Checking IP As The PFR

One thing I'm conscious of the need to incorporate into my game more is the flop check back as the PFR, which is part of a shift away from the more level 1 upfront aggression towards more sophisticated backdoor aggression that people are less used to playing VS.

So far I've been trying to do more check backs, but self analysis today left me feeling frustrated that I don't actually properly know when or how to do this. Learning any skill to conscious competency and then unconscious comptency is possible, as I've realised recently when I noticed how easily now I deal with PF stuff and all the variables that go into that. Open %, people behind, their propensities, stack depth, hand values, postflop tendencies of villain, all analysed instinctively in super quick time. I need to get to that stage with checking back the flop.

I'll first consider some of the variables that might go into a decision to check back the flop rather than cbet it, and also list reasons why a cbet might be preferable.

Checking Back the Flop IP as PFR

• Hits villain's range hard. This would be important for all our holdings, as if we cbet a made hand here we're potentially overrepping, and if we have air we have little equity.
• Villain check raises frequently and we have less than the relative nuts.
• We have a middling made hand on a dryish board so have a 'way ahead way behind' spot.
• We have a made hand and villain has a high propensity to stab the turn.
• Deception VS a 'high intensity' player, for example checking back the NFD to someone capable of attacking our capped range.
• Deception VS a level one 'cally' sort of player, so the type to just be like 'wut never cbet, cawl'- fish quite often come into this category.
• Hits our range well enough, and think villain is the type who will proceed to put us on a made hand if we check back and delay stab turn river. Probably more effective on dry boards.(note, how do we identify such players?)

Cbetting As The PFR IP

• Hits our range hard, and we have either the nuts or no hand.
• Villain is wide PF and not likely to play back at us lightly (when we have air).
• Villain is neither especially cally to weird lines, or the type to be super high intensity and attack our capped range (when we have a made hand).
• Villain is weak/ cally on the flop and we have excellent barrel options (when we have air).