Part: Part Eight - Making Moves
Abandoning the move
Flop
You opened and got two callers. Flop J♥ T♥ 8♣ - very wet - and you hold A♥K♥ (overcards plus a flush draw and gutshot). Both check.
A wet board, three-way, but you have real equity (draw + overcards). Best?
WhyBet a semi-bluff. Even multiway, your equity (flush draw, two overcards, gutshot) plus some fold equity justifies a bet that can take it now or improve. A move with this much equity behind it is fine to start.
What happensYou bet 1,600; one player calls, the other folds. Pot: 5,800 (14.5 BB).
Turn
Turn 2♣ - you miss, and now the remaining caller leads into you for a big bet.
You whiffed and the caller now bets big into you on this wet board. Best?
WhyFold. The preconditions have collapsed: he called your flop bet on a coordinated board and is now betting into the pre-flop raiser, which means real strength, and your ace-king high has no pair. Continuing to 'move' here is throwing good chips after a dead bluff - recognize it and let go.
What happensYou fold. You abandon the move when its preconditions vanish.
You started a semi-bluff with real equity, but when a caller stuck around and led into you, the move was dead - so you folded rather than fire into obvious strength. Knowing when to abandon a move is part of making it.
Abandon a move the moment its preconditions break - when an opponent shows strength and your equity is gone, give up instead of compounding the bluff.