But now I've made it hard to play, hard to know where I am and easy for him to do this because my range is so capped.
IMO the concept of 'making it hard to play by giving up the initiative' is an illusion. Keeping the initiative
feels like the easiest way to play a hand, primarily due to the times your opponent folds. But when your cbet gets flatted IP (or even raised) it does not feel 'easy to play' any more. Now you are in a 'difficult to play spot' in a bloated pot, and you have narrowed your opponent's range through betting.
This is the sort of flop that position is extremely important on, and thus is really difficult to play OOP. That's just unlucky, and you won't always get such an unfortunate flop.
The concept of not being able to get three streets is a crucial one, particularly when OOP. However, in this particular spot it is probably still better to bet your hand. Yes, you cannot usually go for three streets and thus you are going to shop your hand as a bluff catcher when you check the river (or the turn). But betting is
the best of several bad options. The main reason for betting is that you prevent your opponent realising his equity with the weakest parts of his range - the parts that would either bluff or check-back if you check. Most of your opponent's air on this flop will have around 25% equity, and thus you do gain something when an opponent folds a hand like
.
Moreover, when you bet it puts the villain behind you in an uncomfortable position since he has to worry not just about you having a hand, but also about the first villain potentially planning a check-raise. So he cannot float you with a really weak 'out-of-line' range. It can work out nicely if the villain in position folds and then the other villain calls. Now you are IP and can much more easily take a bet flop/bet turn/check river line since when you check the river it finishes the hand.
Sometimes you've got to take bet/bet/check lines even when OOP, and this is mainly the case on flops like this one in which your opponent will have at least 25% equity even with his weaker hands. It sucks when you have to check/decide on the river, but that's just something you have to accept. You got a shitty flop when OOP.
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