Another wait till turn to raise hand?

KillerDucky PokerStars 2/4 Hold'em (10 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Ks, Js.
3 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 calls, Hero calls, 3 folds, BB checks.

Flop: (4.50 SB) Qd, 6h, Kc (4 players)
BB checks, MP1 bets, MP2 calls, Hero calls, BB folds.

Turn: (3.75 BB) 8h (3 players)
MP1 bets, MP2 folds, Hero raises, MP1 calls.

River: (7.75 BB) 4s (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero...?

Sets over Sets, Oh My!

My session yesterday started off very badly. The very first hand someone posted in MP, and I also posted $1 in the CO, and picked up 22 (sweet pocket ducks for the KillerDucky, quack quack!). UTG limps, MP poster checks, I check, Button raises to $4. SB and I both call, 3 way to the flop. It's 842 rainbow, awesome flop for me! SB checks and I check, and Button bet $4 into a $15.50 pot. So really the button could have almost any two trying to steal the limper + 2 posters + blinds. And now he's betting very weak on the flop? SB folded so I decided to get cute and min raise to $8. I figure this keeps overcards and any pocket pair in. Sure enough he just calls. Turn is a 5, now two hearts. There are quite a few straight draws now (any ace has a gutshot) so I decide to put in a real bet. For some reason I choose just 1/2 the pot which on the smallish side. But then suddenly Button pushes allin, and its $73 to call and the pot is $134.50. I have a set, so I think it's a must call situation, since there's almost no way he has 67 for a straight, I just have to pray it's an overplayed AA/KK or something. Unfortunately he had 55, spiking a higher set on the turn, and I lose my entire stack the very first hand! Revenge of the Straight Flush (draw) The rest of the night was going ok and I was coming back from the huge loss first hand. But my previous good fortune with straight flushes was about to change. It's folded to me in the CO with 75s, I raise to $4, only the BB calls. Flop comes J86, with the 86 in my suit, giving me a real monster drawing hand. The pot is already $8.50 and BB is a little short only having $39 left, so I really feel the only way to play this is fast. He checks and I bet out $6, he min-raises to $12, I push, he calls. Well he had KK and he dodges 15 cards twice to win a $83.50 "coin flip" (actually I had 56% equity on the flop).

The hand that inspired yet another blog

I read a lot of other people's blogs, and I've considered making one from time to time. Well I played this poker hand yesterday and it inspired me to create one. I was playing two tables and also watching Live at the Bike when this hand happened:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed) MP2 ($45.95) CO ($98) Button ($106) Hero ($189.25) BB ($50.25) UTG ($57.75) MP1 ($27) Preflop: Hero is SB with 5d, 5h. UTG calls $1, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1, 2 folds, Hero completes, BB checks.

Ok 2 people limped, I'll complete and try to hit a set in a 4 way pot.

Flop: ($4) 7h, Kh, 9h (4 players) Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, MP2 checks.

whiff!

Turn: ($4) 8h (4 players) Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, MP2 checks.

yawn

River: ($4) 6h (4 players) Hero checks

I had already written the hand off, and as I checked I wondered if it would be a chop pot or if someone had slowplayed the Ah on the turn... Suddenly I realized hey, 6-7-8-9, plus my 5.... booyah!

BB checks, UTG checks, MP2 bets $10, Hero raises to $25, BB folds, UTG folds, MP2 calls $15. Final Pot: $54

MP2 did have the Ace of Hearts and I took the pot with the idiots end of a straight flush. Afterwards, I thought there were some interesting things happening on the river. When the board is 4 to a flush, I would probably never check-raise the 2nd best flush card on the river, you're typically only getting called by the nut flush. Yet that's essentially what I did, because anyone with the ten of hearts had me beat. Of course it's much more likely that the Ace is out there than the Ten because people play aces more than tens. I guess another big factor is that it feels dirty to not raise a straight flush!