Post Flop Play in Texas Holdem

Following on from our pre-flop concepts article for Texas Hold’em poker you should now be in a position to make better pre-flop decisions. The benefit to doing so cannot be overstated because the better you play preflop in poker the only hands you will be playing are those that hold some value for you. Tightening up your play on each street will see dramatic improvements in your results.

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