Betting The Flop : ...

[Kramer]

How To Bet The Flop :

First, let's look at WHY you should represent the flop:

The primary reason is to find out
WHERE YOU'RE AT IN A HAND.

In other words, you want to learn how strong and how weak the OTHER players at the table are. And the only way to do this is through BETTING.

If you only check, check, call, call... then you will NEVER become a good poker player. Never


FIVE BASIC RULES when it comes to representing the flop... each rule gets progressively more complicated as they go on. But trust me, if you master these rules, you'll DEFINITELY be on your way to higher "poker profits" and winnings.

FIVE RULES:

RULE #1: When you represent the flop, don't act weak by only betting the MINIMUM amount...
BUT, don't bet so much that it can burn you.

This is kind of like the "not too hot, not too cold" principle. You see... when you represent the flop, you've got to accept the fact that you will likely NOT get the chips back that you're betting. I mean, obviously you want to WIN,
BUT, if someone has a great hand and you're representing the flop WITHOUT a great hand, then there's a good chance you'll have to fold soon.
So when you make a representation bet, do NOT bet so much that you'll feel "pot committed".

On the other hand, don't bet too LITTLE.
When you bet too little, your opponents will see right through it. And it won't be enough to scare the mediocre hands away.
For example... let's say you've got 9-8 suited and the flop hits K-8-2 and you're first to act. You don't want to CHECK because you know the guy after you will bet if you do. So you REPRESENT THE FLOP by throwing out a bet...
If no one has the King, everyone will probably fold to your bet. Even if someone DOES have the King, they may fold if they don't have a decent kicker.
The key is you must make sure you BET ENOUGH. If you only bet the minimum amount here... someone with A-4 might call the bet, simply because the pot odds are in their favor. And if the Ace hits on the turn, you're in trouble.
So always be sure to bet BIG ENOUGH to scare out the bad and mediocre hands, but SMALL ENOUGH to not get in trouble if you lose the chips.

RULE #2: Whenever possible, represent the flop when you have OUTS. This is a strategy most players don't quite "get" until you've been playing poker for a LONG time. Here's the thing: If you represent the flop frequently every single time you play Texas Holdem, you want the odds to be as much in your favor as possible. In the scenario above, for instance, representing the flop with middle pair is a good move. Because you have some OUTS. If another 8 hits on the turn or river, you're going to have three-of-a-kind. Obviously, hitting the eight is NOT likely (about 8.42%).
But there's STILL A CHANCE, and that's what is important. Think about it: Let's say you have just a 5% chance of hitting one of your OUTS that would cause you to have the best hand at the table. Well, if you represent the flop fifty times and get a caller TWENTY times, that means you'll MAKE your hand (on average) one time out of these twenty. And when you DO make your hand, you'll BUST your opponent and win a ton of chips. Make sense?

This is kind of a MENTAL DISTINCTION that separates the pros from the wannabes. Pros think about the LONG TERM ODDS of playing. They don't base their decisions on situational circumstances alone. They base them on WHAT WORKS OVER THE LONG TERM. That's how you develop a CONSISTENT winning career.
Because as you'll see in the next rule, you don't want to CONTINUE to represent the flop if people stay in the hand with you... unless you're confident that you can get them to fold. But usually, if someone calls or raises, you want to "let up". Don't risk more chips when someone's got you beat. So by representing the flop when you have OUTS you'll open yourself up to the chance of MAKING YOUR HAND on the turn (or sometimes river).

RULE #3: If you get raised, muck it. All of these rules are general in nature... especially this one. Obviously you don't want to ALWAYS FOLD every time someone makes a raise. BUT USUALLY, if you represent the flop with a bet and someone comes back over the top of you, that opponent will MOST LIKELY have a strong hand (maybe even a monster). It's not logical to continue to bluff at the pot if you're up against a surefire winning hand. You'll lose too many chips that way.
That's the downside of being an aggressive player: You've got to give up and cut your losses quite often. Discipline yourself to do it.

RULE #4: Change gears with your betting amounts. As we discussed earlier, one of the benefits to representing the flop is that opponents will give you more ACTION during the game because they'll "catch on" to your aggressive style.

That does NOT mean, however, that you should become PREDICTABLE. Being predictable is a recipe for disaster. And that's why you've got to "change gears" and "mix it up" with your betting.
For example... in our scenario where you made a bet with your 9-8 suited (middle pair), let's say your bet was for 50 and then someone RAISED YOU to 200. Your opponent probably has the King and a good kicker... maybe even two pair. So you fold your middle pair with a loss of only 50 chips. NOW... when you fold, everyone at the table will SEE that you just made a bet and then folded to a raise. This will tell them that you were betting WITHOUT a good hand after the flop. Now... let's say a few hands later the flop comes out 5-A-Q and you're second to act and you've got pocket deuces. Your first opponent checks.

