Quote:
Originally Posted by mobily
I have a gut shot straight draw which if I hit will win me the pot.
In
fixed limit games, there are occasions in which chasing a gutshot is worthwhile. (e.g. multiway pot with no flush draw, and you're on the button with the guaranteed nuts if you hit the straight) but it's almost always wrong to chase a naked gutshot (no overcards) in no limit games.
With a gutshot, you have a less than 1 in 10 chance of making the straight on the turn. With two cards to come, your odds improve to about 5:1 (a 1 in 6 chance), but you'll probably have to call another bet on the turn, by which time villain could have improved his hand further, or picked up a flush draw, killing one of your outs.
Even if villain only bets half pot on the flop, you simply don't have the right odds to call with a naked gutshot.
However...
The thing with no limit is that villains will often c-bet (semi-bluff) the flop with air (e.g. ace high), so if you were chasing a gutshot with JT on a 9K2 flop and hit your your Jack on the turn, you will have missed your straight but made a better hand than villain's ace high. Your skill in hand-reading and understanding villain's range is what makes odds calculations somewhat irrelevant in no limit. Until you get better at understanding ranges and reading your opponents, then you are probably better off dumping gutshot draws on the flop if villain shows any sort of strength. Chasing gutshots is strictly for the fish.