I haven’t written any poker content for a while, so here is something short I wrote up-
There have been many changes over the years in the strategies employed in 6-max NL holdem. From wider 3-bet ranges to turning hands into bluffs, these are but a few concepts that were relatively unseen in many of the NL games of yesteryear.
Further, the concept of ‘pot control’ is another such tactic. In the past, we often learned to check the turn with a marginal hand (hands that could not stand a check/raise). This was to keep the pot smaller and to induce villain to bluff the river.
(one short example): Villain opens MP, you call BTN with 77. Flop T42r, villain bets, you call. Turn 6, villain checks, you check for pot control.
The idea is fine in theory…at least against some players. A spazzy donk will bet the river, not hand reading, not understanding why you would check the turn and call the river (surely you must be weak!).
But, as stated previously, the games have changed. Better players are more numerous; higher skilled and more aggressive than previous years. Further, they can hand read, which negates the entire purpose of this pot control turn play.
Here is why it is often better to bet the turn with most all of your range in a single raised pot (pf) in position (with the idea of you having a marginal value hand on the turn in position)–
-Checking messes up your hand strength . When you check back the turn, you rarely have a set. Or an overpair. Or 2pair…or anything strong. When you check back the turn, you have a marginal showdown hand, be it TPNK or worse.
-This makes it easy for villains to check/raise bluff the river, an easy solution to counter the check back turn. He knows that you can never really be hugely strong (few villains at SSNL are tricky enough to do this).
-Along with the strength of your hand, checking messes up your value range. Hands that normally might call one bet are more likely to call on the turn than the river (after you check the turn that is). Take the same above example (the 77 hand on T42r board). Villain will probably think that you’re floating some % of the time and will check/call that turn with a wide variety of hands, bet it a pair or A high or whatever.
He’s often going to continue betting himself with a strong hand (Tx+), and like yourself, he’s rarely going to be tricky enough to check/call the turn with a monster. (check/raise is in consideration, but facing a c/r, it’s an easy dump vs. most all opponents).
So against a good hand reader, villain knows that you have a value hand (marginal or w/e) once you check that turn…he knows you’re going to call one river bet, thus lowering his bluffing frequency. So why would he check/call the river with like…A high or whatever?
-Villain often won’t have a hand to check/call either the turn or river. As stated, I think that most TAG players will typically bet/bet/bet with most strong hands (and obviously there are exceptions). Many times, checking for pot control does little, mainly because villain won’t bluff the river and he won’t call a river bet (once you check the turn). So with that in mind, I think it’s better to at least protect your hand a little bit (and often a bet gives you the same result (him folding) only the turn is better for these reasons listed). If villain isn’t bluffing river and he’s probably not going to call either street, I’d rather not give him the 10-20% equity freeroll or whatever on the turn.
-Checking the turn negates your bluffing range. Oftentimes we float against straightforward players. By betting the turn (with a variety of hands), we give ourselves so much more leverage when in position. Villain cannot simply think to himself “alright, I can call now and he won’t bet the river”…villain knows that if he himself has a marginal hand (which, he often will given that he checks the turn…I would say most just bet/bet/bet with a strong hand) and he can’t often take heat. Now villain has to worry about the river.
-I also think that it’s going to be better (typically) to bet draws on the turn as well. Many players are autopiloting, c-betting the flop and just c/f-ing from there. While there are obvious merits to checking back the turn with draws (don’t want to get blown off), it’s usually not a huge deal anyways since you a) don’t typically have much SD value and thus not much equity in general.
Now, there are obviously times when checking the turn can be fine (and IS the correct play). Against weaker opponents it can definitely be the optimal line… This post was stated in a broader sense, in an overall game plan.