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Betting out the flop is wrong IMO becuz if I bet out the flop, I am giving the middle guy a good price to stay in the hand for just one small bet

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if you're the guy in the middle you're not going to agree with this statment becuase if he calls this donk bet he should readily call a raise behind him, which is why i like leading these kinds of flops sometimes with draws or weak made hands because even though the guy in the middle is getting good immediate odds, he has to assume his odds are going to be cut a good deal because he is not closing the action with the pfr behind him.

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Your point is valid, especially if the player in the middle is a decent to good player. I still would rather checkraise to end any suspense of whether he would call with a marginal hand/marginal draw or not. My goal is to get heads up with the preflop raiser who can easily not have a hand, I feel that check raising this flop will accomplish this goal more than betting out will.