Check-Raising the Flop With a Gutshot and Overcard
This week's hand comes from a $3,500 buy-in no-limit tournament I played in Florida recently, one that finds me flopping a gutshot straight draw after a blind defense and then getting after it with check-raise on the flop.
The blinds were 75/150 with a 25 ante and action began with a tight-aggressive player on the button raising to 400. Action folded to me in the big blind where I called with J♣7♥. As I mention in the video below, I'm generally more likely to defend somewhat widely once antes are in play, given the better pot odds to do so.
The flop came 10♠9♣5♦ and I checked, and my opponent bet 625 (a little over half-pot). I then decided to check-raise to 1,600.
Check-raising with just a gutshot and an overcard might seem a little strange, but keep in mind this board contains cards that are good for my range — indeed better for mine than my opponent's range.
My opponent called, bringing the pot up to 4,300, then the turn brought the 5♥. When I check-raised the flop, I knew then that I would want to barrel the turn, too. But this board-pairing five actually isn't such a great card for me as my opponent, if he had any made hand at all, would certainly call another bet.
So I checked and he checked back (thankfully), then the river brought the K♣. Time to bluff! Take a look at how I played the river, see how things turned out, and hear my analysis all along the way in this hand:
Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $6,700,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.
