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THE FLOP
The flop (First three community cards) is dealt.Now what do we do?This is where the fun of hold em comes.This is where the majority of hands will be made or missed.Once the flop hits the felt you must assess your situation and think about the actions you will take based on the cards that are available.Here are some guidelines that can help make you some money.
TOP PAIR- this is the best pair on the board.
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ACTION - You should almost always bet the top pair. Throw a bet out there and see how many callers you get, you should be able to get some information about the other players' cards.
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CALL - If you are called, you can assume that they have a pair as good, or possibly worse than yours, or they may be on a flush or straight draw if the flop presents that.
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RAISE - If you are raised, your opponent either has the same hand as you, has you beat, is bluffing, or is semi bluffing a drawing hand If the board shows straight or flush possibilities, he could be semi-bluffing for value. Depending on the size of the raise it is advised to call, especially with top pair and top kicker.
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PAIR- this is when you have a pair of cards other than the top pair.
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ACTION - Remember, poker is a game of information. If everyone checks to you, I would throw a probing bet of about half the pot into the mix to see where people stand.
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CALL - If you are called, you can assume that your pair is no good, or they are on drawing hands. By betting though, you are in the driver's seat and the others will tend to check to you.
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RAISE - If you are raised, you can assume that you are beat and get out of the pot. They could be bluffing, but I would not worry about that without at least top pair. The art of the Fold is a key essential to becoming a successful poker player.
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TWO PAIR - two pairs of cards
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ACTION – You are going to either bet or slow play two pairs. If the flop has drawing hand (flushes, straights) possibilities then a bet, rather than a slow play is advised. You don't want to give your opponents any free cards.
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CALL – If you bet and were called then they may have top pair, which is good, since you have them beat. They may also be on drawing hands if they present themselves, which is also good, since they don't have anything yet and are still beat.
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RAISE – If the pot is raised behind you after your bet, you shouldn't get too worried. You have a good hand right now. They could be betting again for value on drawing hands, which is good. They could be bluffing which is also good. They also could have you beat with three of a kind…not good. I would reraise the raiser. By doing this we will get some information. If he reraises again, he is probably not on a drawing hand. If he just calls the reraise, he probably is on the drawing hand. If he just goes away, then we know it was a bluff.
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TRIPS – Three of the same cards.
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ACTION – I think that no matter what you should slowplay trips. Trips is very difficult to detect and it presents a great opportunity to win a lot of money. Check Raise these beauties almost all of the time.
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CALL – If you check raise and are called, then you can assume they have top pair or two pair, which is good, you have both of those hands beat. They may also be on a flush or straight draw, or they may already have the flush or straight if it presents itself.
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RAISE – If your raise was raised again, you could be in trouble. Don't worry though, you have a very good hand and they may only be trying to throw you out of the drivers seat, which is what they may do. Your opponent may only have two pair, which is a good hand, but you have that beat. They may have three of a kind of a lower card, which is also beat by your hand. You have to call the raise, and put them in the drivers seat at this point. Check the next bet and see how they react.
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THE NUTS – The best possible hand.
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ACTION – You should almost always slow play the best hand. If there is nothing else that can beat your hand then you want the other players to bet themselves out of a lot of money. You need to be check raising with the nuts.
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CALL – If you check raise and are called you are just betting out from here on, after all you have the best hand. Let them try to raise you.
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RAISE – If you are raised, try not to cheer so loud that they can here you through your computer. If they raise, you don't really have much to worry about at this point. You can either just call their raise to set them up on the next card or reraise to let them know you have it. I would just call about 75% of the time.
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DRAWING HANDS – You only need one card to complete a flush or straight.
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ACTION – If everyone checks to you, there is nothing wrong with checking as well and hoping for a free card. If somebody bets and the bet is reasonable size, you can think about calling if the pot odds are in your favor. The only time that you would want to be first to act is if you paired one of the top cards of the flop and have a flush or straight draw. There is a lot of value in betting since you may have the best hand already.
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OVERCARDS – When you hold one or two high cards that don't pair on the flop.
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ACTION – You are really just looking for free cards at this point. You had a good starting hand and you couldn't make a pair. It is going to happen more than you'd like. You could try to bluff if you are confident that it will steal the pot, but checking is the right call here. Remember, you want to play tight and aggressive. You want to pick your pots and not try to chase too much.
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