Too remote. Both players checked, as did Mike. He says he could have bet here, but the fear of a straight flush was still too remote, and the pot was too small to protect. He preferred to give his opponents one last chance to bet on the river. The river card was seven of hearts. The small blind checked and the big blind bet about half of Mike’s stack. Mike just called. I asked him why he didn’t raise. Since the big blind hadn’t raised before the flop, Mike thought that it was less likely that he held an ace of hearts. More likely he was bluffing or held 9h, making a straight flush. A legitimate bet centered on the 9h (a straight flush), the Ah (the best regular flush), or a bluff. With the 9h being slightly more likely than an Ah, it wouldn’t make sense to raise if the bet had been made from strength. And Mike couldn’t throw it away, because the likelihood of the opponent either bluffing or holding an Ah meant that Mike was the favorite on the call. So that’s what he did, called.

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