jkf

This is a hand that can do very well in a flop checking range, particularly since you very rarely are going to want to bet 3 streets for value with it. This is primarily due to two reasons: (1) how the board runs out and (2) how villain's range will continually narrow and strengthen as you bet. I'd imagine that you over c-bet when out of position, and have overly weak checking ranges. I can't say that for sure of course, but it'd be something that I'd pay attention to if I was at the table with you and saw you play this hand.

As played, river is a bet/fold.

Yea, keep the series going.

Check/call flop. Lead turns on 2,5,6,7,9. Have good implied odds on a King or Jack turn.

Check/call flop is fine.

Lead turn for ~150-200. Fold to raise.

These are good questions.

You're right in that many players' check raise ranges don't have enough bluffs on certain run-outs. Therefore when we face bets on those runouts, we can confidently fold a lot of our bluff-catchers, knowing that our opponent isn't bluffing enough.

When selecting hands to C/R as a bluff, there are a few things to consider:

1.) The likelihood that we block our opponent's continuing range. So as in your example, holding the nut flush draw blocker will significantly reduce the likelihood that our opponent continues when facing our C/R. Pair blockers are also valuable as well as straight out blockers.

2.) Future street bluffing opportunities. Again this often comes about by having blockers for a draw completing on future streets.

3.) Equity when C/R is called. You'd want to have some equity when your C/R is called. The equity should be such that you are not giving up too much equity by folding to a potential flop 3-bet. For example, if your opponent 3-bets your C/R and you now need 36% equity to stack-off given pot odds and remaining stack size, it would not be good to then have to fold a hand with 33% equity against villain's 3-bet range. This hand would've likely done much better as a check/call (and its equity would increase overall since villain's entire c-bet range would be weaker than his flop 3-bet range). Instead, it'd be much better to have a hand with ~20-25% equity when called, since we can more readily fold to a 3-bet without giving up too much.

4.) Implied odds. This is related to the above in that you want to have some equity when your C/R is called. However, note that two hands with identical equity may have very different implied odds and as a result very different EV. For example, on cards that are bad for your range or unlikely to improve it, having flop bluffs that improve on those cards will give you a big boost in EV on those cards. You can also think of this concept as related to runout coverage. Sometimes we can use hands in our flop C/R bluff range to improve our runout coverage.

5.) A hand that is not +EV to check-call the flop. Note that this will depend on opponent's future street tendencies. For example, if a player never double barrels the turn, you will be able to realize nearly all of your equity with hands that check/call the flop. Compare this to someone who double barrels the turn aggressively, and a lot of your flop check-call range will be setting themselves up to check-fold the turn. As a consequence, the more an opponent double barrels, the more potential hands we will have that we will want to C/R bluff, and the less they double barrel, the less hands we will have that we will want to C/R bluff (since we will be able to realize our equity more).

With all that in mind, here are some good potential hands to use as a C/R:

1.) AsJx9x: This hand has the (1) nut flush draw blocker (2) can bluff when flush hits. Can potentially use the 9 to bluff the straight when a J or 6 comes off (3) a nut gutter which provides a bit of equity. (4) The nut gutter 8 out has neutral-ish/slightly positive implied odds. (5)The hand is too weak to check-call.

2.) As6x5x or As6x4x: Similar to the above hand. It has the following qualities: This hand has the (1) nut flush draw blocker (2) can bluff when flush hits. Doesn't have any other real blocker bluffs. (3) a nut gutter to the low straight. (4) Very good implied odds when we make our low straight. This is helpful for your range as in general, villain's range does better on a 4 or 5 turn, so having a bit of coverage on these cards through your bluffing range helps a decent amount. (5) The hand is too weak to check-call

You can improve on any of the above hands by adding:

(1) a backdoor heart draw

(2) Another broadway card to go along with the Ace. For example, if you include a Q in AsJx9x, you now make a wrap on a King turn. Additionally, when you make your nut straight on the turn with an 8, you would then have a redraw to a higher straight (a river Jack or 9).

Adding a King to the hand instead would provide a wrap on a Queen turn.

For the As6x5x or As6x4x hands, if we add a King, Queen or Jack to our hand, we will have a nut broadway gutter draw on the turn whenever one of the other broadway cards hit.

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I'd recommend trying to come up with some other potentially good hands to use as C/R bluffs. It might be good to try with other boards as well. Then do some work with PokerJuice to see how often you get those hands and if you'd be under or overbluffing by using them.

Thanks Leszek :)

Hey, this video was great. Would you be able to post a link where we can download your HUD? It looked quite good. Thanks.