Play after the flop

Things you will learn:

• How to read the texture of the flop
• How to decide if the flop has helped your opponents

The flop is where we start playing serious poker.

If the flop improves your hand that’s great - but usually it won't. However, don’t give up before you've figured out how much the flop has helped you.

Firstly, the texture of the flop is pivotal to the strength of your hand - and your ability to represent hands that you don’t hold. But what’s often forgotten is that the flop has implications for your opponents, too. Let’s say a reasonably tight opponent opens the pot from early position and it’s passed round to you in the big blind with 4♣-4♠. You decide to call, thinking that you have a good idea of possible hands and hitting a set would make the initial call worthwhile. The flop comes 7♣-8♣-9♠.

You should strongly consider check-raising the flop. You should realize the board doesn’t help you but it probably petrifies your opponent, if they’ve raised with a big pair or two big cards. An alternative play, which may sometimes be more profitable, is calling on the flop and then check-raising on the turn.

Your position is vital on the flop.

Let’s say you limp in late position with A-4 suited. Five players take the flop of A-9-6. If it’s checked to you, with a reasonable degree of confidence you can bet that you currently hold the best hand. Contrast this with being in early position in the same situation when it’s hard to know if you have the only ace and checking is probably the best play.

One of the reasons you should look to enter more pots in late position is to pick up your fair share on the flop with nothing - make sure you don’t miss these opportunities. When you’ve raised before the flop and been called behind, it’s often right to check a lot of your hands. If the player behind you bets out, you have a lot of options. If you like your hand or think you can dissuade your opponent from liking their hand, you can check-raise. You could also flat-call with the plan to take the pot away on the turn - or muck at minimal cost.

Meeting resistance on the flop in a low-stakes cash game is something you should take seriously. Players at the lower levels rarely make sophisticated plays such as calling on the flop with nothing planning to win the pot on the turn. If you’re meeting resistance, either from a call or a raise, it means they have something. Now this may be a draw, second pair or something more worrying.

One of the toughest decisions you’ll face regularly in a cash game is whether to bet again (‘fire the second bullet’) when your initial bet on the flop is called.

If you don’t hold a strong hand and have had your post-flop continuation bet called, you should often check the turn. For instance, if you hold A-K and haven’t paired your hand, you should probably shut down after the flop and try and play the hand as cheaply as possible.

You should know that novice and intermediate players very rarely check-raise as a bluff. If you’re check-raised on the flop you should take it seriously and usually only continue with a strong hand or a draw that you will be paid off on if you hit. At lower-level cash games the pattern of calling a bet on the flop and then check-raising on the turn is how the majority of players play their strong hands.

When you flop a strong hand, such as two-pair or better, you should be calculating how to get money in the pot straight away and on later streets. A lot of your pre-flop decisions - playing hands like small pairs - are predicated on the implied odds available from the big stacks. If you don’t get paid off when you make strong hands, this strategy is flawed.