FAVE EVER

So many of my big hands in the past have been decided on the flop. I've been making an effort to extend the hands and trust my multi-street skills. Here is a recap of what is now my all-time favorite hand.

PREFLOP

We are playing 6-handed $1/2 NLHE. I am first to act. My stack is $350. I raise to $6 with (8h-6h). Next player calls; next player raises to $24. Both have bigger stacks than me. I've seen this type of preflop squeeze play plenty and it is not always a big hand but often simply a player with position trying to pick up some dead money. I will generally fold in this spot if I have an easily dominated hand like A-J or K-Q or if there's not a ton of money to win, but here, I've got medium suited cards that could manage to hit a flop and if I call, there's a real good chance the third player comes along as well to make for a juicy pot. I call and he calls so we go to the flop with three players and a $72 pot.

FLOP (5h-Qh-9d)

It's a decent flop for my hand so long as I'm the only guy with hearts. I've got a draw to nine hearts and three sevens for 12 outs. That gives me roughly a 50/50 shot at beating any hand, even one as strong as kings. Even so, I'm not itching to make the first bet because then I might be looking at the old option of getting all in on the flop and hoping for the best. I check; next guy checks; preflop bettor puts in $48. The bet is a bit weak so I'm not convinced he has a queen or better. I make the call to see what develops. The next guy surprises everyone by putting in a huge check/raise to $175. The bettor folds. I am on the fence. It's a big bet. I can basically put him on three types of hands: a set of nines, A-Q, or a draw like J-T or two high hearts. If the non-heart on the board was the queen, I would have folded, but since it was the 9, I didn't think he had paired. Even if he did have a higher flush draw than me, I could still be drawing plenty live with the 6, 7, 8 and the opportunity to bluff the 5, 9, and Q, should the board pair. With roughly half the deck working in my favor, I decide to call the $127, leaving $151 behind. The pot is now $470.

TURN (2s)

The ultimate blank hits the turn and I decide to give up. I check. Surprisingly, he checks behind me. There's no way he doesn't shove with top pair or better in this spot. I'm now certain he is drawing. The pot remains at $470. I have $151 behind.

RIVER (6s)

I miss my draw but pair my six. I think there is a chance it is the best hand but I'm willing to check down to showdown to find out. I check; he makes a pot-sized bet of $473. His bet is effectively $151 since it puts me all-in but the fact that he bet the pot is a bit of a tell. It is the classic act-strong-to-disguise-weakness tell. It screamed to me one thing only - I CANNOT WIN A SHOWDOWN! I think if he had an ace-high flush draw, he would have checked through and hoped he had my missed draw beat. After checking the turn and making this bet on the river, it was almost like turning his cards over. I was sure he had J-T. I made the call, he showed (Jc-Tc) and I won a $772 pot with a pair of sixes.