Let's say we're playing NL tournaments either SnG or MTT. The general scenario is you have a great starting hand and come in with a raise of 3-5xbb. You get one or more callers. And now on the flop, it is usually checked to you, the raiser, and you usuually need to bet out with something.

A typical scenario is you have AK, raise, get one caller and the flop is 9h Ks 8s. So you are faced with a straight and flush draw. Do you automatically bet an amount that takes away pot odds for the draws?

What if you have the same above scenario with two or more callers? Now taking away pot odds will require a big overbet.

What if you hold KQ and a Q or K hits? Now you also have to worry about the A. Do you try to take down the pot right at the flop?

How does all of this change when there are three straight or flush cards on the flop? I would presume this would be a no-brainer and you need to bet out and hope for folds.

What about the same scenarios but we're at the turn?

I guess my general question is do you always take away pot odds for straight and flush draws when you have top pair, two pair or trips?

Do you ever gamble a bit in these cases and invite calls or even bluffs if you have position?

Poker is all about position. It depends on where you are sitting. For the most part if I'm holding AK anywhere and just a K hits the board I'm betting the pot in the face of a flush draw. I'm less concerned about the straight draw because someone is less likely holding TJ after the substantial preflop raise and lets say someone is on KQ, I know that they have 7 outs which is like 7 to 1 pots odds required. I want them to stay in, but I want em to pay.

If I'm holding KQ I probably played it in LP and raised to gain some info. In truth, this is the hand that PT shows I lose the most money on so I probably need to listen rather than talk here. Nonetheless, if I pair the board and its a weak flop I'm still betting it.

Keep in mind this is how I would play these scenarios:

Scenario 1: bet at least half the pot to cut down on drawing odds. If someone makes a loose call and hits their draw you still played the hand right. Try not to get married to top pair top kicker hands when draws are completed on the turn and especially the river

#2: Dont need a big overbet, but I'd do a pot sized bet to discourage anyone chasing draws. Again if they loosely call and hit their hand you still played it right.

#3: Always a question if your up against the A kicker. Again bet about half the pot to the size of the pot to chase away draws. If your raised you can consider folding if you have a good read on your opponent. The thing about second best starting hands is they make second best holdings and I feel a lot of your post flop play on these hands require some kind of read on your opponents. Since raising is almost always better than calling and you think you have the best hand raise back and find out what he does. This will give you some information. Maybe he was raising on a draw or JQ, JK trying to find out where you stand. Get as much info as you can by betting and raising

#4: If you feel like an opponent has just hit their draw dont be afraid to fold. You cant lose anymore money that way... However you will fold the best hand sometimes. It happens. Again a lot of it comes from your reads. Would your opponents be calling a pot sized bet with draws? If not your prolly already beat. If so you could be beat if a draw is completed. Bet to gain information

#5: Very rarely will I slowplay to try to enduce callers with completed draws on the board. The ideal situation to slowplay is with raggedy rainbow board where someone with top pair top kicker will pay your set off. I rarely slowplay top pair or even top two pair. You could end up giving someone a free card that makes their set (a lesson I've learned from both sides). But with less people in on the hand, the better chance your top pair or two pair has of standing up at the end so you may decide to slow play a little if you have two pair with one other person in the hand, but even then I dont like it.

Hope this helps

I suppose I should have mentioned that I am perceived as tight since I have higher starting hand requirements than the loose cannons I usually play with.

Therefore, I don't get much action when I come in with guns blazing since they also convert tight to rock and are afraid when I'm in a hand and in control. Of course I use this to steal quite a bit. However I'm just finding that with good hands and flops I don't win any money after my flop bet.

I guess I shouldn't complain. I can usually bluff and steal quite a bit until I get caught or somebody makes a stand and I fold. Then my image changes and I get callers so bluffing and stealing becomes harder. Then it's back to tight aggressive.