In this post we are going to look at a bunch of examples of hands that we get check-raised on the flop with, we will look at which types of holdings and textures we continue on and which ones are just give-ups for our hands.
King High Floats on Lock Down Boards
$1/$2 $200 Deep
Hero is on the Button with K♠ J♠
Folded to Hero on BTN: Raise to $6
BB: Calls
Flop: 4♠ 4♥ 4♣
BB: Checks
Hero: Bets $5
BB: Raises to $22
Hero: ?
We will have to call here…
This is a typical board for players to try and bluff with, even when they have a value hand it is going to be fairly vulnerable with pairs from 22-88 as most players 3-bet 99+ versus a button open. So even for the times, we are beaten here we still have 6 outs to a pair and 1 out of quads and us most likely having the winner.
A lot of the time here players will take one check-raise stab and give up on future streets, so making this initial call here will give us a lot of info.
Tough Spot with Top Pair
$1/$2 $200 Deep
Hero is on the Button with Q♥ T♥
Folded to Hero on BTN: Raise to $6
BB: Calls
Flop: Q♠ 4♦ J♣
BB: Checks
Hero: Bets $5
BB: Raises to $24
Hero: ?
This is going to be a fold most of the time…
The problem with our hand here is that it isn’t going anywhere good, we are on the second street of action and things are not looking good for us, we could choose to call once, but then what improvements can we make, we have no backdoor flush draw and making two pair could be a disaster for us if we are already crushed.
Another point to notice is that we block our opponents raising us with drawing hands like KTs and T9s, so this adds to our reasoning for making a tight fold in this type of weak top pair spot.
Sticking around with a Draw and an overcard
Hero is in the Cut Off with A♠ 3♠
Folded to Hero on BTN: Raise to $6
BB: Calls
Flop: 2♠ J♥ 4♣
BB: Checks
Hero: Bets $6
BB: Raises to $21
Hero: ?
We will need to call here too…
Although we only have Ace high, we have one of the best hands in our range for C-betting this board and giving up to what is likely just an aggressive re-steal at least a decent amount of the time is not going to be profitable.
Not only this but our hand has some nice playability, we have a draw to the wheel an overcard that is likely good and a backdoor flush draw, these are plenty enough reasons to stick around in this pot and at least play some turn cards.
Playing a Big Pot with a Big Draw
$1/$2 $100 Deep
Hero is on the Button with 5♥ 6♥
Folded to Hero on BTN: Raise to $6
BB: Calls
Flop: J♥ 4♦ 3♥
BB: Checks
Hero: Bets $7
BB: Raises to $22
Hero: ?
Here is a great spot to re-apply the pressure and 3-Bet our opponent…
We are going to be able to realise our equity in an all-in situation much easier than getting the money in on turns that we don’t hit. Another good reason to 3-bet here is that we can possibly win the pot without having to hit our hand with just six high.
If we were playing with deeper stacks here then calling may be a good option, however, with the SPR set, the way it is with getting all in here is just the best way of seeing all 5 cards and realising our equity as even against hands like top pair, top kicker, here we are the favourites with 57% equity in the pot. We even have 40% equity for when we come up against a set with our straight and flush draws!
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