QA- Out of position when the flush card hits…

My question concerns No Limit, both cash games and tournaments.  Suppose you are playing, for the sake of argument, A Q suited from the cutoff.  You’ve raised and are now heads up against the button.  You flop top pair w/ top kicker, yet no cards in your suit.  There are two diamonds on the board.   You fire out a nearly pot sized bet and your opponent smooth calls.  The third diamond hits on the turn, while your hand doesn’t improve.  How do you proceed?  It seems that checking here gives your opponent a license to bluff the flush, but then again, it’s possible he does have it.  I know I’ve stolen a few hands in my life after smooth calling a flop w/ say, middle pair or a straight draw and then betting as though I’d hit the flush.  How would your play differ from cash games to tourneys?  How would your play differ if you’d had top two pair or a hidden set?  How would it differ if you were smooth called to the river and the diamond hit there?  How do you feel about me sneaking in about 6 or 7 questions in one?  I’m just really curious to know what factors come into play during these situations.  When would you slow down, and when would you keep firing?

Scott

P.S.  Your book was probably the most enjoyable read I’ve had in the past year.  Coming from a literary snob, that’s quite a compliment

Congrats on the Rock/Paper/Scissors win, and as of the writing of this letter, you are still hanging in the main event.  Best of luck and big big pots….

Hi Scott,

LOL for cramming in all those questions. Can I give you one answer for all? “It depends!” The most important thing is knowing your opponent, knowing whether he’s the kind of player who will call along when the odds don’t warrant or, oppositely, will represent a hand he doesn’t have. If he’s the kind of guy who will pretend he has the flush or the straight, betting his so-called “phantom outs,” then you’re just going to have to let him bluff at the pot and call him down. Obviously, tournament situations are trickier because in a cash game if you guess wrong, you can always rebuy and try again, whereas in a tournament it’s often all or nothing for your whole tournament life. That’s why, especially in tournaments, you really need to KNOW YOUR FOES. Everything else follows from that.