DECISION POINT: Early in a $2-5 cash game session you raise to $15 from Under the Gun with A♦K♠. Both Middle Position players, the Button, and the Big Blind call. Five players see the 2♦3♦5♦ flop. The Big Blind checks and action is on you, what do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: We are playing in a $2-5 cash game early on in our session with no significant reads. We are dealt A♦K♠ Under the Gun and make the standard table raise to $15 that normally thins the field. In this particular instance we get calls from both Middle Position players, the Button, and the Big Blind.

The flop is 2♦3♦5♦ and the Big Blind checks to us. Normally on a monotone board against 4 opponents with no pair it would be quite standard to just check here. With 5 opponents seeing the flop is it quite likely that at least one player connected and that a continuation bet is unlikely to get everyone to fold with a high enough frequency to make bluffing profitable here.

In this instance however, we have the Ace of diamonds which is not only a blocker to an ace high flush (4d-6d would make a straight flush and is the nuts in this hand) but also a significantly strong drawing hand. In multiway pots players tend to behave quite honestly, meaning that we don’t see a ton of bluffs or semi-bluffs and they tend to act in accordance with their absolute hand strength.

Given this factor we are unlikely to see players make significant moves here and our hand can also withstand a certain amount of pressure with the strength of its draw. Additionally, we increase our overall equity in the hand by getting hands like 88 without a diamond or even Jack Ten offsuit to fold here.

Typically with four opponents we won’t be continuation betting often without a strong hand but in this instance we have a key blocker and multiple strong draws along with a hand that gains some benefit from remaining the aggressor.

Betting on the smaller side, somewhere in the $20-$25 range, makes a lot of sense in this spot. Around one-third pot size is big enough that hands with some equity against us such as JTo/QJo will fold. If our opponents just call this likely caps their range as many big made hands like sets, flushes, or straights would want to raise on a highly coordinated flop like this versus a small bet.

When our opponents just call on the flop we also can have profitable two barreling opportunities. In some instances we can even call a flop raise at this stack depth when we choose the smaller c-bet sizing.

Continuation betting is the best play.

It’s that fundamental question that, as poker players, we all ask ourselves on a regular basis…

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