Betting when on a draw.

After the flop when I'm on an early position and I'm on a draw that has the odds to call with, I usually bet. I'm doing this to get info on others and to possibly get the right odds on the turn if I miss. Is this line of thinking correct? What if someone then raises after me? Then I usually just call.

I've played about a month (0.5/1) and I want to make sure that I've got basic things like this right before moving up. I could easily be winning in spite of big mistakes because the games are so easy on this level.

It's 4 AM and I'm quite tired so if I messed up something really badly then I blame the fatigue. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[cold_cash]

It depends on the draw, how many opponents, previous action, etc...

[xenthebrain]

If you have an equity edge you should bet, if the board is e.g. ragged and you think you have folding equity go for the semi-bluff.
If that doesn't apply, check/call.
The magic formula that you are searching for doesn't exist.

[Greg J]

Hey welcome to the board.

I can't really give a definate yes or no answer to yr question. It totally depends. I mean there are so many variables that play into what you should do with a draw that I can't really say. Let's say you are in EP with A/images/graemlins/club.gif 8/images/graemlins/club.gif with five other players seeing the flop. The flop is 8/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 5/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/club.gif. If there had been no preflop raise I would usually bet. You have perhaps 40% equity -- maybe more. But if the guy acting after you raised preflop and you think he might raise again then a checkraise might be best.

Let's say you have T/images/graemlins/spade.gif 9/images/graemlins/heart.gif in the big blind and the flop is J/images/graemlins/club.gif Q/images/graemlins/club.gif 4/images/graemlins/heart.gif and there are three other players. You should probably just check and call one (maybe two). Not all draws are created equal.

Plus, you have to consider what kind of players you are up against.

[ QUOTE ]
After the flop when I'm on an early position and I'm on a draw that has the odds to call with, I usually bet. I'm doing this to get info on others and to possibly get the right odds on the turn if I miss.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, ummm... don't do that. You are spending money to get the right odds to call a later street? That's like paying for a -EV lottery ticket: once you have it you should scratch it off, and hey you might win. That does not mean you should have bought the damn thing in the first place! You should bet when it has a profitable long term expectation. (This means when yr pot equity is higher than yr share of the bet.)

Another thing: stop betting for information. You NEVER bet just for information. You can occasionally do it in conjunction with other reasons to bet that are value related. But the weaker yr opponents are then less prone you should be to bet for info. I would hold off on info betting (and raising) until other more basic concepts have sunk in.