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A hand came up.  If you're a stud player you've probably faced it many times. You have the high pair on Third Street,  raise and get a caller or two.  On Fourth Street you don't improve but with the high pair,  you bet.  Someone with two suited cards calls you.  On Fifth Street they get the third suited card.  You're unsure about what to do.  Do you check,  presuming that your opponent may have a flush,  or do you bet,  presuming that he has only a flush draw and not wanting him to get a free card?

That's a dilemma.  I'll tell you what I do  --  most of the time.

Most of the time I bet into the 3-Flush.  I reason that it's unlikely that they caught their flush with five consecutive suited cards.  If they did they will usually raise, in which case I'll fold,  conceding the pot.  There are exceptions of course. There are very tight players who never bet on a drawing hand.  When they bet I know that they made their flush and I'll fold.  More likely than not,  though,  if I have a pair or two pair and my opponent has a 3-flush I will bet.

Similarly with 3-Straights on the board.  I'll bet into them on Fifth Street to see what they'll do.  Usually they don't have the Straight.  Sometimes they do and they raise,  and I fold.  It's unusual, but it happens,  that someone who has just caught a flush or a straight in five cards will slowplay and call along.  That's OK. I'll fall into the trap the few times that it's laid,  betting on Sixth Street too.  If they want to raise me then for the extra $10,  I'll call.  And I'll generally call on the River as well,  though I won't continue to lead the bet if I'm high.

Some of you may admonish me for being too cavalier about the possibility that my opponent actually has the flush.  All I can tell you is that in my experience,  giving a free card to someone on a draw is a much greater mistake than calling down a tricky opponent who actually slowplays a flush that he made on Fifth.  Of course, if you want to get highly technical, there are some secondary indices that you can use to help you make up your mind.  You can consider how many cards of your opponent's suit have been played.  Two or more,  and you can generally discount the probability he has the flush.  You can also take into consideration the kind of player he is.  If he's straightforward and he calls your bet then you can generally discount the possibility that he has the made flush and is slowplaying it.

But all that aside,  I've found that the appropriate move is to bet into one player with a 3-Flush or a 3-Straight on Fifth Street.  When there is more than one opponent,  however,  my strategy will vary depending upon how each opponent has played his hand.  If each one has been passively calling bets then I'd be more inclined to check and believe that one of them has drawn the flush or straight.  If that's the case then I'll fold if one of them bets.  But if any one of them has been betting or raising on Third or Fourth Street then I'll be less inclined to believe that they are drawing for a flush or a straight and I'll be more inclined to initiate the betting action  --  provided I believe that my pair is higher than their pair.  Here's an example of that.

In one of the New York City poker clubs,  a hand came up that was illustrative of this point.  I was in a relatively loose and passive $10/$20 game.  I had (Ks 7d) Kc and completed the bring-in on fourth.

A Qh raised me and a 7h called.  I re-raised and the Q and 7 each called.

On Fourth Street I received (Ks 7d) Kc 2s the next hand was Qh Jh and the final hand was 7h 6c. I bet $10 and got two callers.

On Fifth Street I had (Ks 7d)Kc 2s 3c,  the next hand was Qh Jh 4h,  and the third hand was 7h 6c 5s.  I faced both a flush draw and a straight draw.  But I continued to bet that hand,  not believing that I was against two drawing hands or a made hand.  I believed,  instead, that the Queen had a pair of Queens or a pocket pair.  If he had a 3-Flush to start there�s no way he would have raised my bet when I had a King and he had a Queen.  So I strongly doubted he had a flush.  Much more likely a pair of Queens,  a flush draw,  or maybe Queens up.  I surely wasn�t convinced that the three cards to a straight meant that my third opponent had hit his straight.  There were too many other possible hands, including a pair or two pair.  If he hit two perfect cards then he would probably raise me  --  since the pot was three-handed and the other player looked to be at least on a flush draw.  If he did that then I was prepared to lay down my hand. But first I bet.

Sure enough,  I got two callers.  None of us seemed to improve on Sixth Street and I bet again.  They both called.  I bet the River and they both called.  The first player had a pair of Aces in the hole and the second player had two pair,  6s and 5s.  I got lucky that the first player didn�t have Aces up and I won a large pot.

One final hand came up that relates to this lesson.  I had decided that I would play one hand more.  I was dealt (Jh Js)Qs.  I raised and got one caller,  to my immediate right,  with a 7h.  There were no hearts out and one Jack out.  On the next card I received an unhelpful blank.  The 7h got a Kh.  He paused and then checked.  I bet.  He called.  On the next card I got a Qd for two pair  --  and an intimidating paired door card.  My opponent got the 3h for three hearts.  I was high and I bet $20.  My opponent raised me.  I thought long and hard about what he was likely to have.  Would he raise me without a Flush when I paired my door card?  He was a pretty good player but hadn�t been especially tight.  I decided that he was unlikely to have a Flush,  since he was not the type of player to make a heads-up call on Third Street with just a flush draw  (he,  like most good players,  would realize I surmised that drawing to a 3-flush on Third Street against a probable high pair is a losing proposition in the long run).  I figured he was just testing me out,  seeing whether I really had the trips.  This is a common move among good players:  They raise the paired door card.  If the paired door card raises back then they know he has trips  --  or at least they are more sure about the trips than without the move.  I don�t generally make this move since the really good players will often just call that raise when they have trips,  or re-raise when they don�t.

Even so,  I put it all together and figured that I should call and keep betting until the River,  when I would check unless I made my full house.

On Sixth Street I did not improve,  nor did he catch another heart.  I bet and he raised me again.  The pot was large enough that I felt compelled to call,  even though I suspected that he must have the flush.  But I was still baffled by his call on Third Street.  On the River I didn�t improve,  checked and called his bet.  He turned over a heart flush  --  made on five consecutive cards.  I was confused by his play,  while he smiled and stacked his chips.