Min Bet on the flop

Not a specific hand, but noticed this a couples times yesterday with a couple players in a $.50 45 man sit and go.

We'd be 4 players to the flop and it'd get checked round to the last guy to act who'd min bet, for example the pot would be 600 and they'd bet 60. I check raised the two times it happened but not only did they call my check raise of almost 6x but so did another player who called their initial min bet. This situation really confused me as the initial min better would then do the same on the turn and river. Wondering what people thought this conveyed + what would be the best play against a min bet on the flop.

1. Blocker bet-by betting out, you try to keep the in position player from raising more (for example, you bet 1 bb into a 4bb pot, the player has to now decide if he wants to make a standard 3 bet where as if you hadn't led out, he would only have to 3 bet to stay in control of the betting) This is done in an effort to see a cheap turn when the OOP position player has a draw.

2. Probe bet-This is used mainly by beginners. This is basically a weaker player asking plaintively, 'Is my middle pair good?'.

3. Tickler bet-a trickier player may recognize that a donk bet looks weak, and does it with a strong hand to generate action or cap their range. For example, a flopped set might donk out to a strong aggressive player in order to appear weak. You respond to this bet carefully, folding if you missed the flop, or calling and keeping the pot small if you smell a fish.

The size of the donk, the image of the player, your image, and stack sizes will all help you determine if the donk bet is an invitation to attack, or a trap waiting to spring.

I see this happen a lot as well. They don't always call that much as they did for you but it happens. Many times is is a blocker bet but many times its players who don't understand the game. They hear you need to be aggressive and this is there way of being aggressive. Once in a while it because they have a great hand and don't want you to fold. All you can do is watch them and figure out what type of player they are and exploit them. Trust me you will love the ones who call your re raises when they call with three 2nd and 3rd pairs and you have them beat.

This bet doesn’t make any sense to me and is likely just a bet by a player that doesn’t understand the game. On the flop they are presenting you the opportunity to call a bet without making any odds mistakes. It’s an awful bet....
Unless - maybe they think people have fold/check or fold to any bet checked and it’s a quick way to get multi-table players out of the hand? I know I used to make smaller bets effectively in the Rush Poker days of Full Tilt.

Wow great analysis by bstyles85 here , thank you.

I read that most of the times you must treat those bets as it was a check , actually 60 in 600 pot is a mere amount. Don't fall in the trap to raise too often because sometimes those bets are made for inducing purposes.

Lead bets like them or bigger as ken nielson wrote,often designate weak players. On the other hand if you are in position try this play and you will be amazed how people react haha. In micro stakes they get crazy and fight back ha ha.

depends but here are some thoughts.
1. scary flop lets sat 3 people limp = player pot the flop is K24o if every1 checks you min bet = would you betting something that is not a K? would you be calling if something is not a K. I do not agre with this strategy as most of the time 2nd pair and Dros will cal you but i can understand the logic behind it.
2. block bet. you hit your TP or something, but its weak and you hope that if you can thinout the field to 2 players it will be easier on turn and river. again min bet is... well not what I like
3. this is you way of value betting. you see a samll multiway pot and think that if you are going to bet big you will make every1 fold so your value bet is... 1bb....

I would agree that this is more of a tactic made by newer players that don't quite understand the game yet. It should not be too hard to tell if this is the case though. Just keep an eye on someone that is willing to do this.

bstyles85 said:

1. Blocker bet-by betting out, you try to keep the in position player from raising more (for example, you bet 1 bb into a 4bb pot, the player has to now decide if he wants to make a standard 3 bet where as if you hadn't led out, he would only have to 3 bet to stay in control of the betting) This is done in an effort to see a cheap turn when the OOP position player has a draw.

2. Probe bet-This is used mainly by beginners. This is basically a weaker player asking plaintively, 'Is my middle pair good?'.

3. Tickler bet-a trickier player may recognize that a donk bet looks weak, and does it with a strong hand to generate action or cap their range. For example, a flopped set might donk out to a strong aggressive player in order to appear weak. You respond to this bet carefully, folding if you missed the flop, or calling and keeping the pot small if you smell a fish.

The size of the donk, the image of the player, your image, and stack sizes will all help you determine if the donk bet is an invitation to attack, or a trap waiting to spring.

Click to expand...

Great analysis. Tight new players will also fold to any bet on a flop they dont like, so sometimes a min bet will turn their better hand into a fold.

Probably some players who are not well versed in poker making bad plays and calling your raise.
Make sure you have a good hand for showdown with these types of calling-station type players.

Most won't call but you do not want to do that in a pot with 4 players unless you have an okay hand.
one on one check-raising is good play vs these players.

I think that it would be my idea if it would be a good idea but it would be what I was doing