Playing After the Flop

After-the-flop play in Texas Hold’em is usually the most important move of the hand. At this point, there are five of the possible seven cards you will use to make your hand, so you need to know where you stand. Players should be in a position where they feel they have a lead, or have a draw to the lead. If you’re not in this situation, you should get out of the hand. Let’s look at some common situations you might be in, and how best to play them.

Let’s say you have a pocket pair and the flop gives you a set. You hold Q, Q, and the flop is Q, 9, 6. This flop seems good enough to slow play, but because there is a nine to go with the queen, a straight possibility could exist against you. This situation should be played with aggression, in an attempt to win the hand right away before an opponent can draw a card that might beat you. If the flop was Q, 6, 2, the possibility of being up against a draw has greatly diminished, and one would look to slow play this particular flop.

So let’s say you flop a draw to the nut hand, what should you do? Many players will call any bet with a flush or open-ended straight draw, but your decision process should have more depth than that. In order to call a bet on a draw, one should be getting proper pot odds to make the call. The bet, compared to the size of the pot, should be a smaller percentage than the ratio of outs you need to make your hand. If you have a flush draw and someone bets the size of the pot, you should fold your draw unless there are circumstances like stack size that come into play. Sometimes a raise with the nut draw is a good move, and betting it out from an earlier position is also an option.

When playing online poker at a shorter table with three players or less, your post-flop play should be a bit different. With a full ring game of players, someone usually hits the flop, and most players will check in order to find out who has the big hand. At a short table, players are more likely to miss the flop, so betting into flops regardless of your hand will be a high percentage play. It works best if you put in a raise pre-flop, but it’s not necessary. This is common practice by experienced short-table players and is a required play if you hope to have success in this setting.

When you flop a made hand like a straight or flush it’s important to recognize its vulnerability. If you flopped a straight, and there are two cards of the same suit on the board, someone could be on a draw that will beat you. It seems like you have a monster hand, but one of nine possible cards could come off on the turn or river to make that player a flush. Be wary of the next cards that come off so you know you still have the best of it.

Playing after the flop is all about calculating your situation and deciding which option is best for you. If you have a lead and it’s vulnerable, you must protect it, and if you’re on the draw, you should be getting the proper pot odds to call bets. Remember to play aggressive post-flop when at a short-handed table.