Once we have mastered pre-flop play, we must turn out attentions to making better and therefore more profitable decisions further into the hand i.e. post flop. If you are going read a poker book on the subject, I would suggest purchasing Harrington on Cash Games which is renowned as a brilliant poker book that even some of the young nosebleed stakes players said was extremely useful to them whilst they learned how to play poker at those levels.

Continuation Betting

You should bet between half and the full pot as a continuation bet when checked to in late position most of the time. You need to vary bets and checks but I would recommend 80% – 20% in favour of betting when you hold a decent hand (top pair or better). Many online poker players realised a while ago that players would fire one barrel on the flop and check to give a free card on the turn. They could then value bet them from the hand on the river. Beware of this strategy and do not be afraid to fire a second barrel on the turn. My own play suggests that the two barrel C-Bet is becoming more of a standard play in online poker these days. The disbelief of the first continuation bet works out well for you when you have a good hand and your value bets get called on the river by disbelieving opponents.

Pot Control

There is nothing wrong with checking a street to control the size of the pot. Most players expect you to bet and if you do not they will bet. So in late position when facing a check I have no problem with checking behind in a marginal situation. Just do not do it too often please! Remember every time you check your opponent can improve too and in a position where they would have folded giving them a free card could give them a concealed monster. Opponents can have any two when they are betting so make them define their hand whenever possible by giving them a price to play.

The Dreaded River

On the river you will face two scenarios. You will either be checked to and have a decision to make on whether you make a value bet or check immediately or you will face a bet and have to decide whether to fold, call or raise.

Exactly what you do depends on what you know about your opponent, previous hands played against them and your own hand strength. Place your opponent on a range of possible hands and compare your own hand against that range. Is it behind or ahead of it? Only raise if you a hand with good showdown value, most players do not like folding after making a river bet. Checking should be made when you suspect your opponent is trapping and you should have prior hands where this happened to back up this judgement call.

There are a million things we could write about in upcoming poker articles where we will deeply analyse post flop play further. For now visit bwin.com and get practising, playing actual hands is the best way to learn.

By Malcolm Clarke

My Positional Range

When players first begin to play cash games and poker tournaments they focus mainly on their hole cards but the process should go a little deeper than simply what you see. If you are in early position your range should be tighter. Your playable hands are AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ and KQ suited according to most poker strategy articles and books. The reason for this is that because you are out of position (you will be acting first or thereabouts after the flop) you will not know your opponent’s intentions in the hand until you have acted. This could cost you chips if you bet a marginal hand and face a large raise where you have to fold. Playing the same hand in late position would see the raise being made first by your opponent allowing you to save the chips you lost by playing from early position.

As you progress around the table in terms of position you can widen the amount of hands you play because you have less opponents to beat (more will have folded) and you have more value out of the hands from later position as you have more information to work with.

Who is in the Hand?

After you have assessed position and your own abilities in terms of playing marginal hands you should assess the range of any opponents who are in the hand and their position in relation to you. Playing one behind the button and seeing the player on the button call your raise is not a good sign for the rest of the hand because this is the only player who has a better position than you at the table.

For players in earlier positions than you whilst you have advantage in positional terms you should consider their likely range. If they are ultra tight and you are playing a 7-8 suited hand you might be behind on the flop if overcards come on the board. If they have limped in you might be better calling and seeing if you improve, or are checked to on the flop. If you re-raise at this point and they are tight if they shove all-in you cannot call.

Your considerations here are how strong your opponent is likely to be, what you know about them and what your own hand dictates you should do based on these assumptions.

The Action to Take; Raise, Call, or Fold?

Pre-flop players cannot check as there are blinds that force them to invest chips or fold their hand. After you have decided on the opponent’s likely hand strength you then decide on the move you should make. As described above you should be thinking carefully about who the opponent is and what they could hold.

If you play the hand, I recommend that you raise. If you limp in you run the risk of giving the big blind a free look at the cards. You are thus removing the opportunity of getting a mistake out of this player. I am a big fan of the saying “if it is not good enough to raise, it’s not good enough to call either” in relation to your hole card strength.

