MSS Advanced (4) - Postflop
Introduction
In this article
- Postflop basics in MSS
- When you should and when you should not make a continuation bet
- What you should avoid postflop when playing MSS
The previous articles introduced you to the basics of mid stack strategy and its preflop concepts. In this article you will learn what's important to consider postflop. The illustrated concepts will help you make your postflop game profitable and show you how to make the right move in a given spot.
Basics
Since your preflop strategy is mainly concerned with actively entering the pot with a raise, you will usually have entered the hand as the preflop aggressor. The question you have to ask yourself in most cases is: continuation bet or no continuation bet?
Apart from the c-bet, your general postflop strategy also plays a role. When playing MSS, your goal should be a solid TAG game without any big spewy moves. You usually play fit-or-fold after the flop. Your stack size, which is small compared to the stack size in BSS, gives you low implied odds and only rarely allows you to peel or float with marginal draws without the initiative postflop.
That's why we will now analyse a few example hands to introduce you to some basics of MSS postflop lines: The keywords here are c-bets, fit-or-fold, few bluff raises and zero floats. You shouldn't call down too loosely either, since particularly on the midstakes your opponents won't barrel against MSS players that often and won't make any narrow value bets either.
Flop
The general rule is: The more often your opponent shows resistance, the more you should adjust your c-bet frequency to your opponents' aggression. C-betting in 100% of cases is generally profitable if your opponents don't show resistance too often. If they do, you have to reconsider your c-bet strategy.
In HU pots, you should c-bet around 75% on average. This will make it harder for your opponents to read you and therefore to exploit you. Particularly suitable for c-bets are polarising dry boards, such as K52, KQ4 or AK7.
Boards that are less suitable for a c-bet are drawy boards, which have hit the opponent's range well, e.g. QT8, JT9 or 876. On these boards, a check is usually better if you have missed the flop. However, you should still bet if you have a strong hand.
In multi-way pots, a c-bet is usually not that useful. Particularly if you missed the board, a bluff c-bet is usually not profitable at all. In these cases, you should simply fold your hand on the flop. However, you can still bet on A-high or K-high boards if you can assume that your opponents will only rarely cold call with Ax or Kx preflop.
$5/$10 No Limit Hold'em (8-handed)
Known players:
UTG2 = ($602.30)
MP1 = ($1,200.50)
MP2 (Hero) = ($397.75)
MP3 = ($1,180.00)
CO = ($1,100.00)
BU = ($192.00)
SB = ($980.75)
BB = ($1,000.75)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 
UTG2 calls $10, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $50, 5 folds, UTG2 calls $40.
Flop: ($115) 
(2 players)
UTG2 checks, Hero bets $90, UTG2 folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
You are in MP2 with AK and isolated a limper (calling station) in UTG2, according to the rule. This was one of the reasons why you chose the very big raise size of 5BBs. He calls you and you face an easy decision on the KJ6 rainbow flop. You make a c-bet and he folds. Especially in HU pots, you should generally attack with a c-bet on A-high and K-high boards, even if you have missed the board.
Your opponents will play a very straighforward game against you. As the board has hit your preflop range very well, you will hardly get any bluff raises. This is a clear c-bet situation. If the board is a bit drier than this (K32), you could check behind against very aggressive opponents with the intention of inducing a bluff. However, a continuation bet should be your standard move on this board.
$25/$50 No Limit Hold'em (8-handed)
Known players:
UTG2 = ($5,868.00)
MP1 = ($5,225.00)
MP2 = ($12,428.00)
MP3 = ($13,846.00)
CO (Hero) = ($1,838.00)
BU = ($5,000.00)
SB = ($9,810.00)
BB = ($5,000.00)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 
4 folds, Hero raises to $150.00, BU calls $150.00, 2 folds.
Flop: ($375) 
(2 players)
Hero bets $250.00, BU calls $250.00.
Turn: ($875) 
(2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $700.00, Hero folds, BU gets uncalled bet back.
