Should Jonathan Little Push on the River with a Flush on a Paired Board?
Today I want to share a hand I recently played in a tournament at the Borgata, one presenting a tricky river decision.
The blinds were 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante, and I began the hand with 320,000. A tight-aggressive younger player sitting on my right who had about 500,000 to begin opened by raising to 35,000, and I looked down at A♠Q♠ in the hijack seat.
I elected to play it cautiously and called, and a loose-aggressive player with about 500,000 also called on the button. That meant there were three of us still in when the flop came 9♠7♣7♦.
The original TAG raiser checked, and I decided to bet 45,000 or about a third of the pot. Only the LAG player on the button called, then the turn brought the 5♠ to give me a flush draw. At this point I had almost 240,000 behind which is just about the size of the pot.
After I decided to check, my opponent checked behind. Then the river brought the 8♠, completing my flush but there was that pair on the board.
Should I go for full value by pushing all in? Should I bet small for marginal value? Or should I check here, fearing the worst?
Take a look at what I decided to do and the thinking that caused me to make my choice:
How would you have played this hand, particularly on the river? Let me know in a comment below.
Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $6,300,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.
