Lesson
Building the Pot with a Flush-Draw Check-Raise
Check-Raising · advanced · 11 min
Tyler reviews a check-raised ace-deuce of hearts hand and explains why the flop raise is mainly for building the pot while the hand has strong equity. The lesson focuses on how showdown value changes the turn plan: check-call with a pair and nut-flush draw rather than turning it into a large bluff, then fold river unimproved.
Key takeaways
- Check-raise ace-deuce of hearts on the flop to build the pot while the hand has strong equity against villain's range.
- On the heart turn, check-call ace-deuce of hearts because the pair of deuces gives meaningful showdown value.
- Do not use ace-deuce of hearts as a turn overbet bluff when worse hands can be shown down; save more aggressive semi-bluffs for hands like king-five of hearts that lack showdown value.
- Use the value of your made-hand region, such as queen-nine on different turn cards, to guide turn bet sizing.
- With this combo, the discussed default plan is check-call turn and check-fold river unimproved.