While a lot of players prefer to play only their best hands pre-flop, in online games the fast-paced nature (and the occasional presence of multiple players playing loose) leads to an increased amount of times of seeing a multi-way flop that I want to bet on.
On one hand it makes sense to bet higher, since increased aggression feels necessary while pushing against multiple players, and the increased amount of active players means the pot can go up quicker, delicious for anyone trying to get value when they hit their draw.
On another train of thought, being able to call pre-flop / flop knowing it would / has become a multi-way already means the hands that remain present are in a very playable range. Hands that would fold to a value bet would still fold when the value bet is higher, so it does not really invite anything besides the opportunity to lose more chips when someone has a better hand than you.
While this premise feels opinion-heavy, here's a comparison between two concise scenarios I would play:
Pre-flop: UTG(LJ) 1BB, Myself on HJ(A9o) call, BTN Call, SB Raise to 3BB, BB UTG HJ 3BB Call (Button folds, 4 players)
Flop AsQcTd: SB BB UTG Check, HJ Bets 60% into pot
Pre-flop: Myself on HJ(A9o) Open raise to 3BB, BB Call (Everyone else folds, heads up against BB defending)
Flop AsQcTd: BB Check, HJ Bets 30% into pot
Ignoring factors like how in the first scenario the pre-flop aggressor missed his CB as compared to how in the second one where BB did not dunk bet (as one would expect), upon reflection, it would make sense for me to also only bet 30% on the first scenario: I'm losing out on value targets (hands that could call/raise are likely stronger since the amount to spend to call is higher) and I could be misrepresenting my range when over-betting on a 4-way.
What is/are the acceptable way(s) to approach bet sizing on the post-flop on multi-ways?
