Two Suited on the Flop: Scenario #2

Let's review another "possible flush draw" scenario, this one taken from my personal experience.

I am in late position with pocket fives. There is one limper and one caller before me. I call. The small blind calls and the big blind checks, so there are five of us to see the following flop:

5c Ac 8d

Sweet puffs of wheat. Not only did I hit my trips, but if one of my opponents has an ace, he will be reluctant to fold. There is a chance someone is going for a flush in clubs as well, so I might get some money from them too. Of course it is possible that someone out there might have pocket aces or pocket eights, but I feel pretty confident I have the best hand.

The original limper bets half the pot. Nice. The next guy calls, which is even better. I suspect neither have great hands, otherwise they might be betting more to protect themselves from the flush draw. I want to raise enough to build the pot but I don't want them both to fold, so I double the bet required of me to call. Both my opponents call. Now the pot is four times what it was before the flop.

The turn is a 9s, so the board looks like this:
5c Ac 8d 9s

I'm glad to see that no club hit. The original better seems hesitant, then checks. The next guy bets half the pot. What does he have? Two pair? I have no idea. Only pocket aces or pocket eights beat me, and he is more likely to be holding A8, AK, or AQ all hands he might bet this aggressively. What ever he has, I sense he likes it a lot. I decide to go all-in on the theory that trip 5's will beat a majority of hands he is likely to be holding. The first player folds. The second player calls instantly. I show my trips and he shows: 6d 7d.

It takes a second for it to sink in that my opponent is holding a straight. I didn't even notice there was a straight draw on the board.

How could I have been so stupid?

My attention was drawn away from the straight draw by a number of things. First and foremost, I got too excited by my own hand. When you hit what you are hoping for on the flop, part of your brain goes "Jackpot!" and you stop thinking about everything your opponents could be holding. You just get greedy and think about how much you are going to win. I thought about the ace and I thought about the flush draw, but I was too lazy to look for the straight draw.

I made a very common mistake. Straights tend to catch people by surprise. I think it has something to do with how the human mind works. The brain has a little more difficulty recognizing what straight draws might be on the board.

I have a feeling today's lesson is one you will just have to learn for yourself. Mostly by making the same kind of mistakes I did.

The profitable part of the lesson is that you can reverse the situation. By playing straight draws, particularly against multiple opponents, you put yourself in the position of hitting a straight that is over-looked by an excited opponent holding something like three of a kind.