HU --- how aggressive on a 8 or 9 out draw

[Talking Poker]

Not only do you regularly post great replies to other people's threads, but you ask some seriously tough questions too (which, IMO, is why they get limited responses at times). Thanks Zybomb.......

I'm gonna hold off on giving my opinion for a bit, and let some of the resident NL guys take a crack at this first.

But I'll give you a quick preview of my answer: "It depends."

[sjay2k]

I don't like calling too often because you'll have to lay down the hand if you miss the turn. That leaves us with...

1. A small raise to get our opponent to check the turn and see a free river.
2. A big raise as a semi-bluff if our opponent is weak.
3. Push if it's the nut draw with overcards and the pot is large.
4. Fold depending on the weight of the following factors: if it's the low-straight draw, or the non-nut flush draw, two suited cards on a straight draw, our opponent doesn't have many chips behind them, our opponent is a TAG and unlikely to pay us off or our opponents are so bad that we can find much better spots.

[eejit101]

As a NL player....

1. if i flop a 4 flush or a UAD str8 draw i would raise minimum every time, as i would behappy winning the pot there and then.
2. If the turn is a blank and he bets again, the size of the pot and future plan would make me min raise again, to see how strong he is, and if i hit its great, if i miss then i know if hes strong or weak for the next play...
3. If i discover he is pretty strong, i would fold to his bet if i miss if he is worried by my raises, i let him think i was trapping and go all in or as near as possible, but this does depend on what i believe his hand to be, by how long it takes him to call my bets, and whether or not he reraised and so on.

[eddo31]

i havent played all that much no limit recently, but i will take a shot at this one.

the first part of this is qualified on what type of draw i have. if i have overs to the flop with my 8 or 9 outer, i will be much more aggressive than if i have the sucker end of the draw. for instance, if i have QJ and the flop is T9x i will be much more aggressive than if i had 87 on the same flop. going from 8 or 9 outs to potentially 14 or 15 make a big difference.

i would generally be aggresive on the flop in this situation, but not overly commit myself to the hand. a 1/3 to 1/2 pot bet seems about right here. if i get reraised then it gets a little bit trickier. if it is a small raise, i would be inclined to call, even though this may be intended as a trap with a legitimate hand (two pair, set). if you hit on the turn or pick up an additional draw then you can stick wit the hand and win a big pot, otherwise you drop it for a reasonable loss on the hand.

if the reraise on the flop is significant, given no reads, i would drop the hand there as it is still a relatively small pot and i would rather live another day.

if i hit on the turn then my actions would be dictated by what happened on the flop. if it went bet call, i would lead out. if it went bet, raise, call, then i would go for the check raise stop and go play.

if i miss on the turn, then i would be more inclined to put out a small feeler/blocker bet to try to either win the pot right there, or to get to the river cheaply. if reraised i am probably done with the hand, as the reraises on the flop and turn show enough strength for me to get out of the hand.


again, i havent played no limit in a while, so take these answers with that in mind.

very good questions. definitely made me think about difficult situations that arise pretty often.