We are going to look at some examples of when we need to be firing a second bullet and when we should be checking the turn for pot control, for ease of reading all these hands take place with blinds at $1/$2 at 100BBs deep.
Hand 1
Hero is in CO with Q♠ T♠
Folded to Hero in the Cut off: We raise to $6
BB: calls
Flop: K♠ 3♥ 4♠
BB: checks
Hero: Bets $5
BB: calls
Turn: T♥
BB: Checks
Hero?
The best line here is for us to check, the reason is we will realise our equity and can win even bigger pots if we flush over flush hands that may fold the turn if we bet.
We have hit a piece of showdown value now with having a pair, but we don’t want to grow a pot against Kx hands that have us in bad shape.
Although we could sometimes bet this at a small frequency especially against a very call station type opponent. However, if our opponent is ever mixing in check-raises on the turn, getting raised on the turn would be disastrous for our holding.
Hand 2
Hero is on the Button with 8♣ 9♣
Hero: Raises to $6
BB: Calls
Flop: 6♣ 4♣ 2♥
BB: Checks
Hero: Bets $5
Turn: J♦
BB: Checks
Hero?
In this spot, we are going to want to bet because we have 9 outs to a flush and 6 outs to what is possibly the best hand if we make a second pair.
We can grow the pot for if we hit our draw or manage to win the pot with a river bet, we can get calls from other draws that will check fold rivers too.
The fact we have no showdown value means we are going to want to barrel off with this hand, as if we get raised we aren’t too disappointed and can just fold.
Hand 3
Hero is on the Button with Q♥ 9♣
Hero: Raise $6
BB: Call
Flop: J♥ 7♥ 3♦
BB: Checks
Hero: Bets $4
BB: Calls
Turn: 9♥
BB: checks
Hero?
We will want to be checking here, we got aggressive on the flop with nothing but one overcard and backdoor draws, now we have hit a piece of the board we are going to want to get our borderline hand to showdown…
We can bluff catch on the river with this hand and limit our losses against holdings that have us beat already by checking back and get a free draw with our flush draw the times we are behind.
Hand 4
Hero is on the Button with Q♠ K♣
Hero: Raises to $6
BB: calls
Flop: 9♠ 2♥ 4♣
BB: checks
Hero: Bets $6.25
BB: calls
Turn: K♥
BB: Checks
Hero?
We are going to want to Bet here, we are way ahead of our opponent’s range and can comfortably go for a full three streets of value on most run-outs expect possibly a heart or an Ace, so no need to play scared here, time to get value from all 4x, 9x, 2x, draws and worse pairs than Kings
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