If you check the flop, you will hardly ever get to the showdown with your 99 on this drawy board. By making a c-bet, you represent a strong hand since it is very well possible that the board has hit your range. You may want to get weak jacks or TT to fold. A c-bet would therefore also improve the playability of your hand if you turn your marginal showdown value into a bluff.
If your opponent calls, you will usually have to fold your hand. A 2nd barrel won't help you in most cases, because hardly any opponent would fold. The c-bet has unfortunately not worked out as planned in this example so you have to surrender your pocket pair.
$3/$6 No Limit Hold'em (9-handed)
Known players:
UTG1 = ($1,017.25)
UTG2 = ($966.00)
MP1 = ($618.00)
MP2 = ($633.00)
MP3 = ($600.00)
CO (Hero) = ($291.00)
BU = ($1,533.00) (24/16)
SB = ($433.00)
BB = ($736.30)
Preflop: Hero is CO with 
5 folds, Hero raises to $18.00, BU calls $18.00, 2 folds .
Flop: ($45) 
(2 players)
Hero checks, BU bets $24.00, Hero folds, BU gets uncalled bet back.
After your steal raise from the cut-off you flop a gutshot. Now you ask yourself if you should c-bet on this board. The board structure is not really suitable for this, since it has hit your opponent's range very often and there is hardly anything he would fold. That's why you skip the c-bet and fold this hand.
Of course a c-bet might occasionally win you the pot or you may hit your gutshot. However, check/fold is probably the better option here.
C-bet as semi-bluff in a multi-way pot.
$5/$10 No Limit Hold'em (8-handed)
Known players:
UTG2 = ($1,450.50)
MP1 (Hero) = ($360.75)
MP2 = ($997.00)
MP3 = ($200.00)
CO = ($1,020.50)
BU = ($1,010.00)
SB = ($692.00)
BB = ($584.55)
Preflop: Hero is MP1 with
UTG2 folds, Hero raises to $25.00, 2 folds, CO calls, 2 folds, BB calls.
Flop: ($95) 
(3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $60.00, CO folds, BB folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
You are in MP1 with KQ, make a raise and get two callers. The general rule is that you should play fit-or-fold in multi-way pots. However, this situation is a bit different. The board has hit your range very well and you could very well have the A. That's why you want to represent the A with your c-bet. It will be very hard for your opponents to stay in the hand with small pockets, a six or weak tens.
On top of that, you have a gutshot and four outs to the nuts, and additionally six over card outs against smaller pairs. All of these factors make a c-bet profitable in this spot.
On boards that you can't represent very well, a c-bet is usually not worth making in a multi-way pot. In such cases you should simply fold the hand.
In all the previous examples you entered the pot as the preflop aggressor, since this is your standard game plan when playing MSS. However, there will be cases in which you cold call or limp preflop and see the flop without the initiative. Learn what to do in such cases in the following examples.
$5/$10 No Limit Hold'em (9-handed)
Known players:
UTG1 = ($1,027.00)
UTG2 = ($195.00)
MP1 = ($460.50)
MP2 = ($1,000.00)
MP3 = ($564.25)
CO = ($200.00)
BU (Hero) = ($429.10)
SB = ($525.40) (calling station)
BB = ($215.00) (calling station)
Preflop: Hero is BU with 
4 folds, MP3 raises to $20.00, CO folds, Hero calls $20.00, SB folds, BB calls $10.00.
Flop: ($65) 
(3 players)
BB checks, MP3 bets $40.00, Hero calls $40.00, BB folds.
Turn: ($145) 
(2 players)
MP3 checks, Hero bets $80.00, MP3 folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
Your opponent minraises from MP3. You decide to make a close call with a suited ace since you assume that the calling station in the blinds will also over call and you can play the pot in position with a hand that has good multi-way potential.
You hit top pair on the flop and find yourself in a classic way ahead - way behind situation. That's why you only call your opponent's c-bet on the flop. On the turn however you should bet for value.
