Extracting Maximum Value

[GABMAD 0]

Poker StarsNo Limit Holdem Ring gameBlinds: $0.10/$0.255 playersConverterPre-flop: (5 players) Hero is UTG with 8 8 Hero raises to $0.75, CO calls, 3 folds.Flop: 5 4 4 ($1.85, 2 players)Hero bets $1, CO raises to $3, Hero calls.Turn: 8 ($7.85, 2 players)Hero checks, CO bets $4.75, Hero calls.River: 7 ($17.35, 2 players)Hero checks, CO checks.Results:Final pot: $17.35Ok I'm relatively knew to the strategy forum so I dont know if their is a certain way I am supposed to post my HH. The hand went like this... I was three tabling and since this was the lowest stakes I was playing I was paying less attention to this table( One leak there.) I raised my standard 3x with a decent pocket pair and got what I considered to be a pretty good flop. After the dollar bet by me my opponent raised making it another $2 to call this made me a little wary but as I was saying I wasn't paying to much attention to this table so I just called trying to see the turn card. The poker gods gave me a gift and my question is how should I have played the hand from this point. I didn't want to raise the river thinking that if he had a decent hand I might scare him off making him think I've completed a straight I was drawing to. So i checked and called. On the river when the 7 of spades came it completed a backdoor flush and made only one card to a straight. Now for some reason I thought that he might bet out at the pot and I would check raise him. I guess in Hindsight it was a pretty poor play because he only had tens but I dont know if he would have called a bet either. Just wondering what I should have done to maximize the lucky turn card that gave me 2nd nuts.

hmm...you could probe bet the turn to get a large raise in and then probe bet the river...probe bets have raise me i'm weak written all over them..But it depends on how you normally play. You have to stay consistent with your game plan so you're not easy to read.

[dms26 3]

Actually, it is the THIRD nuts. You cant have BOTH straight flushes out there! Only one person can have a straight flush and thus, you have the third nuts..

It's a heads up pot, so really you can't be beaten by quads AND the straight flush.You can only be beated by 44 or two different straight flushes, giving you the 4th nuts. Since you want to be so technical.