Hey folks,

Pretty new to LLSNL - just started playing seriously and studying the game a couple months ago. Had a good couple past sessions, winning about 30 BB's/hour. Here I'm 4 hours in, up about $400.

Hero on SB ($700): card dead for over an hour, nitty image
UTG ($1000): asian TAG, just sat down
MP2 ($550): loose opening range, pretty ABC postflop
CO ($800): LAGgy, will take NFD and overpairs to the river, floats Cbets with 2overs

1/3, UTG straddle to 6
MP2, CO call
On SB, I call with Q 9

Flop ($28): J T 8
I check
UTG checks
MP2 bets 25
CO raises to 75

I decide to call 75. Decided not to 3bet to keep 2p's, 9-x, and 88 in the pot. Also I figured if both MP2 and CO are drawing to the flush, they would block each other. I'm also blocking Q

Question 1: Should I be 3betting here with the nuts on a 2-flush board against a bet and a raise?

UTG folds, MP2 calls the extra 50

Turn ($252): 9
I check
MP2 bets 100 (with 320ish behind)
CO folds

One of the worst turn cards for me here. At this point, I'm thinking MP2's range s definitely skewed towards K-x or A-x of clubs, possibly 3 or 4 10-x club hands as well. I thought he could've also had a set or two 2p that he's now leading out on because of the turn card.

I decide to call the 100 with the decision to try to get to showdown as cheaply as possible. Figured I had decent equity with the redraw to the Q-high flush on the turn.

Question 2: What line would you take on the turn here?

3 bet the flop. Your hand is never going to get better and people likely have continuing hands.

Call turn is fine.

Call turn. I 3! the flop as well and hope sets and 2p get sticky.

3! flop. You said you wanted to keep sets and 2pair in, but are they really folding if you raise? Most likely not, so you missed value here. Also the player who raised has already paid his dues, so by just calling you're letting him catch up for free. By raising you are opening the betting back up again and taxing him to play whatever it is he wants to play. There is no benefit in this spot to keeping hands in, since most hands that stay in are just hands that are going to outdraw you anyway.

I dont really care what happened on the turn/river since everyone's ranges are all screwy now anyway after you just called.

The strange case of the free card that the Villain has already paid for once.

Why let him have it for free?

We are 2:1 against any flush draws, it usually is not wise to slow play at 1/3.

Exception: we flop top boat or quads, let them catch up for one street.

Otherwise don't invite Villains to outdraw us cheaply. Make 'em pay.

Stated another way, bet at least enough so that they don't have the right pot odds to call.

If we don't have enough to do that, then just shove and let the Poker Deities favor whoever they are going to favor.

Thanks for the feedback y'all. I thought about this hand right after and was kicking myself for not 3-betting. Someone called clock on me 10 seconds after the guy raised, so I was kind of hurried. My #1 thought at the time was that I wanted to try and stack both MP and CO with the nuts, which was obviously too greedy in hindsight. If I had a minute to really think about it I probably would've come to the same conclusion y'all did.

Ended up losing my whole stack to the nut flush for my mistake, so definitely won't be forgetting this in the future.

If the flop was rainbow instead of 2 clubs, would calling the raise be a better play? Or still 3bet?

the whole goal behind keeping people in the pot is when they are drawing dead. As long as your opponents are reasonably drawing live then you want to bet and raise them to give them poor odds to stay in the hand. With a flopped straight you arent trying to get them to fold, but you dont want them to set their own price to see the turn / river either.