Now, although you know someone at the table probably has you beat right now, you're not sure if someone has the Ace... because there weren't any pre-flop raises. So you REPRESENT THE FLOP (and the Ace) by betting. (Remember, you also have outs here... if a two comes you'll make trips.) The key is to NOT BET 50 again, as you did with your eights just a few hands ago. If you bet 50 again... or always bet 50 when you represent the flop... your opponents will know exactly what you're doing and read right through you. If Blake... who's sitting to your left... is only holding the Queen, he's going to fold if he thinks you've got the Ace. But if he thinks you're just REPRESENTING the flop, he will call your bet. And you DO NOT want that to happen (because his Queens are better than your two's). So instead of betting 50 again, you bet 150 this time. This way you stay out of any PATTERNS that will give away your hand... and increase the odds that everyone will put you on the Ace and fold.

RULE #5: After you get better at representing the flop, INTENTIONALLY STOP mixing up your bets in order to trap your opponents. This is a "tricky" play that works very well against intermediate poker players. Here's how it goes:

When you represent the flop and get "caught" in your semi-bluff, use the event to YOUR ADVANTAGE to bust your opponents. Let's use the example from before with the 9-8 suited: You got middle pair. You bet 50. Your opponent raised. And then you folded. Well, let's say you represented the flop AGAIN a few hands later with a bet of 50. And then you got caught AGAIN when your opponent raised you... and you were forced to fold. After watching this happen two or three times, your opponents will suddenly think they're geniuses and that they've got you "figured out".

They'll think, "Woa, when he bets 50 on the flop he doesn't have anything... and all I have to do is raise in order to scare him away." And of course, you're doing this ON PURPOSE in order to trap your opponents. Let's say a few hands later you get dealt pocket fours.

The flop comes: 4-7-J. You've flopped trips. Now what? Well, since you've built a reputation for betting on the flop no matter what happens, you can feel safe betting and you'll probably get action. But what KIND of action are you looking for? You want to get as many chips into this pot as possible. So you take advantage of the "trap play" that you've created and you bet 50... again. This time, your opponents think they've got you figured out. They think to themselves,
"That flop didn't help him one bit, he's just up to his old ways." So your opponent RAISES you. And that's where you GET REWARDED for the trap you set up. Now you can either re-raise, or maybe call and hope that your opponent tries buying the pot again after the turn card... It doesn't really matter.

Because as long as there aren't any draws out there, you can feel safe in knowing that you'll win the hand and a nice pot either way
It's amazing to me how easily players will fall into this trap. (Especially with online poker.) But remember... only use this trap play AFTER you have mastered the first four rules for representing the flop. And be sure that you aim the play at intermediate players, as they'll fall for it the quickest. There's one last component I want to mention here that relates to our discussion of representing the flop... and that's what you should do when you make a PRE-flop raise. My technique is simple:
If I raised before the flop, I will come out betting AFTER the flop... no matter what hits.

The reasoning is simple... For starters, NOT betting after the flop is like waving a red flag and TELLING your opponents that the flop didn't help you. If you represent the flop after your pre-flop raise, your opponents won't know what to put you on. They'll be more likely to fold. And using this strategy over and over and over again pays off in the long run. Because after awhile your opponents will catch on... And this benefits you in three ways: 1. You'll get more action when you catch a BIG hand. 2. Your opponents will fold more frequently to your pre-flop raises because they know you're going to bet after the flop as well.

This gives you the opportunity to steal more blinds. 3. Your opponents will be easier to read. When they have a good hand they won't be afraid of you and they'll come back over the top with a raise... This lets you know that they've got you beat and that you should just minimize your losses and fold.

Notice none of these rules mention your position .
Well if you’ve been playing poker long enough , you’ll likely agree he who acts first
wins a lot of hands is the mantra of the day.
Even if you don’t win , it puts you in the better position of
figuring out what they might have .

[Seanie Mac]

my little cousin turned 15 yesterday, and he had a suprise party, and than a poker game. i dealt for them all night, no rake, no tips. they played .25-.50, buy in of $30

i saw this hand and it made me wonder.

flop was 4-7-5 all spades. the small blind held 6c-3c to flop a straight

he bet, 1 caller. with As-10h.

turn was 10d

is there any bet you can make besides all in to force off top pair A high flush draw? which isnt the nut due to the SF draw.

river was the Js, and kid with the straight conceded after the 4 flush hit.

