07- 6-05, LearnTexasHoldem:

Betting Flop After Raising Preflop

Question:I think the majority of people that have read a couple poker books or read your site knows to bet on the flop if they raise preflop because most likely the other person didn't catch anything.

However, I have been having a problem with this tactic. I usually play 25$NL, and if I bet on the flop (pot size or slightly smaller if the flop looks safe and ugly for them too) after raising preflop, the majority of the time I will get a couple calls that usually have high cards. It seems like this happens very often, because they probably think that I am just using the popular 'bet on the flop after raising preflop' strategy and I most likely didn't catch anything, either.

Now, If I caught something, it is easy to play, but if I have a few callers or even one and didn't catch anything on the flop, it is very hard to believe they caught something, since people call them so often. Especially if the flop is all low cards, and I know they didn't catch anythign and they know I didn't either, they will call down with something like AQ.

I hope this makes sense. Maybe it is the buy-in that I play at that is kind of low and people tend to chase more. Maybe I could bet a larger amount then potsize to make they pay to chase, but I don't want to put in that much money on high cards either.

Do you see this often when you play? And if so, how do you deal with it. Thanks

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Answer: First of all, why do you, or anyone else, do this? Knowing why you make this play is important because then you can adjust and modify it to match the situation. Before I continue, to answer your question, yes I see people make this play everyday I play. The vast majority of time that someone raises preflop, they follow up with another bet on the flop. It happens so much that I think many players do it solely because they see everyone else doing it. Doing it every time isn't correct though, as we will soon see.

There are three things to keep in mind when betting the flop after raising preflop (assuming you don't actually have the hand -- this is when you missed the flop): the amount of players in the hand, your position relative to the players, and the texture of the flop relative to your hand. The biggest factor when I have AK and I raise, and the flop completely misses me is how many opponents are in between me and the pot. See against one or two opponents, you may actually now have the best hand.

You might also get one of them out if you bet, so playing more aggressively has value. This completely goes out of the window when there are more than two players in the hand opposing you. If I raise in any position and get called by four other players, I'm going to check my overcards. If I check the flop, it doesn't mean I've surrendered the hand. I might peel off the turn card and go from there. It does tell everyone in the hand that I don't have anything yet, but that isn't a big concern since I'm not going to win this one anyway. Betting into the flop with lots of players left to act behind me will most likely only get my hand raised, which costs me more than I would like considering I don't have anything yet. If I check and call, I don't have to pay as much to see the turn card. So against one or two opponents, the bet has value, against more opponents, just play it weakly.

Now the next factor is your position relative to the other players. Even against a large field of opponents, I'll sometimes bet my unimproved AK on the flop if I have position (last to act). The reason is that I can then check the turn and see the river card for free too. The position gives you a little bit more to work with. You can use this same play against fewer opponents as well.

Third, the texture of the flop with relation to your hand affects how often you should fire on the flop. Compare a hand like AK when the board is 8-9-T with a hand like QQ when the board is K-T-2. In the first hand, the AK is in big trouble and drawing to only the Ace or the King is not the best plan. In the second hand, the QQ may still be the best hand if no one has a King, so being more aggressive with it is necessary. A good example also might be if you have TT against three opponents and the flop is J-9-4. In this type of situation, giving a free card is much more risky since anything nine, queen, king, or Ace makes your hand look bad. There is a difference between unimproved overcards -- AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, etc -- and second pair hands like 99 with a Ten high flop or JJ on a Queen high flop. I can't tell you anything that will make playing in situations like these simple; no one has an easy time with them. What helps though is to use the flop betting as an information round. Bet your hand both to protect it against over cards hitting and because you want to find out immediately if you are beat (so you can muck). Those are the three things to keep in mind when you are about to fire: number of opponents, your position relative to the opponents, and the flop texture relative to your hand.

On a side note, I remember I used to bet every flop that I had raised preflop for fear that when I did actually have a big hand, like AA, and bet the flop, no one would call. That couldn't be farther from the truth. People tend to play their own cards and don't pay attention to you. Only adjust when you have to. First play a straight forward game and then if you need to use more deception, implement it; most of the time you won't have to though.

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