by Al Sousa (site owner)
Correct post flop play is essential to making the most money and losing the least vs other players. The subject is too broad to describe how to play it perfectly. Players must gain experience in no limit holdem and judge post flop play based on many factors. I will place out the basic concepts for playing post flop. It is up to you, as the reader, to use the tools best in your game.
Player Style: Understanding your opponent's play impacts how you play against him post flop. One can play the same hand differently, from preflop to river, against two different types of opponents.
Hand Range: Since it is impossible to know a player's exact hand you need to make an educated guess on which hands he might possible hold. This is his possible hand range. As play on a hand continues this range narrows down.
Board Texture: This is the appearance of the flop. Is it suited? Is it connected? Is it paired? If so how many of each? This factor determines your play afterwards.
Position: Your position also determines, in some cases, how you play your hand post flop.
Bet Sizing: Many players change the size of their bet based on the strength of their hand. This is incorrect. If you always bet small when you are weak and big when you are strong then players will be able to read you easy. The size of your bet should be based on your position, who is in the hand, board texture, and what their hand range is.
Big Pot, Big hand, Small Pot, Small Hand: This concept is one that is very important to keep players out of trouble. Generally this means do not put all your money in the pot without a strong hand. A strong hand in NL holdem is usually top two pair or better. But a strong hand is also relative to what your opponent is holding and how he plays. Top set of 99s is a weak hand when the board is 9h 7h 8h 6h Jc
Pot Control: Using checking and betting to keep the pot small or large. It is a tactic that goes hand in hand with the "big pot, big hand, small pot, small hand" concept.
Bet Amount: Most of the time if you took control of the pot, by raising preflop, you are making a bet on the flop. A general rule is that you should bet 2/3 to 3/4 the size of the pot. There will be times you bet less and other times you bet more. If you are unsure of how much to bet in a situation betting 2/3 the pot is usually the right amount.
Why is betting the right amount important? You want the bet the correct amount to protect your hand and/or get value for it. If you bet too small you might be giving odds for another player to outdraw you. If you bet too big you might drive out all other weaker hands that you want to keep in and only make stronger hands call you. You want to bet enough where the opponent is making a mathematical mistake calling your bet based on the information available.
Now we are going to take the concepts above and display some hands showing each of the factors above coming into play. Some hands will be fairly straight forward and simple, others very difficult. But an important factor to remember in all post flop play is to take your time in deciding what to do. It doesn't matter if you have the best hand or the worst hand, stop and think about how to play the hand.
Mr. Fun is a typical loose player that plays poker for fun. He likes to play a lot of hands and only raises the best ones. Overall he is a losing player.
Mr. Rock is a very tight player that plays few hands. He rarely bluffs and only bets big when he has a strong hand. Overall he is a marginal winning player.
Mr. Nutty is a very crazy player. He is rich and does care about the money he loses. He raises for no reason, he plays many hands, he likes to bluff. He can go on streaks where he wins a lot of money or loses a lot of money. Overall he's a big losing player. |
Hand #1: Mr. Fun limps into the pot from early position as he talks to a player across the table. It is folded to you on the button and your cards are A Q. You raise, the blinds fold and only Mr. Fun calls you. The flop comes down 2 6 J . Mr. Fun checks to you what should you do?
Well you know Mr. Fun's player style. He plays a lot of hands and likes to see flops. Since his hand range is large most likely he missed this flop. The board texture has no draws. We missed hitting an ace or queen but that's ok because Mr. Fun checked to us and we have position on him. Since Mr. Fun doesn't bluff often we can bet an amount of 2/3 the pot here and try to take it down. We bet 1/2 to 2/3 the pot here because we don't have much information about Mr. Fun's hand and we can gain information by making that size bet. The bet size also gives Mr. Fun bad odds to a gut shot draw with a hand like 34 and makes it expensive in case he has a hand like AK here and has us beat. He might actually fold it. The bet also saves us money in case Mr. Fun flopped 3 of a kind with a hand like 22 or has a pair.
You bet 2/3 the pot, Mr. Fun thinks for a second and calls. 2 6 J 2. Mr. Fun checks to you. What should you do?
Because there are no draws Mr. Fun probably has a small pair or paired one of his hole cards. It is also possible he is calling with a hand like 34, 54 which we are ahead. of. We know Mr. Fun doesn't like to fold and most of his hand range has you beat now. You should check here and take a free card. This keeps the pot small since you have a small hand and gives you pot control.
On the river you get lucky and an ace comes. 2 6 J 2 A. Mr. Fun checks to you again. What should you do?
Right now you have two pair, AA22. Mr. Fun checked to you again. Because of his play we can narrow down Mr. Fun's hand range to a pair or a missed inside straight draw. If he had a better hand he would probably bet on the river. Since we know Mr. Fun's most likely hand range we also know if we bet big he probably is not going to call. So making a small bet here of maybe 1/4 the pot just might make him pay you off.
You make a 1/4 pot bet keeping the pot small. Mr. Fun thinks for a while, says "what the heck" and calls with his 65 and you win the pot.
In this example we used all the concepts I mentioned above to play the hand out and make a little money on the end. How this hand was played also affects into future hands. Mr. Fun saw that you bet 2/3 the pot with nothing. He also saw you make a small bet on the river when you had him beat. You can use both these pieces of information in later hands to your advantage.
Why not bet big on the river if Mr. Fun is going to call? It is possible that Mr. Fun might call a big bet on the river. When we bet big into a small pot hoping for a call we are risking a lot of money to win a little. Mr. Fun will call only if he has us beat. The risk of betting so much vs an opponent like this with a weak hand is not worth it. Lets say the pot if $10 and you bet $10. It costs Mr. Fun $0 to fold and you made no money for your hand. But if Mr. Fun has you beat you actually reward him for his bad play by paying him more. The smaller bet makes you money when he calls with weaker hands and saves you money if he calls and has you beat or check raises you. Against a bad player like Mr. Fun value betting a good hand on the river based on his hand range is the correct play. In this case he will call a small bet but not a large one because most of his hands are weak.
What if Mr. Fun bet on the river? The size of his bet based on what we know of his hand range determines if we call. If the bet was small we call because we have a good hand but not a strong hand. Mr. Fun could be bluffing or he could have called the flop to see one more card if he a hand like A3 and now is betting the paired ace. He could have a big hand like 66 for a full house but we are not losing much by calling. Unless we are 100% certain he has us beat we call. If the bet was large we might not call. If Mr. Fun bet the pot he might have hit a hand like two pair with A6 and is now betting large. If he shoved all in we are definitely not calling since Mr. Fun rarely bluffs.
Next Article: Hand Example #2
Previous Article: Preflop Play |