By Malcolm Clarke

When a big hand versus big hand confrontation occurs a lot of the time the money goes into the middle and it is a case of best hand wins. Both players may know the other has a strong hand but in texas hold ‘em you need to be willing to bet on your good hands and often they will be the best. There is always a chance your opponent could be bluffing or overplaying a weaker hand so your chances to win are always a couple of notches higher than the mathematical odds suggest i.e. if you push all-in your opponent could fold as well as hold a losing hand. They could even fold the best hand!

A poker school cannot teach you specific situations where you should raise and specific situations where you should fold. They give you the basics, like a hiker would use a map, but you decide when, where and how you walk in texas holdem.

Nearly every poker article I stress the importance of watching your opponents. This fills in the blanks when a decision is required. I played a hand against my good friend Rob and it played out like this. I had AK and after raising three times the big blind Rob called. The flop was a rainbow Q-X-X. We both checked the flop and the turn was a Jack, giving me a straight draw. He checked to me and I checked again. Rob likes to bet when he thinks he can get me to fold or when he has something, so his check was suspicious to me. The river was a blank, I had missed my draw, I could have bet the draw on the turn but my stack was dwindling and I was into shove territory and I believed I might be beaten. After I checked again Rob bet around three quarters of the pot. I instantly folded. If Rob has something on the river, he bets to get paid off. He showed me a pair of queens. I was right, he had been slowplaying.

Do you see how my information on how Rob plays helped me during that hand? Without that information I might have shoved on the turn and lost to the hidden pair of queens. That would not have been a bad play but precise knowledge of his style and awareness of how he perceives my own play saved me. I had a feeling I was beaten when he checked because he is still learning deception and tends to be a weak is strong, strong is weak type of player. In this hand I lost the pot but I kept some of my stack and was able to fight on. I do not remember who won this match, which means I probably lost!

Watch your opponents carefully. Learn not only what they do right but what they do wrong and get an idea in your head over what a bet means, what a check means and what a raise means. If you are right you immediately have a massive advantage over them. Another general concept to finish with in this article is if you think you are beat in texas holdem, it is better to fold than continue in the hand getting confused by the incomplete information you always have during a poker hand.

By Malcolm Clarke

Deep stack no limit is a complex game where a player will hold over 200 big blinds in their stack. You are not following a poker tournament strategy where you are limiting yourself to the “top ten poker hands” and folding everything else. In a cash game, most hands like pocket pairs, suited connectors, one gapped hands and any Ace are playable in the right situations. Position at the table becomes very important as does specific deep stack poker concepts.

Deep stacked games are complex because you are forced to play all three streets of action. In short handed games, even tournaments, you are generally all-in very quickly which eliminates some of the decisions that define the skill edge for the quality poker professionals. This is why the pros love it when you play deep stacked games as they can maximise the advantage they hold over a weaker player.

You need to ensure that in a big confrontation you hold a good hand. As standard betting in any form of poker sees the bets get progressively bigger as you are betting in relation to the pot size (especially in No Limit), your hand strength must be adequate to what the betting is telling you your opponent might hold. Patience and position are important. There is a big difference between getting away from a 50 big blind bet on the turn acting last or making a 50 big blind bet and being forced to fold with the same hand.

Hand values change dramatically in deep stack poker. In a short stacked game you are like to raise with AQ and if you hit your top pair you go all-in knowing you are likely to be ahead. If you lose you do not lose a lot because of your limited stack size to begin with. Try this with a deep stack, however, and playing three streets of action with this hand will see you lose big pots and win small ones. Hands like 9hTh become more valuable because of implied odds if you hit big. It is concealed and likely to be strong in a big hand versus big hand situation. In a 200+ big blind pot, top pair does not normally cut it.

Rather than think of big hands think of “big pot hands” and try to play them in position. Pot control is a massive part of No Limit cash games when played with deep stacks because you want to win small pots with the small pot hands and win big pots only when you hold a monster. You need to avoid getting into raising wars on bluffs anymore than necessary. You can afford to wait for hands and not worry to much about the blinds as when the big pot hand does arise you can get your money in knowing that any win will more than make up for previous blind losses.

