Leading into the raiser

When the caller should bet first into the preflop raiser: on cards that move the strongest hands its way, or after the raiser checks back.

The flop drills here are dealt from Rail's flop library: twelve heads-up 6-max 100bb lines, each solved on 100 representative flops. A drill's flop is one of those, so it is graded combo for combo. Your own hands on any other flop are read from the nearest solved flop by hand category, and the analysis marks those grades as mapped.

Approximate: the ranges here are hand-written teaching ranges or rest on Rail's narrowing model, not on a solve of the whole hand. The direction is what to take away.

In this lesson

Lead on cards that hit your range much harder than the raiser's.
Bet the turn after the raiser checks back the flop and caps their range.
Pick the hands that gain from leading rather than checking.
Explain why leading on flops the raiser hits well rarely pays.

Read first: Calling in position and taking it away · Advice, not a lock: every lesson opens.

Concepts used: Donk betting, Range advantage

Leading into the raiser

Leading the flop out of position as the caller is rare in Rail's solves: on most boards the big blind checks its whole range to the raiser. The raiser's range is usually stronger, and checking lets it bet its wide range into you, which you can then defend against.

Where leads appear is where the board moves the top of the ranges to the caller: low boards, seven-high and below, and some paired and monotone ones. There the big blind holds more of the strong hands, and a lead can take the initiative with a mix of them and of draws.

Probing the turn

The more common lead comes a street later. When the raiser checks back the flop, its range is capped: most of its strong hands would have bet. On the turn the big blind can bet into that capped range: value with the hands that are ahead, bluffs with draws and hands that missed.

Turn cards that help the caller's range, low cards and cards that complete its draws, are the best ones to probe. Overcards that help the raiser are worse.

Pot before your raise5.5 bb

Your bet or raise4.1 bb

How often they fold45%

Alpha: folds needed: 42.7%
EV if it never wins when called: +0.22 bbProfitable

A turn probe of three quarters of the pot into 5.5 bb: about 43% folds needed as a pure bluff.

In Rail

The flop drill deals your first decision as the big blind: check or lead, graded by the library's solve, where leading is usually the mistake. The turn drill deals probes after a checked flop.

The flop drills are from Rail's flop library; the turn drills are solved on demand from ranges narrowed through the flop. Your own hands on flops the library did not solve are read from the nearest solved flop.

Rules of thumb

Check the flop to the raiser on most boards.
Lead only where the board gives you more of the strong hands: low and some paired flops.
Probe the turn after the raiser checks back the flop, on cards that help your range.

When they break

Against raisers who check back too much, probe more turns and bigger.
Against raisers who c-bet every flop, checking to them is already a fine way to take the initiative with a check-raise.

Example hands

Examples come from two places only: your own analysed hands in this lesson's spots, and a hand Rail deals and grades itself. Never a hand from outside Rail.

From your own hands

A hand Rail deals

Rail scripts this hand from the lesson's own practice, always the same one, and grades it with the analysis. Decide first, then read Rail's verdict.

Practice

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

Exercise 1

Pass: 2 of 4 right

Four flops from Rail's library, your first decision as the caller out of position: check or lead?

Exercise 2

Pass: 2 of 3 right

Three turns out of position as the caller, solved on demand.

Exercise 3

Optional

Your own first decisions as the caller out of position on the flop and turn, the costliest first.