Home game, $5 "rock" game where the button acts as a $5 'house' bet; BB/SB post $2/$1 respectively. In other words, in a limped pot, the button sees the hand for free; in a min-raised pot, button gets a $5 discount. BB/SB act first.

Button is a nutty, gambly, overshippy man in his 60s who regularly plays a $2/$5 game that is $4k-$5k deep. He straddles for $15 additional. $600

Hero in CO, is early 30s, LAGgish overall losing player but is significantly up tonight after doubling through button for $600. $900

BB is 50s, golfer-type who enjoys a gamble, a pretty good payoff wizard. $300

MP1 is a early 40s player who loves talking poker strat; fair player who has a history of large pots with Hero going both ways. Last session of this game he paid off a $350 river bet from Hero with TPTK. Tonight he's been running extremely well and has stacked four people already. A PF raise from this player almost always indicates a very strong hand. $1700

Hero sees 98.

BB calls $20; MP1 raises to $55. Hero calls $55, Button calls $55. (Pot: $222)

Flop: 1087

BB bets $35 (???). MP1 calls $35 (??????). Hero...?

My first instinct here was to raise to $200, but on reflection I'm not sure it's correct. Overpairs (which we aren't beating yet) aren't folding to that. Diamond draws will continue to call. We likely have the best draw, and possibly the best hand, so building a pot is desirable but our hand is fragile multiway. It's going to be difficult to ascertain how a turned/rivered diamond will affect our hand, and a raise to $200 OTF leaves us with a turn pot that we have to commit to or fold.

Looking back at the hand I feel like overshipping right here - the pot is already $285 - might be an interesting option. This game (and MP1 FWIW is agreeable to these) allows multiple runouts.

As I stated, I'm a losing player, and I continually think that how I play combo draws is probably wrong. Very interested in insight here. I admit to at the time being super-confused by the weak call from MP1 and ranged him at that point to overs.

As the thread goes on I'll go through what I actually did and what happened.

The small bet and call on the flop scare me. I would call behind and see what transpires ott. I don't wanna get it in here against the big stack or even the donkbettor really. Their ranges are still a bit undefined and i don't wanna try bluffing until i know what im trying to get to fold.

If you think bb is on fd and mp has an overpair and you're feeling pretty confident about that then i would shove. Mp isnt stacking off with an overpair and you're ahead of a draw (though possibly flipping)

What do you think bb thinks mp has? Because that'll help huge with deciding how to play this.

At the end though, i would just play safe and call, there are better draws and spots to shove/semibluff and this one is just marginal. If bb knows mp has an overpair then bb is exploiting that with a small bet in which case it makes most sense just to flat.

I hope im making sense, i could be wrong

Step one: fold pre. I know you're pretty deep, but this is a huge raise, even for what is basically a 2/5 game before the straddle, and you have to know BTN is calling, meaning that you won't have position and will have an "gambly overshippy" guy wit position on you when you flop draws, making playing them profitably very difficult.

AP, you have to raise here, unless you are sure BTN will do it for you. Way too many cards kill your hand or your action. A diamond or hitting 2-pair is super bad and hitting your straight is also, as even donks can fold a 4-straight board. TBH, you have low IOs and commitment that makes RIOs a problem. You're much better off getting folds here or getting called by made hands that you can draw out on, but are unlikely to improve, so you need to bet enough to price out draws.

I look left for a read. If BTN is pulling out raising chips, call and then 3-bet his raise AI. If no read, you must raise yourself.

Pot is $320 with your call, so any decent raise must be at least $300 ($265 more). As this is effectively AI except for MP1, and his range should have very few draws in it, it should be fine, except that this leaves you with only $645 into a pot of at least $850 (if it goes HU), so you prob have little FE on a blank turn.

A raise to $200 is bad, because it commits you to the pot (except on the worst runouts), but still offers other draws good odds and has no FE vs overpairs. It leaves you enough to maybe have FE on blank turns, but that's it's only real virtue, and you'd be turning your semi-bluff into an almost stone bluff in that case.

That leaves shipping, which should fold out almost all of MP1's range and only get called by the part you have good equity against. As spewy as it sounds with a pair +gutshot +BDFD hand "450BBs deep," we aren't really 450 deep, but more like 50 with the straddle.

I am probably folding pre as this is not as desirable a spot as it looks in described game.

As played I'm definitely shipping now.

I should note that I did look left and Gamble McGambleson wasn't cutting out chips at all.

I'm a little on the edge about folding pre because $55 in this game with the straddle, from this particular villain, isn't necessarily indicative of a made hand. FWIW what I've seen most of from $50-$60 in these type of scenarios is AJs, KQs+ to AKs. Things like 1010-QQ get bet out the roof to $100+; KK-AA will be played perhaps a little softer or LRR'd.

But, duly noted. I think I fall in love way too much with the 87s, 98s, 109s crowd and taking them into hell like this is probably a significant leak on my part.

OK, that range is very different than "a PF raise from this player almost always indicates a very strong hand."

Now there are lots of draws in MP1's range and a lot less overpairs. We need to know how he plays draws, but I think this is still a ship, as if any of the other Vs call a smaller raise, he will get the odds on his draws and pot will be so inflated that we'll have no FE OTT.

My apologies. Sometimes I forget that what we in the land of "no casino poker within three hours" discuss as a 'very strong hand' can be a little different than how those in more civilized parts of the world do.