Position and patience really is the key to playing winning deep stack cash game holdem.

By Malcolm Clarke

Here is a table of some of the key odds that you should try and memorise. The odds are a good starting point on how to proceed in a hand but you should consider many factors before deciding how to act.

The above odds show you how likely it is that you hit a certain type of hand based on the pure odds comparing the hands to the dealing of random cards. This set of poker odds is purely for informational purposes but the more you know about them the better.

When you have one of these hands you use a different set of poker math odds as you already hold some of the cards and the odds then depend on the likelihood of certain cards coming out of the deck now that you hold two cards and there are only two cards to be dealt.

Here are some key odds you should learn urgently.

Hand Held                    Drawn                  Improved Hand             Odds Against / 1

One Pair                         3                            Two Pair                            5.3
Three of a Kind               7.8
Full House                        97
Four of a Kind                 360
Any Improvement       2.5

One Pair plus               2                            Two Pair                            4.8
kicker                                                            Three of a Kind               12
Full House                        120
Four of a Kind                 1080
Any Improvement       2.8

Three of a Kind           2                           Full House                       15.3
Four of a Kind                22.5
Any Improvement      8.7

Four Straight Cards  1                           Straight                             5

Inside Straight            1                           Straight                            10.8

Four Card Flush         1                           Flush                                 4.2

Four Card Flush         1                           Straight Flush               22.5
(Open ended)                                            Straight or Better       2

Four Card Straight    1                          Straight Flush               46
Flush (inside)                                          Straight or Better        3

It may be useful to print out these odds and have them at the side of your computer or pinned on your wall for when you need to quickly check the poker odds before you act. They are very useful. For example, if you are holding an inside straight draw with one card to be drawn and your opponent bets 200 into a 600 pot you are getting 4/1 odds on the call, which looks quite good. Unfortunately it is 10.8/1 to actually hit the straight so calling a near 11/1 bet getting offered 4/1 is not good business. You should fold.

As a rule of thumb, if you are getting worse pot odds (not considering implied odds for now) than what is offered in the table above then a fold is your best move. It is best to wait for a better spot.

The use of the table is a good starting point, but you should also consider other factors like implied pot odds, anything you know about your opponent before you choose to act. Think of the odds as a guide down the right street, what house you go into depends entirely on where you want to go with the hand.

By Malcolm Clarke

I believe all your regular visitors know how things get going when betting on the flop if they raise preflop. Well, I’m your fan and I visit your site regularly as well. But still I don’t totally understand some things regarding betting on the flop if a preflop is raise.

Typically, I play 25$NL, and whenever I bet on the flop, more often than not I get several calls with really high cards. I don’t know why but it takes place oftentimes. At some point, I thought maybe it was because other players are mislead. Maybe they thought it was a just a typical “bet on the flop after raising preflop” strategy.

By the way, if I may say, it’s easy to play if I caught something, but if I haven’t caught something and I have a few callers, etc. it’s already a different story.

I do hope this is sensible as I don’t like to mess up here in your site. And by the way, have you encountered similar situation as the one I’ve shared with you? If yes, how did you do it, survive the challenge and much better take home the pots?

Thanks!

Smith

Smith,

Part of your betting on the flop may have to do with the size of the bets you are making. If you are making a minimum bet, then most players will have odds to call your bet. If there is a potential straight or flush on the board, you may not be betting enough to force them off their draw. You may also have calling stations on board. Also, part of the problem may arise where they are thinking you are just using a continuation bet. Without more specific information, it is hard to tell further.

In a certain no limit tournament, we were down to 5 players from actually 20 players. As far as as I can remember, we were two there who have almost the same number of chips.

Well, I had 85 of clubs back then. Fortunately, I was given the chance to see the flop for free from the big blind before the flop came, which was 4s 5s 6h.

Because I was in first position, I acted first and placed a bet. For some reason, the smaller stack folded and the other chip leader called it as a result. Then the turn came 4s 5s 6h 7d. As a strategy, I placed him on a set. I feel I had the best hand so I placed him all in.

