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Texas Hold'em: Playing the Flop
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19-Sep-2008, 14:55
The Flop can essentially make or break a game. No matter how good your hand is in the beginning or how seemingly bad it may seem, the flop can change all of that.
For clarification, the 'flop' represents the three cards which are dealt simultaneously following the completion of the opening round of betting. After the flop, there is a second round of betting, which is followed by the dealing of a fourth, or 'turn', card; and a fifth, or 'river', card. The three cards are often dealt face-down in a stack, then the stack is turned face-up and quickly slid to one side to expose all three cards, such that a player cannot be seen to be reacting to one particular card. The Flop is the crucial point in any game where a player must decide whether he will commit himself to the game or whether it is best to leave.
In a low limit game you must learn to read the flop quickly to determine whether or not you're the favorite or the underdog. In general if you're hand doesn't improve on the flop, someone else's probably did, and you should consider folding. If it does improve, and you feel you have the best hand at this point, you must aggressively protect it. This goes back to the golden rule in poker – do not chase a hand! If the flop misses you entirely, almost always FOLD to any bet. You spend a lot of time waiting for a hand to play, and if you completely miss the flop and someone bets into you, you are going to have to throw it away and wait some more. Even if you have the best overcards, you are often still better off to fold to any bet. You only have 6 outs to make a pair, and your opponent may have paired already. Don't slow play anything but the strongest, most unbeatable hands.
Let’s take a hypothetical but very real scenario. You are dealt two cards, a queen and king or known by some people as the “Anna Kournikova”. Looks hot and never wins. It is often the case that when given a high hand players tend to raise the blind, preferring to make the flop expensive for the others. You are only likely to have players with a reasonable strong hand to stay with it. However when the flop comes, the first thing you need to do is determine whether your hand can realistically be beaten on the turn and river. Remember the old saying, ‘You only lose big on the good hands’.
Trips, even A-A-A, should never be considered a sure thing as they’re vulnerable to a full house. But even if you have the A high straight, you need to ask yourself if there is a flush draw on as well. If you have the flush, is there a full house (after the turn) or even straight flush on the go? If the answer is 'yes', and there’s a reasonable chance you could be beaten, then the best course of action is to make a sizeable bet. The bottom line is, the poker game is not won on the hands dealt, even if your chances are from the outset better with a good hand, if you're not dealt the right cards on the flop, do not hope that the river and turn will change that. A king and a queen, or even an ace might be a good hand, but if the flop comes out with 7,8,9 your ace is not going to help you much, and even if it might hurt- fold the hand and hope for a better flop next time round.