Betting the Flop
The flop is a defining moment in the play of a hand of hold’em. It’s the point when you know 71 percent of your final hand, and your hand has truly been defined as either a made hand or a drawing hand. The second main point to realize is that the flop doesn’t "hit" anyone most of the time. With this in mind, the flop is when you start to play poker versus just playing cards. Here is a quick check list that should, at this point in your poker career, be automatically zipping through your mind without any effort at all:
- Positional considerations.
- The flop’s texture.
- Was there a pre-flop aggressor and where?
- Should you be in this pot and if so what is your plan?
- What are the other participants likely to be holding?
- Can I outplay them and cause them to make mistakes?
The last point cuts right to the essence of poker. There is an old adage that sums up this point well. "Aside from cheating, there are two ways of winning at poker consistently. One is by one’s own brilliance and the other is through the mistakes of opponents. The latter is the more reliable!" Let’s take a look at each of the points on this check list.
Positional Considerations
If you are an advanced poker player and have invested in seeing the flop, then you’re either in good position or have a premium hand. If you find yourself out of position with a marginal holding, your best course of action is to go back to the earlier sections of this course and re-read them. The positional consideration you should be addressing is your position in relation to a pre-flop aggressor. Taking this last point one step further – if you’re still in to see the flop, most of the time that pre-flop aggressor should have been you!
The Flop’s Texture
This point needs to be viewed in concert with what you believe are your opponents’ likely holdings. How will the board interact with what I believe are the likely starting hands of my opponents? While stated earlier that more times than not the flop doesn’t hit anyone, the texture will tell you if there are draws out there that should command your attention. Those draws are the open end straight or flush draws. Don’t worry too much about back door, runner/runner draws as, although they happen, they are not the primary holdings of better players.
Was There a Pre-Flop Aggressor?
That aggressor should have been you! If it wasn’t you were calling and that is normally the worst of your three options. You should be raising or folding more than calling but OK, sometimes a call is in order and you find yourself in when you were not the aggressor. Now the texture of the board, knowledge regarding the aggressor’s range of hands and other tendencies, as well as other opponents in the hand and your position relative to the aggressor are the keys as to how you should proceed. If you were the pre-flop aggressor, normally a continuation bet is in order. I recommend a bet about two thirds of the pot.
If you weren’t the aggressor – who acts first? If you’re out of position, many times firing out a bet will take the pot, as more often than not your opponent will not have hit the flop. This concept of first in vigorish is important and very effective. It underscores the value of aggressive play. First in vigorish simply means that many times the first player to bet is the one who will win the pot. Remember, many times no one will connect with the flop so an aggressive player, who is first to bet (first in vigorish) will encourage others to fold and adopt the orphan pot. If the pre-flop aggressor is first to act, then you can expect a continuation bet and need to react based on your own holding as well as your gut feeling as to his holding and tendencies.
What is Your Plan?
Always remember, there is no shame in folding. More money is lost by competent poker players due to their egos not permitting them to understand that tenet. It has been said that most people don’t plan to fail, however, many fail to plan. Always formulate a plan. Have a reason for your actions. If you are not thinking of how to proceed in a particular hand in this manner you really need to start if you aspire to becoming a stronger, more consistent winning player. In large measure this becomes the psychology of the game. Here are the kinds of options you should be reviewing:
- If I bet or raise – will he fold?
- I think he just has over-cards – I’ll float the flop* and if no over-card comes on the turn I’ll bet and take away the pot.
- Am I getting adequate odds for my draw?
- Last but certainly not least – I’ll check and fold!
Floating the flop is a play wherein you feel certain you don’t hold the best hand but call a continuation bet made by a pre-flop raiser with the intention of taking the pot with a bet or raise on a perceived harmless turn card. If your opponent was being aggressive with just two over-cards it becomes very difficult for him to now call your new aggression in the hand.
What are the other participants likely to be holding?
It really is folly to put opponents on actual hands. You need to put them on a range of hands. How that is done is by studious observation as the game proceeds. Always pay attention to understand your opponents’ approach to the game. Once you gain a feel for what range of hands each of them is likely to play from various positions, it needs to be tempered by their current state of mind. Are they winning or losing? Are they tilting or in control? This certainly is not an exact science but through observation and playing experience advanced players develop an uncanny ability to read opponents and their holdings. We’ve all seen Daniel Negreanu announce an opponent’s exact holding on a televised tournament event. He’s not a magician – he is a very observant player who has developed the ability to put all the clues together. Aspire to those heights and, while you may never reach them, you certainly will improve your abilities through this effort.
Can I outplay them and cause them to make mistakes?
The answer to this question rests in your assessment of the skill of both your opponents and yourself. Don’t let your ego lead you down the primrose path – be honest and realistic. To what kind of mistakes should you be trying to guide them? The three major ones that come to mind are:
- Causing them to fold better hands than you hold.
- Calling your bets with hands that are worse than yours.
- Making them freeze up when you hold a draw or worse hand and would like a free card.
As mentioned in the intermediate lesson “Poker Personalities Types“, you should rarely try to bluff a calling station or a table sheriff. If one of these players calls your pre-flop raise make sure to adjust your play accordingly. The key ingredient is to know your opponents and something that has been stressed throughout these lessons is how important it is to be observant of your opponents and to figure out their strengths, weaknesses and playing tendencies. This knowledge is critical if you would like to take yourself to the advanced level and actually attempt to guide them into making certain mistakes.
At the beginning of this lesson we used a well worn aphorism which highlighted the fact that, for the most part, your poker profit comes from your opponents’ mistakes not your own brilliance. Your goal at the poker table should be to help your opponents commit errors. We’ve touched on a few of the plays that can accomplish this goal such as first in vigorish and floating the flop. Know your opponents to know which tactics to use against them.
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