Quite unexpectedly, he called. And then to my surprise, the river came being 4s 5s 6h 7d 7c. In general, do you think I played very aggressively? Or else I was just unlucky?

Personally, I thought it was absurd, that the guy was so confident to call me but then later on, I realized what he did makes sense in a way because of the amount of cards he had back then that eventually could have given him full house.

By the way, do you think, the result could have been much better if I just simply bet it hard again? How about if I’ve taken the risk and then double up, what do you think might have happen?

Your insight/s please?

Thanks a lot.

Denver

Denver,

At the point you moved all-in, you had the best hand. While he had 10 outs to catch his hand, he was only 20% to win the hand. You got unlucky. However, that happens in poker. You played as well as you could given the circumstances.

On a 50 person table, I was dealt Q, 2 -both hearts. Then the flop came 3,4 hearts. When the Ace came into the scene, I’ve hit the straight however there’s a possibility that someone may consider betting on the Ace.

Though with some little doubts, I bet and then one player called. Then turn card, Ace hearts, therefore I hit both straight and a flush draw. Finally, I bet and the other called. Then the river card was 5 hearts, so again, hit the flush but now there’s quite an uncertainty ahead. Next was, I went all in, he called and showed King 7 hearts. Of course, higher flush won the hand.

Honestly, for me, it was not a very bad beat. But I’m bothered of the hand that in a way could have led me to the pots. Please, do you have any advice?

By the way, your site has been a great help to me.

Thanks!

Regards,
Gerald

Gerald,

Only one hand could beat you. I do not know the preflop action, so I can’t comment on that action to say whether either of you should have seen the flop or not. However, since you were there, you flopped the flush draw and turned a wheel draw. You thinned the field out and had one opponent at the river. You moved in thinking that you had the best hand. You didn’t. Sadly these things happen in tournaments, but I don’t think you played the hand poorly. You had the 2nd nut flush and ran into the nuts. That will happen on occasion. Don’t let that discourage you. The next time that happens, you will likely win.

Just this morning, I played in a MTT online NL tournament. I don’t know much about the players there as I was just moved from another table.

I was on the button w/ 22. UTG when I raised 3 times the blind. Eventually, everyone folded to me. What do you think, how many chips do I need to call the raise? How about 10 times the raise, as the minimum? 15 times? Or else something much higher? What’s your idea about this?

By the way, what if there is a caller in front of me? Or worser, 2 callers? Another thing, about 56 suited, is it as good as the 22 or does the math change eventually?

Thank you.

Bodie

Bodie,

To call a raise with 2-2 preflop in a tournament, you need to pretty much either be calling the raise of a short stack or have a fairly large stack.

If you raise preflop with 2-2 and get two callers, then you need to flop a set. At best you are a coin flip to win.

5-6 suited in a heads up pot is actually slightly ahead of 2-2 preflop. The reason is due to the fact that both cards are overcards and that they are suited. It’s still a coin flip however.

I play no limit poker. Oftentimes, I win. Typically, I just win enough but at least on a regular basis.

In general, I consider myself as an analytical player who is usually bothered psychologically. Over the years, I’ve tried to change this by increasing my skills or the like. I’ve also tried to discuss some related matters over my mind.

At a certain point, I question myself about the reasons why should I call rather than fold or raise post flop. Well, there’s no problem when I am into a full game, most especially in a multi-way pot. But unfortunately, not in short handed games, specifically when there is a heads up confrontation.

Any piece of advice? Do you have any idea about calling a bet on the flop in cases where ordinarily a player would either fold a marginal hand or re-raise with a hand that is more or less ahead?

I’m not sure to say this, and I also don’t want to sound defensive but the thing is short handed poker is the hardest to master for an analytical player like me. Well, I’m not sure but this is what I feel.

Thanks for your time.

Allie

Allie,

Short handed and heads up confrontations are situations where marginal hands and draws tend to pick up value. As far as calling as opposed to raising, I would continue to raise if I were you when you are ahead. Otherwise you are inviting players to outdraw you regularly. In relation to calling as opposed to folding, you will need to probably look into staying in with your marginal hands that connect in some way or with your draws more in a short handed game.