[Buckmulligan]

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If I bet into him and he just calls, I'm ahead. If he raises, I may or may not be ahead, but he'll be forcing the other two players to call two cold, and hopefully I'll be heads up with him.

[/ QUOTE ]

See that's the problem with betting this flop. If you can get villain to raise a worse hand, then betting is clearly better than checking, but to bet and try to get this heads up with someone who, after three betting you usually has you beat, is pretty futile.

Suppose instead that he only calls our bet. This is still not the most favorable position because we bloat the pot with a vulnerable hand.

I really think that versus a TAG betting is not a great option here. We would know a lot more about its merits had you not limped preflop.