Using the Free Showdown Play

[...] by pmpoker on March 5th, 2007 Ed Miller writes about the “Free Showdown Play at his website. Although he is talking about (bah) hold em, I think that the play has merit in [...]

Great article Ed. I think you did a good job to explain the pros and cons of the free showdown play. A situation I frequently finds myself in is when I have Ace-high or a small pocket pair versus an opponent who might be on a draw. Is this a good spot to raise the turn for a free showdown? Here’s a hand I played recently:

Preflop: Hero is Button with Ac, Qs.
3 folds, Hero raises, 1 fold, BB calls.

Flop: (4.50 SB) 3h, 8h, Jc (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB raises, Hero calls.

Turn: (4.25 BB) 4s (2 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BB calls.

River: (8.25 BB) 3c (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

Final Pot: 8.25 BB

By raising the turn, I thought I’d charge my opponent the most if he was on a draw and I also thought there was a chance he’d fold a hand he shouldn’t fold like 3x, 4x, a small pocket pair or a hand like 97. What do you think of my play and what do you think of my play if my hand was 22 instead of AQ?