Does My Flop Raise Have a Point?

[tiltaholic]

i agree with the other posters so far, and i'd like to add that this is a case where postflop reads are very helpful.

often, depending on the player, this is a probe bet, because they have hit the flop, or have a mid pocket pair and they want to see how you react. here, a flop raise can win you the pot immediately with reasonable frequency. they are aggressive enough to lead certain flops, but passive enough to give up quickly.

when they are more passive or "safe" (great description btw), they'll won't give you the pot right there but they will give you the lead and thus the free card.

either way, i think the flop raise is good here.

on the turn, similarly, if you know villian to be weak, i don't absolutely hate the turn bet. my gut tells me that you'll pick up the pot enough to show a profit, however you when he calls you know you need to improve to win...i'll bet turns like this when i'm getting lots of table respect and showing down repeated monster hands. the weakies fold in a heartbeat. and in the cases where we improve on the river and show down...we get the double bonus of setting off the tight-passive with "you raised me with that?!? wtf!! river rat!!..." and we get future action from the table too. but it's definitely situation and opponent dependant and taking the free card is clearly good against a lack of strong postflop read.