It’s Saturday evening around 6:00pm and I am playing in a $2/$5 No Limit Hold’em game with no maximum buy-in at the local casino. We are playing nine-handed and the average stack is about $1,000. I feel as if I am probably one of the best players at the table and am in Seat #9. In Seat #1 is the fish of the table who has been on a little rush. The fish likes to see the flop for almost any price and is capable of doing some really odd things.

Two to his left is one of the other solid players at the table. This guy is a 45- to 55-year-old country boy who owns a construction company and has a family. The country boy has been grinding live cash for years and is one of the most consistent winners in the area. He plays fairly solid from lots of experience, but has not been a student of the game. One thing he does have going for him is that he runs really good, but he is also capable of doing some odd things and paying some bad prices from time to time.

Now that we have gone over the villains, let’s talk about the hand. I am in the big blind with J-8cc. There are three limpers when it gets to my option and I check. The flop comes 10c-7c-3c, giving me a jack-high flush, and I check. The fish on my left makes it $35 with $1,500 behind. The country boy two to his left in the HJ+2 calls with $1,300 behind.

It folds around to me, I make it $150, and both players call. Now that both players have called my check-raise, I am thinking it’s likely one of them has a pair, two pair, or a set, and the other has possibly a pair with a large club or some kind of combo draw. There is also a chance that one of them could have a flush too.

We are three-way to the turn with a pot of about $460. The turn is the Js and I am first to act. I have about $875 behind, with both players having me covered. I am pretty sure I have the best hand and want to get value, but at the same time, I am not in love with going to the river three-handed.

I feel my options are to bet about three-quarters of the pot or shove. I think betting three-quarters of the pot is the best play for value and that a shove would be too much. If I were to bet and not shove, I would be betting about $360, which would leave me with around $515 behind. The $360 would be about 30% of both villains’ stacks if they were to call.

What is the likelihood that one of them calls the shove? Should I be willing to shove and be happy with the nearly $500 pot if they both fold? Do you think that I am likely to get a call from either one if I shove? If I were to shove, the bet would be $875. Seat #1 had about $1,400 and Seat #3 had $1,140, so the $875 would be 60% of Seat #1’s stack and 80% of Seat #3’s stack. What kinds of hands do we think either of these two could call with? Any chance a set calls me? The fish might call with a baby flush.

I end up deciding to lead the turn for $360. The fish calls quickly and the country guy tanks for a good two minutes before calling. The river was the 10s, making a board of 10c-7c-3c-Js-10s. I check, the fish bets $500, the country guy goes all-in quickly for $775, I fold, and the fish calls. Country guy shows pocket sevens for sevens full of tens and the fish mucks, claiming baby flush.

Are there points in the hand where you would have played differently? How would you have played the turn? Please leave your reply in the comments section below and I will be sure to reply.

This article was written by John cracker9ball Reynolds, who hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact him at variance101@gmail.com or visit [nofollow=”http://www.variance101.com”]Variance101.com[/nofollow].