$25/$50 No Limit Hold'em (8-handed)
Known players:
UTG2 = ($12,556.00)
MP1 = ($10,169.00)
MP2 (Hero) = ($2,347.00)
MP3 = ($5,000.00)
CO = ($5,147.00)
BU = ($5,974.00)
SB = ($5,000.00)
BB = ($6,466.00) (calling station)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 
2 folds, Hero raises to $150.00, MP3 calls $150.00, 3 folds, BB calls $100.00.
Flop: ($475) 
(3 players)
BB checks, Hero checks, MP3 checks.
Turn: ($475) (3 players)
BB bets $250.00, Hero raises to $850.00, MP3 folds, BB folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
Preflop you raise to 3BB with your jacks, since there is a calling station in the BB. You get two callers and decide to check on the Q72 board due to your showdown value. A bet would never be for value here, since you wouldn't get any stronger hands to fold. In addition to that, you want to avoid a check/raise by a flush draw, because you would then usually have to fold the better hand.
The situation somewhat changes on the turn since you hit a set. At the same time, the BB makes a donk bet of a little over half the pot size. It is difficult to put him on a range here, but you should definitely raise for protection on the drawy board. There is another player behind you and you certainly don't want to give him good pot odds to draw out on you. Unfortunately, your opponents fold, but you take down a nice pot. This leads us directly to turn play.
Turn
As the PFA, you usually get to the turn after a c-bet. You now have to ask yourself with which hands you should fire a 2nd barrel and when you are better off without it. This question is particularly problematic in MSS, since a bet on the turn often commits you to the pot and you will usually no longer be able to fold to a raise. Also, in the limits NL100 to 400, many opponents will fold to a 2nd barrel. From these two facts, you can draw valuable conclusions regarding your c-bet strategy on the turn.
Firstly, you could check for deception with a very strong hand in order to induce weaker hands to float or bluff. This way, you will keep some weaker hands in the pot, which would have folded to an additional bet. Of course you should not desperately insist on checking every time you have a strong hand on a drawy board, but the line can be extremely profitable if you make it part of your repertoire.
This also means that a 2nd barrel as a semi-bluff or pure bluff is often a good option. Especially if there are scare cards, your 2nd barrel should often get your opponents to fold their marginal hands. If you semi-bluff, you also have enough backdoor equity, which, along with the fold equity, would make your line profitable. You should be very careful with pure bluffs, though. Reads on your opponent and his fold to c-bet turn stats will help you with your decision here.
$25/$50 No Limit Hold'em (9-handed)
Known players:
UTG1 = ($5,000.00)
UTG2 (Hero) = ($1,925.00)
MP1 = ($11,836.00)
MP2 = ($5,150.00)
MP3 = ($4,208.00)
CO = ($5,944.00)
BU = ($5,172.00)
SB = ($5,000.00)
BB = ($5,025.00)
Preflop: Hero is UTG2 with 
UTG1 folds, Hero raises to $150.00, 3 folds, CO calls $150.00, BU folds, SB calls $125.00, BB folds.
Flop: ($500) 
(3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $300.00, CO folds, SB calls $300.00.
Turn: ($1,100) 
(2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $600.00, SB folds, Hero gets uncalled bet back.
You raised KQs from UTG2 and get two callers. Your default play on the flop is to c-bet, the CO folds and the SB calls. On the turn you ask yourself whether you should fire a 2nd barrel or not.
Your hand is strong enough for bet/call, which is why you should bet. If you have QT, you may have to consider a different line, since bet/call might be -EV against some opponents in this case. A check behind would probably be a better option.
His flop call doesn't look particularly strong. If you have a hand such as KT or AT, a 2nd barrel semi-bluff would be a very good choice, since you will get quite a few players to fold and also have outs to win against a made hand. With KQ, you should also bet on this turn.
$25/$50 No Limit Hold'em (9-handed)
Known players:
UTG1 = ($5,147.00)
UTG2 = ($6,049.00)
MP1 = ($7,105.00)
MP2 = ($5,000.00)
MP3 = ($6,419.00)
CO = ($10,709.00)
BU = ($5,672.00)
SB (Hero) = ($2,500.00)
BB = ($7,685.00)
Preflop: Hero is SB with
7 folds, Hero raises to $150.00, BB calls $100.00.
