Troubling Hand Follow-Up

Believe it or not, live 20/40 players suck everywhere the game is spread.
--posted on twoplustwo forums

Even me.

Back to the action from yesterday. The small blind has just 3-bet the flop and you have to figure out what the hell it means.

My first instinct here was "flush draw". Given the board, I couldn't see the small blind not going for a check-raise BEFORE I did, if he held an ace in his hand, and 62o was an incredibly unlikely two pair combination (even by his standards). There was always the possibility of a set, though. Would he have called the flop with the intention of check-raising the turn, and then after my check-raise switched it up with a 3-bet on the flop?

There was also MP to consider, but I figured him for a hand like KQ or 99/88 (maybe JJ/QQ) and was confident I could get him out.

Here's my mistake: I really think this flop needs to be capped, given my reads, but instead I called because I was worried about a set. MP called as well and we were three to the turn, which was a blank. Small blind bet and again I called. MP folded, and the river was another blank. The small blind bet and with 11.5 BBs in the pot, it was an auto-call for me.

"I missed," small blind admitted, flashing Kd5d. He went nuts when I turned over my tens. "That's a helluva call! How the hell did you call?"

"I put you on the flush draw," I answered. He just shook his head in disbelief.

All in all, this was a badly played hand by me. I know some of you would have three-bet preflop, and given the number of cold callers in this game, that might be the right play. Make them pay for the privilege of hitting their junk hands. However, with two players behind me, and the ability to close the action for one bet, I don't think I necessarily mind a call pre-flop. Where I screwed the pooch was on the flop. If I really put the small blind on a flush draw (which I did, otherwise I wouldn't have called him down), I've got to cap the flop and try to drive out the MP player, or at least raise the turn. I did neither of those things, instead turtling up and hoping my hand would hold up.

Terrible. Better to be lucky than good, I suppose.