Which hands bet and which check

In this lesson

• Name a hand's class on a flop: value, thin value, draw or air.
• Bet strong hands to build the pot, and draws for fold equity plus equity.
• Check medium hands that fear a check-raise.
• Decide when air bets, when it gives up and when it waits for the turn.

Read first: Flop bets by board type · Advice, not a lock: every lesson opens.

Concepts used: Continuation betting, Thin value betting

Sort the range before the hand

When the big blind checks to you, every hand in your range falls into one of a few classes, and each class has a job. Deciding the job first makes the action obvious far more often than thinking about the one hand you hold.

• Strong made hands, top pair with a good kicker and better: value; they want calls from worse.
• Medium made hands, weak top pairs, middle pairs and pocket pairs below the top card: they win at showdown often and gain little from a bet that only better hands call.
• Draws, from backdoors to open-enders and flush draws: they can win the pot now or improve when called.
• Air, no pair and no real draw: it wins only when the other player folds.

Who bets, who checks

In Rail's solves of the button against the big blind, the clearest pattern is at the ends. The strongest hands bet almost always, and sets and the best top pairs often bet big. Air bets surprisingly often too, mostly small, because it has nothing to win at showdown and the big blind folds enough.

The class that checks most is the middle: second pairs, pocket pairs below the top card and weak top pairs. They are ahead of the big blind's bluffs and behind its calls, so a bet gains little and a check-raise would leave them stuck.

Draws mostly bet: they have two ways to win. The ones that check are often the weakest draws with some showdown value, such as ace-high with a backdoor.

When to trap

Slowplaying a very strong hand on the flop sounds clever, but in position it is rarely the solver's choice: in Rail's solves of the button against the big blind, sets and two pairs almost never check the flop. A bet already gets called by the many pairs and draws the big blind continues with, and it builds the pot for two more streets.

Two reasons to check a strong hand: the board is so dry that a bet folds out everything worse, or your checking range needs some protection against a turn attack. Neither says check every set.

Practising it

Name the class first, then decide. The split exercise shows you the solve's own mix for each class on one of the library's flops, so you see where the classes really go.

The split and the flop drills come from Rail's flop library. Your own hands on other flops are read from the nearest solved flop by hand category, and the analysis marks those grades as mapped.

Rules of thumb

• Strong hands bet; the very best often bet big on dynamic boards.
• Air bets more than you would think: it has no other way to win.
• Medium hands check most: they beat bluffs and lose to calls.
• Draws bet: fold equity now, equity when called.

When they break

• Against a player who calls with anything, medium hands become thin value bets and air should check more.
• Against a player who check-raises a lot, check more medium hands and bet your strongest hands to be raised.

Example hands

Practice

The lesson is mastered when every exercise below that Rail can grade is passed. Missed items come back later as review cards.