack Ten?” he asks after he is all-in.

“The stone cold nuts, Sir.”

“Pair the board,” he says to the dealer sheepishly.

I knew before he turned over his hand that he had flopped top set.

The board never paired and I doubled up.

Second hand: My big game broke and I was sent to another table at a smaller game.

My first hand under the gun was A-A.

I raise to $25 and get two callers: One to my left and one to my right.

The player to my left gives me the impression that he could care less what I am holding. He is playing his hand against the board.

The player to my right gives me the impression that he will go away if he does not hit a flop.

The flop comes A-4-4.

Just what I was hoping for. My A-A is easy to play now. But how to play it?

If it was the player in the first example, I would bet it hard knowing he will come over the top if he had an Ace, a 4, a straight draw, a flush draw, or any pocket pair.

But, I am dealing with a different animal now.

I check the nuts.

The player to my left bets the pot.

The player to my right folds.

I need to tell a story of weakness and uncertainty to my opponent.

This is kind of hard because there is roughly $2000 on the table and I have $800 of it in front of me.

But, I give a performance that could earn an Oscar.

I finally call.

I never looked at the board again so I have no clue what came on the turn and river.

I studied my opponent.

My opponent never looked at me. His eyes were focused on the board the entire hand.

I check both streets.

He bet off all his chips to me.

All I had to do is hesitate and call.

Boy, was he pissed when I showed him Aces full.

I spared him the Teddy KGB “Aces foolah” showdown re-enactment from the opening scene of Rounders.

He never showed. I suspect he had either a 4 or an Ace, or maybe A-4. It is hard to say if he had the case Ace or not, but I knew I was good all the way the moment the flop hit the felt.

After the session, he told me he had A-K. It is nearly impossible to put someone on A-A when you have an Ace and the case Ace is on the board. This is one of the reasons why I rarely play A-K.

Play the player. But have the nuts to back it up.

Big slick is simply over-rated for cash games.

That said, I get A-K off while being one-off the button.

With a bunch of limpers in the pot, I raise pre-flop to $25.

I get three callers.

The flop comes As-Kc-10c.

Now what?

With a potential straight, flush draw, royal flush draw, $100 in the pot, and two players checking to me, I bet out $50.

The button calls and everyone folds.

I put him on either a flush draw or straight draw.

Why?

I have found that the casual player can’t help themselves but to raise the nuts. For whatever reason, they cannot simply smooth call anything.

If the button flopped the nuts, I know he would have raised me.

The turn is another club. Fortunately for me, it is the ace of clubs.

I just went from Big Slick to Big Boat.

First to act, I bet $50 into the $200 pot.

The button calls.

The river is a blank, so I bet $30 into the $300 pot.

The button folds my value bet and I take down the pot.