I used to be afraid of check-raising the flop in a spot like this. It felt like I was turning my hand into a bluff, because if he called, I wouldn’t know if it was with a Q or a draw or a worse pair or a total float. Then I’d check the turn, and he’d bet, and I wouldn’t know what to do, then I’d call if it wasn’t a spade (nevermind that I’m rarely checking a flush myself on the turn), then the river would be like a spade or an Ace or a King and I’d check and he’d bet and I’d fold and feel stupid, like I should have just check-called the flop.
Increasingly, though, I’ve come to realize that your opponents only get dealt so many hands and only have so many options with them. If he really is calling the flop with all that stuff, then you’re way ahead of his range. Plus, you have at least some idea of which turn cards will improve, not his specific hand, but the equity that his full range against you. And when you get a relatively safe turn, you usually know it, and you can even raise again:
No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Hold’em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($1052)
MP ($1076)
CO ($1042)
Button ($761.60)
Hero (SB) ($1005)
BB ($1639.55)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 9
, 9
2 folds, CO bets $30, 1 fold, Hero calls $25, 1 fold
Flop: ($70) Q, 3
, 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $50, Hero raises $123, CO calls $73
Turn: ($316) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $200, Hero raises $852 (All-In), CO calls $652
River: ($2020) 4 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: $2020
Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (one pair, nines).
CO had 6, A (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: Hero won $2017
Granted this second raise is a lot thinner, but in my opinion it’s better than check-calling. I at least haven’t yet figured out how to turn a profit on the river if I just check-call the turn here, which means it’s to my advantage to end the hand now. I doubt I’m ahead of Villain’s calling range, but as you see, he can call worse. Not to mention that since most people don’t expect the double check-raise, they’ll open themselves up to getting blown off of a draw by betting it when you check. That means there’s a lot of value in picking up the pot on the turn rather than giving Villain the opportunity to realize what is often substantial equity on the river.
Oh, and this has the added value of strengthening your generally very weak check-raise-check range.
NH!
It’s a very unconventional hand I think. Is villain a stronger thinking player? Feels like I play I’d only want to pull off against players we’ll be playing more often with in the future. It clearly has meta-game value.
In this spot:
I would be very worried that his turn betting range is strongly weighted towards made hands (against which 99 is a dog I think). I see what you’re saying, our line looks a lot like we’re check/folding the turn, so he might be tempted to bet it with draws without showdown. I think that’s another thing that helps a lot here, the only draw with showdown he could play like this is 45.
wow. sick.
I would agree with Jonks in that most lower level players will check behind A6 on the turn, instead of having to b/c with it. But against a thinking player who probably discounted 77-jj from your range (because of PF and the flop c/r) it worked beautifully.
Realize that if he’s only calling the flop with pairs and 8+ out draws, I can check-raise bluff him ruthlessly. I expect he’s calling the flop with A-high, gutshots, and some other floats as well. I don’t see why he would bet all of those when checked to on the turn, either because he needs to bluff or because he’s very vulnerable (A-high) and doesn’t want to face a bet on a lot of rivers.
Granted I’m a dog against his calling range, but I don’t think I’m a big dog, and there’s a lot of value in folding him off hands that have 25-40% equity in a 60BB pot.
so a few hours with EFG and this is the result