When the right card comes along

Full Tilt Poker Game #_: $5 + $0.50 Tournament (_), Table 34 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:22:35 ET - 2007/05/26
Seat 1: (755)
Seat 2: (1,880)
Seat 3: (2,710)
Seat 4: hero (2,860)
Seat 5: villain (3,905)
Seat 6: (1,080)
Seat 8: (3,135)
Seat 9: goat (3,010)
hero posts the small blind of 25
villain posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to hero [4h 4c]
Seat 6 folds
Seat 8 folds
goat raises to 150
Seat 1 folds
Seat 2 folds
Seat 3 folds
hero calls 125
villain calls 100

With small pocket pairs, take a look at the flop as cheaply as you can. But raise if it's unraised to chase away the blinds.

*** FLOP *** [6h 3d 2s]
hero checks

Inside straight draw. Interesting.

villain bets 50

That bet looks suspicious. It's less than a quarter of the pot at this point. Why not just check?

goat raises to 250

Interesting. My straight pot odds don't quite demand the call, but it's close enough to gamble a little. Besides, I'd feel good with either a 5 or a 4, so that's really 7 outs, if you squint.

hero calls 250
villain raises to 450

Uh oh. Minimum raise. He's probably strong. Trouble is, if I called the last bet, he's certainly giving me odds to call this one. And with that board, he couldn't afford to give what has become perhaps not a free card, but a very cheap one.

goat has 15 seconds left to act
goat folds
hero calls 200
*** TURN *** [6h 3d 2s] [5h]

Cowabunga! Truth is, without a 4 or 5, I'd have check-folded here.

hero checks
villain bets 650
hero raises to 2,260, and is all in
villain calls 1,610
hero shows [4h 4c]
villain shows [3h 3c]
*** RIVER *** [6h 3d 2s 5h] [Th]
hero shows a straight, Six high
villain shows three of a kind, Threes
hero wins the pot (6,120) with a straight, Six high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,120 | Rake 0
Board: [6h 3d 2s 5h Th]
Seat 1: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: hero (small blind) showed [4h 4c] and won (6,120) with a straight, Six high
Seat 5: villain (big blind) showed [3h 3c] and lost with three of a kind, Threes
Seat 6: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: folded on the Flop