Part: Part Six - Betting After the Flop
A lead with a reason
Flop
You defended the big blind with 6♠5♠ against a button raise. Flop 7♠ 8♦ 9♣ - you flop the nut straight on a board that hits your range far more than the raiser's.
You flop the nuts on a board that favors your range. Best?
WhyHabit says check to the raiser, but ask who this board belongs to: 7-8-9 hammers a defending range of connectors and gappers and misses most of a button's opening range. He won't c-bet often enough to make a check-raise reliable, so leading is how you start building the pot your nut straight deserves - and you have the perfect hand to pile chips in behind it.
What happensYou lead 800, he raises with two pair, and the money goes in - your straight is the nuts. When you lead into a board that's yours, the strong hands that raise you are walking into the trap.
You broke the check-to-the-raiser rule for two concrete reasons: the board smashed a big-blind range and you held the actual nuts. That's a lead with a reason, not a hunch.
Donk-leading is usually a leak, but it's correct when the board plainly belongs to your range and misses theirs - lead for a specific reason, never out of habit.