Playing Postflop (3): Retaking the Initiative
Before reading this lesson, you should have read through:
- Playing Preflop (1): Open Raising
- Preflop Strategy (1): Open Raising Charts
- Playing Postflop (1): As the Preflop Aggressor
- Playing Postflop (2): Against the Preflop Aggressor
In the previous lesson, you have learned how to play against a continuation bet.
In this lesson, you will see how to proceed in other spots when you were not the preflop raiser. You can either take the initiative yourself by donk betting out of position, or have it given to you when your opponent decides not to c-bet. Finally, you can end up in an unraised pot. All of these possibilities will be covered in this unit.
It will still be assumed, except for the part on unraised pots, that the pot is heads-up.
Donk betting
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The first decision you can face is whether or not to donk bet. In general, you should avoid donk betting on dry boards. They don't hit your perceived range, so such a donk bet is not believable as a bluff. And if somehow the board has actually hit you, there is no need to bet for value as your opponent will most likely do it for you.
On a wet board, you should, as a default, donk bet with a balanced range containing good draws and monsters (two pairs, sets, etc.). However, if you are facing a good thinking opponent, he will expect your range to be strong.
A good thing to do is to depolarise and weaken your donk betting range – you can now bet all hands you don't want to check/fold – basically any pair or better, and any draw including gutshots. That way, you get more value for your good hands, and it is easier to defend the weaker part of your range. If you check, your range is capped so it can easily be attacked. Against a knowledgeable opponent who can take advantage of that it is better not to leave any hands you don't want to be under attack within your checking range.
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As a default, you should avoid donk betting on dry boards. Donk bet on wet boards with a balanced range of good draws and monsters. |
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Against a good opponent, you can donk bet (again – mostly on a wet board) with any hand you don't want to check/fold with. Bet out with a pair or better and a gutshot or better. |
Attacking a missed continuation bet
Another possibility is that your opponent does not c-bet. In this case, you can assume his range is weak – it can contain weak or medium strength value hands, but it almost surely is capped, i.e. it does not contain monsters. It is therefore an easy target to attack. An exception may occur when the effective stack to pot ratio is so low that your opponent cannot make a bet on each street. In this case, he may choose to check his monster on the flop in order to let you either to bluff, or to improve your hand to the second best on the turn, as he can still make two bets.
In general, you should take at least one stab when your opponent misses a c-bet opportunity. In most cases, you should continue barrelling, unless the board runout (one on which you cannot credibly represent a good hand by betting) or your opponent's stats (if he likes to bluffcatch a lot and dislikes folding) dictate otherwise.
When double and triple barrelling after attacking a missed c-bet, you should think about how your line is consistent with your preflop play and the turn and river cards. Since your range, due to preflop considerations, contains many draws on a wet board, you are more likely to get hero called by a thinking opponent if the draws miss. In such case, you should lower your bluffing frequency, but value bet the river thinner.
Playing in an unraised pot
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A different story is how to play in an unraised pot. Basically, you should not open limp in any situation, so you can end up in such a pot by either over limping in position, completing in the small blind, or checking in the big blind. It will be further assumed that the pot ends up being multiway, as this is typically the case in unraised pots.
When the pot is checked to you, you can take a stab every time you hit the board in any way (a pair or better; a gutshot or better), and every time you can credibly represent a strong hand. This will happen on most boards with no ace. If there is an ace, you will not be able to represent it after not raising preflop.
If you get called after you take a stab, you should only continue for value and give up with your bluffs. In limped pots, people don't like to fold if they connect with the board, and the fact that you've been called means that they did connect. As a general rule, you don't encounter floats in limped pots.
Summary
In this lesson, you have learned that:
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