Limit Texas Holdem Hand Quiz #9

[Matt]

You are in the small blind with Q:clubs:J:clubs:. Everyone folds to the cutoff, a loose-aggressive player, who raises. The button folds and you three-bet. The big blind, a loose and semi-aggressive player, calls both raises. The cutoff calls. The pot contains nine small bets. The flop is 10:clubs: A:clubs: 8:spades:, giving you a double-gutshot straight draw and a strong flush draw. What do you do?

[Matt]

Betting is reasonable, but I think check-raising is much better. You have a very strong draw with 15 outs to either a straight or a flush. Your draw will come in over half the time with two cards to come. Get as much money in the pot as possible on the cheap street.

Your opponents are aggressive, so they may interpret your check as a sign of weakness and bet. A thinking opponent may suspect that you are setting a trap, but that shouldn't be a concern here. Even if the cutoff was raising with a marginal hand, the big blind probably has something strong since he cold-called two bets before the flop. If you're lucky, the big blind will bet, the cutoff will raise, and you will have a chance to three-bet.

In the actual hand, I bet. The big blind called and the cutoff folded. The K:clubs: came on the turn, giving me a royal flush. I managed to get three more bets out of the big blind, who held pocket jacks. I may or may not have won more by check-raising the flop. Still, with strong draws it's best to get as much money into the pot as possible. This is best to do on the flop before the bet size doubles.