I suppose reading about a hand it's easy to analyse and say what I would have done. Actually playing it, there is of course the read you get on a player, which as we see above can be totally wrong. It's something I've got wrong many times myself

lol - thanks Nation - I feel better now, but at your expense :-)

Glad I can help

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and isn't that what makes this game so great?
there is no 1 perfect system to win, only 2 super systems

Following on this vein, I won my biggest pot for a long time today with this pair of low suited connectors. I'll show the hand history, then show my thoughts on the play:

Table #7966617 - Think Tank
Starting Hand #402010322
Last Hand #402009791
Game Type: HOLD'EM
Limit Type: NO LIMIT
Table Type: RING
Money Type: REAL MONEY
Blinds are now $0.25/$0.50
Button is at seat 2
Seat 1: TrueForm - $53.36
Seat 2: djatwork - $92.33
Seat 3: MoneyStar888 - $34.09
Seat 4: bullbilla - $50
Seat 5: Junbuggy - $19.89
Seat 6: arichmond64 - $49.50
Moving Button to seat 3
bullbilla posts small blind ($0.25)
Junbuggy posts big blind ($0.50)
Shuffling Deck
Dealing Cards
Dealing [5d 6d] to TrueForm
arichmond64 folds
TrueForm calls $0.50
djatwork calls $0.50
MoneyStar888 folds
bullbilla raises to $4.50
Junbuggy folds
TrueForm calls $4.50
djatwork calls $4.50
Dealing Flop [4d 2s 8h]
bullbilla bets $20
Junbuggy: i smell a bluff
TrueForm calls $20
djatwork raises to $87.83 (all-in)
Junbuggy: lol walked into tht one didnt ya
Junbuggy: cmon bull uve gta call 4 value
bullbilla calls $45.50 (all-in)
TrueForm: wow, lets gamble
TrueForm calls $48.86 (all-in)
Returning $38.97 to djatwork uncalled
TrueForm shows [5d 6d]
djatwork shows [9d 9s]
bullbilla shows [Js Jd]
Dealing Turn [7d]
Dealing River [4s]
Taking Rake of $3 from pot 1
djatwork has Two Pairs: 9s, 4s
TrueForm has Straight, 8 high
TrueForm wins $6.72 from side pot #1 with: Straight, 8 high
TrueForm wins $147.50 with: Straight, 8 high
Seat 1: TrueForm - $154.22
Seat 2: djatwork - $38.97
Seat 3: MoneyStar888 - $34.09
Seat 4: bullbilla - $0
Seat 5: Junbuggy - $19.39
Seat 6: arichmond64 - $49.50
End Of Hand #402010322

The reasoning:
OK, it's a 6 seater and as you can see, I get dealt 5d 6d. I'm in early position so I decide to try and limp and see the flop. As you can see, the BB raised it up to 8x BB. A few months ago, I would have folded here. These days, I think my style has definitely changed. It's fairly easy to put him on a big pair here. I know if I call and low cards hit, I could hit a draw and he'll still have an overpair. I'm very confident I know where I satnd in this hand. I was surprised when the other guy called, so I put him on a hand like AQ or AJ. He could of course be doing exactly what I was doing.

Now the flop was 4d 2s 8h and this was in fact good for me. It effectively gave me an open ended straight draw with any 3 or 7 being good. No flush draw, no high cards and my straight draw was very nicely disguised. I actually really liked this flop.

There was now just over $15 in the middle. I know the odds of hitting my straight by the river are 2-1 so I am prepared to call a pot size bet. He bet out $20 which gave me slightly less than 2-1, but it was close enough. I did actually pause for a while here and the clock almost ran out. I wasn't sure wether to raise or not with another guy behind me. I eventually flat called. I didn't expect the next move - the next guy pushing all-in! So now I'm sure he has an big pair too. The BB paused for ages and he too eventually called.

Well now I am pot committed and have really good odds. I started with $53, I've put $25 in. My last decision was easy. Calling my last $28 to win $157 was odds of 4.5-1, so I called. I'm really confident the both players have big pairs and I know I'll win if I hit.

I was a little surprised to see 9-9. I'm not quite sure what he thought he was up against. Anyway, as you can see, the turn was a 7 and it's nice to see that nice little 100% placed against your name with a card left to come.

This hand really shows the power of small suited connectors. They can pay off big time. As you can see, after they were both all-in, I said "wow, lets gamble". It was a bet I was quite happy to make

very nicely played :-) I like your logic. I must print out an odds sheet as I can't remember them all - Has anyone a spreadsheet (Assi!) or doc with all the drawing odds on? I'm away from home so without all my printouts.

(p.s. I had to double read to see your double gutshot/open ender. - I just saw a gutshot at 1st)

Funnily, after my beat I have become an avid fan of small connectors and near-connectors, and they have taken my game up a huge step. It's awesome when the chips are all in and everyone throws down, AA, KK, trips, TPTK, and I show a low straight :-) - or a boat. It;s usually followed by a logn silence, then a reluctant, "NH"

To be honest, I didn't see the double gut shot at first. Good job I did spot it because I would have folded and not chased a gut shot.

For poker odd, try the link below. It seems fairly good and clear:

Poker Odds

Wonderful! - thanks for the link mate!