The first bet

With four cards: red or orange on either board, or yellow on both, bet about three quarters of the pot. Anything else, check. With five cards everyone holds more, so the bar is higher: red on either board, or orange with yellow or orange on the other, or a straight on both. Anything else, check.

The bet is the same from every seat, including the blinds. That surprises people who have read that you check from the blinds, and both are true: the first bet with a strong board earns from anywhere, because it is the first money in and the player with nothing calls it cheaply and folds to the turn. What you do not do from the blinds is bet a decent hand, a set with a dead second board, into seven players. That is a check.

Why three quarters and not the pot? In our simulations the smaller bet got more calls from hands that then fold the turn, and that is where the money is. A pot bet folds them now and wins less.

Today's drill deals you a flop with no bet in front of you. You decide: check or bet. The coach says what the method does and shows both colours. Twenty spots, eight in ten.