Playing The Flop

Playing The Flop

Betting Rounds: Before The Flop : Flop : Flop Hands : Turn : River

So you have made it to the flop with what you thought was a decent
hand, but you are a little unsure of how to play from here on out. You
need some good strategy for playing the flop in Texas Hold'em.

Unfortunately, there are no tables or rules to help you make the best
decision like there were before the flop, and you are being forced into
making decisions for yourself. Allow me help you find your feet and help
you make the best possible plays when the hand starts to open up on the flop...
{Note: If you are looking for a more specific hand guide, have a browse over the article
on playing hands on the flop.}
Evaluate the situation on the flop.

The first thing you should do when the flop comes down is evaluate every aspect of the
hand, and consider the strength of your cards at this point. This means that you will need to
ask yourself questions like:
How strong is your hand? (Do you have a pair? Two pair? A straight? And so on.)
Do you have a draw? (Could you make a flush or straight when the next card comes
down?
In addition to this, you should consider a number of other factors in the hand to help you make
a more informed decision. Think about:
The size of your stack and your opponents' stacks.

Your position in the hand. The later your position the better.
How the flop could have helped the other players in the hand.
Now this might seem like a load of stuff to think about just for one small
decision, but honestly, it really does help you to make the most profitable
play possible. The flop is where a pot starts to get built up, so the last
thing you want to do is make a bad play and get caught up in a hand that is going to lose you
a lot of money.
The more thought you put in to your decision on the flop, the easier
the rest of the hand becomes to play.
For example, you may well have a decent hand like A J on a flop of A T 4 (giving you
top pair), but it could easily spell trouble in certain situations. If we neglect to consider the fact
that we are first to act and our opponent raised before the flop (and lets say they have a big
stack for good measure), we may well end up losing a large amount of our money to their AK.
This is a little unfortunate, but for an experienced player a loss like this could have been
avoided.
In other instances our A J would have been a great hand to play with, but this example
goes to show how thinking outside of the box and not just looking at your own cards helps to
get you out of tricky spots (and helps to place you in some sweeter ones).
Think about the future of your hand.

One of the best ways to make a decision on the flop is to think about what you would do
on future betting rounds depending on which cards came on
the turn and river.
Do you have a clear idea of what you will do on the

turn?
Does it seem as though you could make a profitable play on the turn?
It's all too easy to make your play based on the situation of the flop alone, without considering
what could potentially happen further down the line. However, to really ensure that you do not
land yourself in a sticky and unprofitable situation later on, you have to think past the play you
are going to make on the flop.
Never make a play in the hope that everything will be okay when the
turn and river cards come. Good flop strategy involves thinking past
the flop itself.
Playing the flop tips.

Don't get attached to weak flush and straight draws.
Make continuation bets regularly.
Don't be afraid to bet with strong hands right away – no need to wait for the turn.
Consider using the float play if you know how.
You have time to make your decision, so use it. There's no need to rush.
Playing the flop overview.

This article has been a little more on the negative side than I had planned, discussing more of
the ways to avoid losing money rather than making money. Although, a lot of the process of
making money as a poker player is avoiding the pitfalls that can eat away at your earnings,
and you can be sure that there are a lot of these on the flop.
As I always say, you learn winning poker through playing the game, and this is especially true
for Texas Hold'em flop strategy. Before the flop you had tables and charts to help you along,
but now it's time for you to stand on your own two feet and make decisions for yourself. Now if
you want to become a winning poker player, you are going to need to get used to flop play
and thinking about each situation, rather than relying on a few tricks for your preflop strategy.
So start playing and learning. Your ability to play the flop well will improve with practice.

Playing The Flop

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Playing The Flop

Evaluate the situation on the flop.

The size of your stack and your opponents' stacks.

Think about the future of your hand.

Do you have a clear idea of what you will do on the

Playing the flop tips.

Playing the flop overview.

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