Limit Texas Hold'em Poker - Play After the Flop
As we mentioned earlier, your starting hand decision in Texas hold ’em, though very important, is not the dominating factor that it is in seven-card stud. To be a winner at hold ’em, you must play well not only before the flop, but also on the flop and beyond. If your play on the later streets is poor, the best you can hope for is to break even. Following are a few tips that will help you make the correct decisions for play after the flop, which in turn will largely determine your overall success in this complex game.
Bet most of your draws.
Suppose you have two suited cards and two more of your suit flop, giving you a flush draw. You usually should bet this hand. (If you don’t bet, you almost always should call.) Even though your flush draw currently has no value, betting gives you two ways to win the pot. First, everyone might fold immediately, and second, the flush card might come and you will win anyway.If you don’t improve on the flop, be willing to abandon your hand.
Suppose you are dealt the
Even though this is a good starting hand, there is no guarantee that it will be worth much once the flop comes. If that is the case, you should abandon it immediately. Failure to do so can prove quite costly.
It’s sometimes necessary to throw away a big pair.
When you hold a big pair, you often don’t need to improve your hand to win. But sometimes the flop will be so detrimental that you should fold. For example, suppose you hold the
in a seven-handed pot, the flop comes the
and there is a bet, a raise, and three callers. Under these circumstances, you should throw your hand away, as there are too many ways that you are beat.
In multiway pots, be aware that you might be drawing dead.
Suppose the flop is the
and you hold the
Even though you are trying to make a straight, which is often a very strong hand, you may already be beat by a player who has either jack-seven or queen-jack for a higher straight. In addition, if a jack hits the board, anyone holding a queen will beat you. Clearly, you should throw your hand away in this spot if you are against several opponents.
Discard small pairs when they miss the flop.
Remember, when you play a small pair, you generally must improve to three of a kind. If you don’t improve, your hand has little value and usually should be mucked. As emphasized earlier, the odds against making trips on the flop are almost 8-to-1. And if you miss, the odds of making it on the fourth card are 22-to-1.
If you flop a flush draw and a pair also flops, you usually should continue to play.
When a pair flops, there is an increased chance that you will run into a full house if you make your flush. Even so, the odds against making your flush with two cards to come are only 2-to-1, and a typical pot offers much more than this.
