Question on advice from Rebuen/Ciaffone's book

[Post-Oak]

I agree with the posters that say this is dependent.

That being said, in most online games, and sticking with the big assumption that we are against rational players; if you raise here you already have decided to play for your stack. There is no getting away after a raise, unless you and the villain are both very deep stacked, which is rare in capped online games.

Look at it this way... You raised preflop and got "many" callers. The pot is now already a pretty big pot BEFORE the flop. So a medium bet here will be somewhat substantial compared to the big blind. So I like his idea of a flat call, so that you don't have to commit your stack yet. If someone is on a draw behind you, well they are going to call anyway unless you come with a reraise all-in.

This is why it sucks when you raise with aces and get a bunch of callers. The pot is already big and your overpair is hard to get away from. Anyone who you get it all-in with on the flop is usually going to either have you beat or have a very big draw.

So yes, it depends on many things (including the texture of the flop), but in many games you will be committing too much if you raise this lead bettor. Usually a player who comes out betting into a large field in this kind of hand either wants to play for his stack, or is probing with his weaker underpair. Either way you don't want to raise.

Yes, it does suck that there are players waiting to act behind you...