At the World Poker Tour's $15,000-buy-in Doyle Brunson World Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2006, aggressive pro Gavin Smith drew Q-4 of hearts in late position. With blinds at $100-$200, he limped, as did six other players, which is not unusual early in a double-stack tournament.

The flop came K-9-4, rainbow.

"The first guy checked," said Smith, winner of the World Poker Tour's Mirage Poker Showdown in 2005. "The second guy, a bit of a crazy guy, bet $600.

"At the time, there was about $1,500 in the pot. I called the $600 because I've got bottom pair, position and a back-door flush draw. This guy could be betting a lot of different things to where I could pick this pot up on the turn quite easily. The blind called as well."

Three-handed, the turn came the 4 of clubs, giving Smith trips but putting a flush draw on board.

"The first guy checked and the next guy bet $1,600," said Smith, one of the Full Tilt Poker pros. "In case the guy was leading on the flop with a set, I'm now crippled with my 4s. I don't want to invest a ton of chips here. If I raise and he re-raises me here, I'm going to have to fold the hand. But I want to get the flush draw out."

So Smith raised to $3,500, just over the minimum of double the bet.

If the blind has four to a flush, Smith is letting him know that he might have to call off his stack on a draw when the board has paired and created a possible full house. The blind got the message and folded. The initial bettor called.

The river came the 4 of spades, giving Smith quads. The initial bettor made it $10,000. Smith moved all in and got called by an opponent playing K-J offsuit who believed he was at least chopping the pot with a full house of 4s over kings.

The key to Smith's taking down the big pot was his well-sized raise on the turn.

"I couldn't sustain a re-raise on the turn," Smith said. "But I wanted to bet enough to squeeze out the flush draw and play heads-up with a guy who either has me crushed or I have him crushed. If you put in a small raise, you can pull off that situation.

"When the bet is $1,600 and there's about $3,000 in the pot, most people might raise $4,500. You're risking $1,000 more than you have to. The few times that he has you beat, you're going to lose $1,000."

Table talk

Rainbow: A flop of three different suits.*

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