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.
