Online casinos and poker

Here’s a close call in stud at the poker table that you’ve probably faced many times. It’s the kind of difficult decision you should be lucky enough to frequently make.

You are dealt three cards of the same suit, the exposed one an ace. One or two of your suit are exposed elsewhere. One player, showing a high card, raises the bring-in and one or two other players call. You call too, looking for the flush. On fourth street, sure enough, you get your fourth suited card. You play your flush draw conventionally, checking and then calling the initial bettor. The other players fold. It’s heads up going into fifth street.

On fifth street you get the fifth suited card, giving you a
Full Tilt Poker
flush. Your opponent does not show a pair. He just has his premium card from third street. You are still high on board with your ace. No other aces have been played. You suspect your opponent has a premium pair – perhaps two pair.

Here’s the question. Do you bet your flush or check it?

Each action has its merits. You have an unusually strong hand on fifth street – an ace-high flush against a probable pair. You’re certainly in the lead and likely to stay there throughout the hand. You clearly would like your opponent to call you on fifth street and thereafter. A check might induce your opponent to continue to bet and to lull him into thinking, incorrectly, that you don’t yet have a flush. Your bet on fifth street might convince your opponent that you caught a flush. He would then probably fold, depriving you of money on sixth street and the river. So perhaps a check is best.

On the other hand, your check might be followed by his check, causing you to lose a bet. And it might look suspicious – especially to a good opponent who might expect you to bet an exposed three-flush on fifth street whether or not you made a flush. He might check behind your bet and then fold on sixth street when you bet, convinced that you caught your flush.