Help on my hand last night...


1/2 cash nl live effective stack 100ish.
Hero utg + 2 with Q7 off
you limp in for 2
Villian is small blind .... calls to him and he checks and so does big blind


Flop Q Q 5 with two clubs
Checks to you... you bet 10
Folds to villain who calls and everyone else folds
Turn comes out 8 of clubs
Villain bets 20... you call
Turn is 3 of diamond
Villain bets 20 and you call


Villain shows his flush... you muck

If I bet even higher after the flop, my fear was that I’d scare everyone away. What should I have done differently? How would things change if dealer was button.

Fold pre.

There is no reason to play Q7o UTG+2. If you absolutely want to play it, raise to whatever amount gets you folds on 1/2 live (around 12ish?).

Edit: Oh and btw. you had trips not a set. A set is if you hold a pocket pair and hit the 3rd card on the board.

Oh I shouldn’t even limp in?

No you should not be limping in. In most games you should not limp in with any hand, let alone complete garbage.

This is a great example of why you shouldn't limp with garbage. You flopped about as hard as is realistic with this holfing, but you are in a conundrum. You should traditionally value bet as large as what the draw will call, but in this case, it is extremely easy for one of the other two players to have a bigger queen, in which case they will passively call and let you bloat the pot and ultimately stack you on the river.

If you are going to limp behind, you want to do it with sneaky hands or hand that will hit the flop really hard (suited connectors, low pocket pairs, suited Ax). You almost never want to open limp(there are a few exceptions, but open limping is usually bad, and limping behind is a little better but still not great).

Playing hands like Q7o is just awful. Q7x is about the only flop you can play comfortably.

There are games where it can be profitable to limp any two, but you HAVE to be prepared to play the hand aggressively when you nail the flop. You were playing short-stacked and then limped with trash and then failed to be aggressive on the flop.

Even if your Q7 had been suited, however, it is simply not a hand that is worth being in the hand to begin with. Sure you flopped a set, but you don't even know that your kicker would have been good.

If you are going to insist on playing short-stacked, then you need to play a proper short-stack strategy. Limping Q7 is NOT that proper strategy...

Fold pre. Fold this hand on the button if the entire table limps to you. You should probably fold this in the SB if everyone limps round to you. Fold. Pre.

Fix your hand histories. State pot size on every street. State suits of the cards on every street. Include reads on villains. Do not state results.

This is what a hand history should look like. Please do it more like this, it helps people help you:

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/1...ision-1739044/

Postflop your play is OK. You are asking the wrong question though, you don't know your opponent has a flush draw so how can you say 'how much to bet vs. a flush draw?'.

alright, ill work on folding pre.

But now im wondering if I would have been able to collect the dead money by betting large after the flop. Did I let the villian see the turn too cheaply? Should I have just shoved 40 or 50 after the flop so he folds his (potential) flush draw?

You don't know what he has. If you know what his cards are, sure raise it up. You don't though. His bet is reasonably sized and raising is effectively a bluff because nearly all the hands that beat you are in his range.

No. Also you don't want him to fold his flush draw. That's generally true. In this case, you never want this guy to fold his flush draw.

Download Equilab, check your equity on the turn. Think about how often he improves enough to beat to beat you. Think about whether his line was profitable.

alright thanks... when do you want someone to fold a flush draw? when you have something less than 3 of a kind? like pair or two pair?

on a QQ5 with two clubs board I'm probably betting 1/2 to 1/3rd pot. This is a dry board, so you want to bet an amount that hands which are in bad shape against you can call. You are already ensuring that villain is making a Theory of Poker style mistake by calling, and if you bet too much you risk only getting action from superior hands. There is good visibility for when you get outdrawn, and a potential flush draw must worry about reverse implied odds as well. Plus if we have a reputation of often making small bets with big hands, then we can get a good price on some semi bluffs and pure bluffs when the occassion warrants.

ok so lets say i bet 1/2 the pot and villian calls. turn comes and its a club. the villian be first to act... what happens if he checks? Do I bet?

What if he bets 20 like he did... do i assume he has a flush and call if i'm getting a profitable price?