Flop: ($300) 
(2 players)
Hero bets $200.00, BB calls $200.00.
Turn: ($700) 
(2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $550.00, Hero calls $550.00.
Your opponent is a LAG, who often floats, especially when in a blind battle, and who plays very aggressively. After your default open-raise with your sixes, you make a standard c-bet with an overpair and get called.
Your opponent will usually not have a better hand than you on this low board, since he would have 3-bet bigger pocket pairs preflop. Even if he had trap called preflop, he would almost always raise the flop. You can therefore be pretty sure that you have the best hand here. If confronted with a 2nd barrel, he would probably fold all weaker hands. That's why it is a very nice option to play for bluff induce by checking your hand here. It is also your plan to check/call every river card that is not a heart, if your hand doesn't improve.
$5/$10 No Limit Hold'em (8-handed)
Known players:
UTG2 = ($192.50)
MP1 (Hero) = ($397.00)
MP2 = ($1,000.00)
MP3 = ($718.35)
CO = ($1,050.00)
BU = ($1,000.00)
SB = ($3,836.00)
BB = ($917.00)
Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 
UTG2 folds, Hero raises to $20.00, 5 folds, BB calls $10.00.
Flop: ($45) 
(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $34.40, BB calls $34.40.
Turn: ($113.8) (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80.00, BB calls $80.00.
You decide to make a somewhat bigger c-bet on the flop in order to get stronger hands to fold. Also, you don't want your bet to be too small to avoid inducing bluff raises. You would have to fold to a check/raise since you will often run into pairs, better draws or both, such as Ah5h for example.
After your opponent calls, you pick up a gutshot on the turn. With these additional outs, the 2nd barrel is something you should consider. If you bet the turn and get a raise, you have to try to figure out what your opponent might have, since you get very good pot odds, but currently only have T high.
| Equity analysis | |||||
| Board | |
||||
| Equity | Win | Split | Loss | Hand | |
| Player 1 | 22.73% | 22.73% | 0% | 77.27% | |
| Player 2 | 77.27% | 77.27% | 0% | 22.73% |   |
If your opponent has a set or two pair, your equity is not quite enough for a call. You will not feel like folding to a raise, but the numbers tell a different story. You are strongly dominated by all hands that raise you, which is why a fold will, unfortunately, be the best option.
River play
In MSS, the river is not the most difficult street to play. With a stack size of around 30-40BB, you already make the fundamental decision on the turn in most pots, where you decide whether or not you want to commit yourself to the pot. We will therefore only take a look at a selected example, which will familiarise you with some basic ideas.
$25/$50 No Limit Hold'em (9-handed)
Known players:
UTG1 = ($5,147.00)
UTG2 = ($6,049.00)
MP1 = ($7,105.00)
MP2 = ($5,000.00)
MP3 = ($6,419.00)
CO = ($10,709.00)
BU = ($5,672.00)
SB (Hero) = ($2,500.00)
BB = ($7,685.00)
Preflop: Hero is SB with
7 folds, Hero raises to $150.00, BB calls $100.00.
Flop: ($300) (2 players)
Hero bets $200.00, BB calls $200.00.
Turn: ($700) (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $550.00, Hero calls $550.00.
River: ($1800) 
(2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $6,785.00(all-in), Hero calls $1,600.00.
As discussed further above, you check for bluff induce on the river against an aggressive opponent. He bets and you call as you had planned. The river is more or less a blank. No further draw arrives and if you were ahead on the turn. it is very likely that you will still be ahead on the river. A bet would definitely not make any sense here, since no weaker hands would call and no better hands would fold. That's why you decide to check/call again.
Conclusion
In this article you have learned the basics of MSS postflop strategy. The examples illustrated different standard lines for various game situations. However, keep in mind that you always have to analyse each situation individually in order to figure out which is the right move.
The main question will always revolve around your c-bet behaviour, since this is at the very core of your hand plan. Pay attention to all factors that could be relevant for a successful c-bet. Evaluate all pieces of information to decide, whether you want to keep your foot on the gas or if it would make more sense to slow down a bit and check.
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