Quick answer: On Crush Live Poker, a caller named Dan explained why he checked back the nut flush on a J-J-9-2-2 river in a 4-bet pot at $2-$5. Bart Hanson said the river was a value bet. His point was that the villain's turn calling range was mostly overpairs, and Dan's own flop check made those hands more likely to pay. The villain turned over pocket queens.
Source: Crush Live Poker, "Bart Says I Got This River WRONG With the Nut Flush," clipped as a YouTube Short.
The hand
The game was $2-$5 no-limit hold'em at Twin River in Lincoln, Rhode Island, with about $1,600 effective. The early-position player opened to $15. Dan 3-bet to $60 from the hijack with A♣K♣, and the button called. Then the opener 4-bet to $240. Dan called, the button folded, and about $540 went to the flop.
The flop came J♣J♦9♣. The villain checked, and Dan checked back with the nut flush draw. He told Bart he was afraid of "getting blown off my equity" and wanted a free card.
The 2♣ on the turn gave him the nut flush. The villain led for $125, Dan raised to $400, and after about 30 seconds the villain called. That left roughly $1,340 in the pot and about $1,000 behind.
The river was the 2♦, which double-paired the board. The villain checked, and Dan checked behind.
Why Dan checked
At the table, Dan says, he couldn't see the villain calling a shove with an overpair. On a board this scary, he worried the hands that would call were the ones that beat him: a jack that had filled up, nines full, or "of course, he could have quads."
Bart's verdict: bet
"I think it's a value bet," Bart says. In his view, the hands that would bet and then call a raise on that turn are "probably going to be overpairs," and especially overpairs that hold a club. Dan held the A♣ and K♣, so the best flush the villain could have was queen-high.
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Bart also explains why Dan's earlier check helps him here. Very few players would expect someone to check back trip jacks or the nut flush draw in a 4-bet pot. Because of that, a queens or kings hand reads Dan as weaker and finds a call more easily.
He's honest about the risk, too. Shoving the last $1,000 into a $1,340 pot is "like betting into a dry side pot." So it only makes money if worse hands call more than half the time. He also allows that the villain's wide 4-bet range "probably does have more jack x" than usual. Even so, he comes down on the side of betting.
Bart would have bet the flop as well, since he's in position and isn't worried about a check-raise. If Dan bets there, he builds the pot with a strong draw instead of waiting for a free card.
What the villain had
Dan said the villain showed Q♠Q♣, was "pretty disgusted," and then "racked up and left." That's exactly the kind of overpair-with-a-club hand Bart was describing. The hosts summed up the lesson: "put the chips in and hold your breath." If the villain doesn't snap-call, you're hoping for a call.
For another Bart Hanson river spot from the same week, see his breakdown of an instant $750 river shove and what bet timing does or doesn't tell you.
More on RealNameOf:
- Bart Hanson on the instant $750 river shove and the bet-timing tell
- Bart Hanson on ace-king and river value on an ace-high board
- Bart Hanson on the river donk 3-bet bluff
- Poker players' real names
FAQ
Should you check back the nut flush on a paired river? Not by default. Bart Hanson's argument is that if the opponent's turn calling range is mostly overpairs, a river shove gets value from worse hands more often than it runs into a full house.
What did the villain have? According to the caller, pocket queens with the Q♣, the highest club the villain could hold.
Where was the hand played? At a $2-$5 no-limit game at Twin River in Lincoln, Rhode Island, which now operates as Bally's Twin River Lincoln.