Limit Texas Holdem Hand Quiz #7

[Matt]

You are in the small blind with Q:spades:8:spades:. The game is loose and generally passive. An early-position player limps along with a player in middle position and the button. You complete and the big blind checks. The flop comes 8:diamonds: 4:spades: 2:spades:. You bet. The early player and the button call. The turn comes 6:spades:. You bet, the early player calls, and the button folds. The river is the 9:spades:. What do you do?

[Matt]

Options #2 and #4 seem like the only reasonable plays to me. I prefer to check and call. Your opponent is loose, so there's no telling what he might have. There are lots of ways he could hold the A:spades: and a rag kicker (many players will often call to the river with nothing more than ace-high). The K:spades: is also a threat. Of course, there are many more hands your opponent might hold that you can beat. Still, the fourth spade could scare even the fishiest of opponents. If you bet, you may only be called (or raised) by hands that beat you. However, you may induce a bluff or a bet from a weaker flush if you check. If your opponent bets, you will be getting 7-1 odds to call. Unless your opponent is a rock, those odds make a call worthwile, even mandatory. You should also call if you bet and get raised. If the pot is big, folding a probable winner is a disaster.

In the actual hand, the bettor had 6:clubs:5:spades:.