When to apply line bet check bet in poker

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When a person does something on a professional level, his in-depth understanding of the subject models thinking:

1. A good driver, when driving a car,  sees  a general picture of the flow of traffic along the highway.
2. The artist, working on sketches, already mentally imagines the canvas, feeling its integrity.
3. And a good poker player, playing a hand, thinks in lines.

The line is a sequence (set) of actions on several streets. The more logical your actions, the more profit you will be able to extract. We want to detail and hone individual nuances, not to forget about the integrity and harmony of our drawings. We will talk about one of these draw lines today. This is the bet/check/bet line in poker. Having considered it in more detail, we will see in it a multifaceted potential, because this line intertwines the philosophy of pot control, diplomacy in an unspoken proposal to your opponent to bluff the river and, finally, a subtle calculation of the additional bet in those cases when you receive a check on the last street. But it is better to talk about everything in order. 

1. Positional edge

Let's start with the fact that we need to have a position on the opponent. In other words, most often we will use the bet/check/bet line in the game against the blinds. It is also obvious that we will get the best implementation by playing single pots (that is, banks where we are one-on-one with the opponent). I note that the most suitable will be ordinary irrigated pots, and not 3-bet sweats.

In such banks, the ideal frequency of our c-bet will be approximately 90-92%, in other words, we will almost always bet cbet. 

2. Strategic choice at the turn of the turn

Turn is a kind of crossroads. It is here that we have to decide whether we want to barrel further or go to the check-back. First, it depends on the strength of our hand. Empty-handed in most cases it will be more profitable to put than to check, if only because we do not have a showdown. At the same rate, we will still generate a certain percentage of fold equity. Of course, this does not mean that we want to put the second barrel automatically for any runout.

A good player is always a thinking player. 

Let's compare two situations:

1. In the first case, we play a single pot against the player on the big blind (BB). Hiro opens with EP+1 s (stacks 70bb+). The flop comes out, and after the check from BB, Hiro puts a small cbet. BB calls, and comes by thorns. When such a runout comes out, the second barrel is obvious. Now let's make a difference.
2. Hiro opens with an HJ with a hand and still gets a cold-call from BB. Suppose they came out on the flop. Hiro also puts on a cbet, and BB calls. Turn . villain checks. In fact, we do not have a showdown, but in this situation it will be more profitable to check in response and surrender on the river, since it is obvious that our opponent has an advantage on such a board. 

From these two examples, it follows that we want to continue barreling empty-handed in suitable situations, that is, either on runouts of thorns, which strengthen our possible range, or on a blank card, which at least does not strengthen the range of our opponent. 

3. Suitable situations for sweat control

The philosophy of check-backs (that is, return checks) on different streets depending on the specific situation is, in fact, an extensive topic, replete with nuances. In this article, we will touch on some aspects. 

Middle stage of the tournament. 
You open with CO with a hand and get a call from the small blind (MB). Suppose there is an unknown player on MB. Effective stacks 30 bb. They go out on the flop. The small blind checks, and you bet a small cbet. Your opponent equalizes and comes out with a thorn. Again your villain is checks in. What do you do? 

Now take a break from reading, try to immerse yourself in the situation as much as possible. What is the best way to play here? When you have a choice between a bet and a check, first scan the board for possible threats. First of all, I determine the texture of the board. If the board is strongly "woody" (i.e. contains a lot of draw), then it will be much more profitable for us to put the turn with the middle hand, because it needs serious protection from possible draw. However, if the texture of the board is dry or moderately "woody" (as in the example above), we can play through the checkback.

• So let's go back to our example. What are the draw hands in our opponent's cold-call range on the board? Here's a rough analysis you should learn to do in real time in a few seconds.

There is no flush draw on the board.
There is one OESD (double-sided straight draw), but it is unlikely, since these hands do not have full weight. We assume that in such shallow stacks, the player is unlikely to actively defend QJo hands without having a position. Maybe there are QJs there. But these are only four combinations in contrast to the offsuited ones (there are 12 such combinations). And these calculations do not take into account our hand, which plays the role of a blocker. This means that a small number of combinations that we have laid in the possible range of the small blind will be reduced by another 25%.

Gatschots:

1. Q9 - we do not expect to see such hands in the cold circle at MB with full weight, rather suited ones are possible, but as always there are few of them.
2. J9 is the same as Q9. Plus, we also block such a hand (with us).
3. AQ - obviously go to 3-bet preflop.
4. AJ - in fact, for most players, this is also an obvious 3-bet on the preflop. If we assume that the opponent is a more passive player, we can leave them with a small weight in the circle. 

Thus, after analyzing the situation, we decide to play a check-back. By this action, we tacitly offer our opponent to seize the initiative and make a trial bet on the river. This will work quite often and here's why.  In the modern realities of poker, players tend to call the flop on a fairly wide range. A few years ago, our cbets of flops received significantly more fold equity. 

Now the field breaks off with almost the entire range: with hands that fell into the board, with weak draw, a bunch of backdoors and just with some two cards that have nothing to do with the board. Thus, playing against such opponents check-back on the turn, you allow the opponent to enter the river with a very wide range of hands, and most of them will not have a showdown velly at all. Therefore, we will receive prob-bet of the river quite often and easily to call. In those cases when the villain does not put the river, we will have a great opportunity to look for a delicate value. 

• Let's go back to our example. The river came out, and now the board looks like this:

This is a blank. Obviously, the river did not strengthen anyone here. The villain waited, Hiro puts 30% and after some hesitation gets a call from. A call is not so rare when you play along the bet/check/bet line! In the eyes of the field, the line looks rather weak and not convincing, so immediately get ready for a wide calldown on the river.

• Now let's look at another classic example. Late stage of the tournament, everything is folded before you, and you fold 2 bb with
    . small blind foldit, and BB calls. You have pretty deep stacks, your opponent has 50bb, and you have 55bb. You both go to the top 4, and there are only 3 tables left. The flop goes:

Before us is a classic dry paired board. You bet a cbet of 30%, and the BB calls. Turn . And again, after our opponent's check, we have the opportunity to both deliver and check back. Pot-control of thorns on such a board will be a competent solution. We do not beat out better hands here, and it is difficult for us to come up with an obvious collecting of value from weaker hands. 

Plus, it will be strategically correct to keep the small size of the pot, since we do not want to play large pots between the two leading stacks in the late stage of the tournament without having a strong hand. In the end, you wait, and the river comes out. BB bet 1/2 sweat, you call and lose. Well, that happens too. However, you managed to keep the pot small, and this loss will not have a strong impact on your position in the tournament. 

4. How often to bluff along the bet/check/bet line

As follows from the above examples, we do not want to actively use this line for bluff, since we get a wide call from the field on the river. Of course, as everywhere, here you can also find your exceptions and put the river on the runouts, which are well suited to the range of pre-flop-raiser, but globally I advise you to focus on fine collecting of value.

5. Cons of the bet/check/bet line

Of the possible disadvantages of this line, one can pay attention to the following two:

1. Waiting for the turn, we give the opportunity to free implementation of equity for the opponent's hand. That is why it is important to choose the right board for the checkback on the turn.
2. We cannot control the sizing of the river bet from the opponent, in cases where it follows. 

However, summing up all the above, we can confidently say that with the competent use of the bet/check/bet line, there will be clearly more advantages from such a game.