Sorry if this isn't considered a theory question, but I am curious about the order in which we should think about different variables on the flop. I don't memorize solver solutions and am just looking to find the correct decision in a shorter time.

The things I try to think about are: range advantage, nut advantage, betting frequency, bet sizing, where to draw the line between value bets and value checks, what my best bluffs are, how many bluffs I should have.

Probably other things as well.

Just curious if anyone has advice on how they order their thoughts to reach a speedy decision?

Something like this.
1. I have a baseline oversimplified flop strat that I can resort too without thinking. Which is basically bet 1/3 ip, check oop. I don't actually play every flop like this but it's a starting point.
2. Reg or fish? Vs fish I size up with top pair plus and size down with less.
3. Range advantage. Who has more two pair+ hands.
4. Villain range more in detail. Vs this range do we want value or to deny equity.

Thanks! This is really helpful. How about in situations where you know we have an advantage and should be betting frequently, how do you figure out bluffs.

Say we are in BB vs a CO raise and the flop come 249 rainbow. I have a ton of air so how do i start to figure out which hands to donk and which to x/raise

1. I'm not the strongest player so take my advice with a grain of salt. But at lower stakes I don't donk flops, I think it's best to simplify strategy and focus executing that simplified strategy better. As the cold caller on a board that favored me I would x/r every oesd, almost every fd. Vs a small bet I would start x/r'ing some of my top pair hands and gutters. For the fat value hands like two pair + I would really be thinking about how aggressive my opponent is and how many 2nd best hands he can call x/raises with when deciding whether to x/call or x/raise

1. How thin do I want to valuebet? If I’m betting lots of marginal hands for protection/thin value, then I’ll go small. If my value range is more polarised, then I’ll go big.

2. Is the flop/turn/river good or bad for me? If it improves many of my bluffs, then I can bluff most of my remaining air. If not, then I’ll be more selective with my bluffs.

3. Needless to say, bluffs should be betting the same size as value.

Why?

Had the same reaction. There's no hard law that says that using the same size for value and bluffs is the way to maximize EV.

The only reason to use the same size for value and bluffs is if we are up against an opponent who is good enough to notice when we are using different sizes and knows how to adjust.
Other than that, we are better off using different sizes.

Example: Let's say we play the nuts and air river toy game.

We bet 1x pot with 10 combos of nuts + 5 combos of air + give up 5 combos.

If our opponent calls GTO, the EV with our nuts is: 50% * 2 + 50% * 1 = 1.5x pot
The EV with our air is: 0
Total EV: 1.5 * 50% = 0.75x pot

*************

Now, say our opponent is completely inelastic and calls the same 50% vs a 1.5x pot bet
and folds the same 50% vs 0.75x.

EV with our nuts is now: 50% * 2.5 + 50% * 1 = 1.75x pot
We now bet all our air for an EV of: 50% * 1 - 50% * 0.75 = 0.125x pot
Total EV: 50% * 1.75 + 50% * 0.125 = 0.9375x pot (EV increase of 25% compared to betting the same size with value and bluffs)

Exploitatively we should value bet the size that maximizes Bet-size * Call%.
And bluff the size that maximizes Overfold% * (Bet-size + Pot-size).

OP, since it hasn't been mentioned already, one of the things that should be part of your post-flop routine is a quick calculation of the SPR on each street.
That makes it easier to size flop and turn bets accordingly should you be trying to get stacks in by the river, for example.

In theory. In practice almost any play can be justified with the right assumptions, so it’s really a matter of how accurate those assumptions are.

Owen Messere talks about streamlining his thought process off table. Attempting to get to the pertinent details of the hand as efficiently as possible.

https://youtu.be/HEwlsX2o9vc?si=UeBOw8SAWgcWgLWj

Imho most of suggests processes are way too complicated. Whenever I try to think about so many things during the hand, i would miss bunch of spots.

My main focus is what is opponent's range? What kind of opponent is he? What my hands wants to do?
Ofc you should have general awareness of your own range, but you don't need to worry about too much abaut balance picking perfect bluffs who has more 2p ect. Just make sure you don't play super face up. It takes a looooot of time before someone notices your imbalances. So those things are important if you play in small pool against exceptionally strong players.

Ideas like range and nut advantage can be useful when interpreting solver sim, but not so much when making decisions in game.

I have ADHD, which leads to me having a lot of thoughts all at the same time, rather than an organized / sequential thought process which gets repeated over and over. That said, this is what I try to force my mind to focus on (in no particular order):

- What the pre-flop action was; specifically the positions of each player who limped, raised, or called, and the bet sizing - really making an effort to remember it all precisely.
- My reads on my opponents - how I think they're playing.
- My table image - how my opponents likely think I'm playing.
- Based on the above, what my opponents' ranges are likely to be, and what they might think my range is likely to be.
- My opponents' stack sizes, and how that might affect their play.
- My stack size, and how that should affect my play.

I've found that I sometimes need to remind myself to consider range / nut advantages before acting post-flop. Without some conscious thought about it, I default to playing fit-or-fold or simply guessing about what to do.

As we gain experience, some of the organized / conscious thought process becomes automatic / intuitive. We've already built all those reads and our table image before the hand started, and should have considered them pre-flop. So on the flop, we can proceed to check or bet, and what size to use if we want to bet.

When deciding to check or bet, I'm trying to focus more on how everyone's ranges interact with the board, and stack sizes, and how those factors should dictate my play. I've found it's good to stop and think about what I'll do if I get raised, before deciding if I want to bet, and how much to bet. That line of thought somewhat forces us to consider range / nut advantages.

Our toughest decisions will likely come on the turn and river. That's when it's critical to force a pause when it's our turn to act, in order to go back through all the considerations and previous action again, and calculate/consider the pot size and remaining stack depths before acting.

SPR
The board
Villain range
Hero range
Baseline strategy
Villain deviation tendencies
Exploits

Should I be thinking something else