[BigdaddyQH]

Kramer, your article is good, but you have too many exceptions to the rules. The fact of the matter is that there are NO set of rules to play with. Only guidelines that must be adjusted to fit what you are up against. How many times do you muck or bluff under rule #3? According to you, it is "usually" which I can not define. Is that 9-10? 19-20?

A strict adhearance to any "rules" leaves you wide open to be bluffed out of many pots once you are discovered, which would take about 20-25 hands. You have to keep everyone guessing to succeed, or be very lucky. I do not see enough variation in your rules.

[Kramer]

Rule 3 :

Depends on your cards , flop : OUTS

A monster draw is one in which you have 14 outs or more -- 14 or more cards that will improve your hand after the flop. Let's say, for example, that you put your opponent on pocket aces or pocket kings. You, on the other hand, hold 6h-7h, and the flop comes 3h-8h-9s. To improve to the best hand, you could hit one of the nine remaining hearts to make a flush, or six other cards -- 10s or 5s -- to fill the straight. Don't include the 10h or 5h because they've already been counted in the flush category. That would certainly be considered a monster draw! You'd have 15 outs with two cards still to come.

In fact, it would make your hand the best hand. Obviously, your seven-high doesn't beat A-A, but your hand will win more often than the aces will; your monster draw will improve to the best hand a little more than 56 percent of the time.

As a rule, 13 outs after the flop makes you very close to 50-50. Fourteen outs makes you a small favorite, and, as I mentioned before, 15 outs makes you a decent favorite over your opponent. So, in knowing this, let's now consider how to play these types of hands after the flop.

Betting on drawing hands after the flop is often called semi-bluffing, but it isn't exactly bluffing when your drawing hand is statistically the best hand, is it?

A semi-bluff gives you two ways of winning the pot: Your bet forces everyone to fold; or, your opponent calls your bet, and you fill your drawing hand. Therein lies the real power of the monster draw.

By playing these hands aggressively you either force your opponent into submission or get all of your money in as a slight favorite. Either outcome is good for you, but having your opponent fold to your aggressive bet produces a slightly better result in the long run. Playing monster draws in this manner will also help add deception to your game; opponents will have a much more difficult time putting you on a hand.

Let me illustrate. Suppose I've raised before the flop with A-A, and the flop comes 9h-3h-6s. Normally, this is an excellent flop for a big pair, as the only real threat, at this point, is someone holding a set (three 9s, three 6s, or three 3s). However, if someone is in fact holding a set, my chances of winning the pot would be slim to none. I'd have only a 9 percent chance of hitting one of the two remaining aces to win the hand. So what should I do if an extremely tight player goes all-in against me on a flop like that?

Well, I'd probably fold my aces. That would be the right play.

If, however, I were playing against a loose opponent who aggressively pushes on big draws, I'd be more likely to call his bet. While it's easy for me to put a tight player on a set and fold, it's trickier to face a loose player who raises my pocket bullets.

That's an important lesson. You want that loose and deceptive image for yourself. That way, when you do flop a set, opponents will likely give you action, thinking that maybe you've raised with a drawing hand. Also, it's important that you make your aggressive bet on the flop -- don't wait for the turn.

Here's why: Your odds to win the hand with only one card to come decrease dramatically. A hand with 15 outs after the flop is a 56 percent favorite, but if you don't improve on the turn, that number drops all the way down to 34 percent.

That percentage is so low, that, if your opponent makes a large bet on the turn, he could shut you out of the hand -- something he couldn't do to you on the flop.

[JohnnySmooth]

Originally Posted by Seanie Mac

my little cousin turned 15 yesterday, and he had a suprise party, and than a poker game. i dealt for them all night, no rake, no tips. they played .25-.50, buy in of $30

i saw this hand and it made me wonder.

flop was 4-7-5 all spades. the small blind held 6c-3c to flop a straight

he bet, 1 caller. with As-10h.

turn was 10d

is there any bet you can make besides all in to force off top pair A high flush draw? which isnt the nut due to the SF draw.

river was the Js, and kid with the straight conceded after the 4 flush hit.

Depends on who I'm playing and if I have position, but I might represent the flush by raising or check raising on the flop. Knowing that I have the nut draw (besides the straight flush) by raising I would hope to slow down the other player and get better pot odds on 4th and 5th street. Now if someone bet 40-50% of the pot on the turn I would almost always fold b/c I dont have the implied odds. If a 4th spade comes out on the river the only person calling me would be a person that has me beat at that point (straight flush or possibly the 10s for a full house).