Poker for Dummies (Mini Edition)
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The implications of this situation should be abundantly clear: If the flop does not fit your hand, be done with it. Playing long-shot holdings after the flop is a sure way to lose money. After the flop, the relationship between the betting and cards-to-come is reversed. Now you’re looking at spending 83 percent of the potential cost of a hand for the remaining 29 percent of the cards!
Fit or fold
Fit or fold. That’s what you have to decide on when playing the flop. Fit can take one of three forms. The flop fits because:
It improves your hand.
It offers a draw that figures to pay off handsomely if you hit it.
You hold a big pair before the flop.
If you don’t improve to a big hand or a draw with a nice potential payoff, then get out (fold) — and do it now.
Flops you’re going to love, and flops to fold on
Although you’re not going to like the flop most of the time, there are those rare instances when the flop fits like a custom-made suit. When you’re lucky enough to flop a straight flush, four-of-a-kind, a full house, or the nut flush, your major worry is not whether you’ll win, but how much money you can extract from your opponents.
Your first order of business is to examine the texture of the flop. Based on the betting pattern prior to the flop, try to determine if one or more of your opponents has made a hand or has a draw to a hand that would be second-best to yours.
Take a look at how you can handle different types of flops in the following sections.
Lovable flops
Straight flush: Bet the house, bet the farm, and mortgage your soul. You shouldn’t lose.
Four-of-a-kind: If there are two pair on board, and you have the smaller of the two pair, it is possible — though very unlikely — that you can lose this hand. But if there’s only one pair on board and you have the matching pair in your hand, you have the practical nuts. You can lose only to a straight flush or royal flush, unless a bigger communal comes along and someone else has a bigger four-of-a-kind. But don’t worry — you’ll seldom, if ever, lose with hands like these.
Full house: A terrific hand, but you have to examine the board to make sure that yours is the best possible full house before you bet the farm. But don’t be afraid to raise with a full house; it’s probably a winner.
Nut flush: If you have an Ace-high flush when all the cards have been dealt, and no pair is on the board — which means that a full house or four-of-a-kind is not possible — you’ve got the best possible hand. Just keep betting or raising and don’t stop.
Nut straight: If you have the highest possible straight, and there’s no possibility of a flush or full house, you’ve got the best hand, period. Bet and raise for all you’re worth.
Likable flops
Set with safe board: If you’re lucky enough to hold 88 and the flop is 8K2, you’ve flopped a set (three of a kind), and there’s not much to be wary of. There’s no flush or straight draw, and anyone holding a King in his hand is going to pay you off.
Trips: If you have A8 and the flop is 887, you’ve got trips. It’s not quite as good as it would be if the pair were in your hand, because anyone holding 8-7 will have flopped a full house. But that won’t happen very frequently, so go ahead and bet and raise as long as the board is not threatening.
Good flops
Two pair: If you flop two pair but they are not the top two pair, you have a good hand but one that is still vulnerable. Stay with it, however, unless it appears obvious that you’re beaten.
Top pair: A lot of Hold’em pots are won with one pair, and that one pair is usually the top pair on board. Your primary concern with top pair and an apparently safe board is determining whether your kicker is bigger than your opponent’s.
Overpair: If the board is 872, and you hold 1010, you have a pocket pair that is higher than the highest card on the board. In poker parlance, that’s called an overpair. It’s better than top pair, and it’s usually a hand to consider raising with.
Dangerous flops
Kicker trouble: Even if you flop top pair, your hand is only as strong as your kicker. It’s a lot nicer to make top pair with an Ace kicker than a weaker one.
Suited board: Flops where all the cards are of the same suit or are sequenced, like 10-9-8, are dangerous. Someone may already have made a straight or a flush, and even if you’ve been lucky enough to flop a set, you’re heading uphill and may have to see the board pair — giving you a full house — in order to win. With top pair, or even two pair, discretion is usually the better part of valor with suited or sequenced flops.
Overcards
An overcard is a card higher than the highest card on the board. Should you play overcards or not? Many of your opponents will routinely call with overcards. Suppose you call before the flop with K-J, you’re up against three opponents, and the flop is 8-6-3 of mixed suits.
What should you do if someone bets? Do you call, hoping the next card off the deck is a King or Jack — one of the six remaining cards in the deck that presumably gives you a winning hand? Or are you better off folding and waiting for a flop that fits your hand?
Making a good decision involves knowing your opponents and the hands they’re likely to play. Then examine the flop. Is it the kind of flop that will tend to hit one or more players? Or is it so ragged that it’s unlikely any of your opponents are holding cards that the flop would have paired? You should also be aware of how many opponents you’re facing. The more opponents, the more likely the flop will hit at least one of them.
If you’re unsure what to do, err on the side of caution until you gain enough playing experience to feel comfortable in these situations.
Flopping a draw
When you flop a four-flush or a four-straight, you’ll have to decide whether to continue with your draw.
You’ll need enough opponents so that the size of the pot offsets the mathematical odds against completing your hand. How many opponents do you need? If you’re facing three or more, it’s typically worthwhile to draw. If you’re holding two large cards, like A-Q, you’re probably favored against any lone opponent regardless of whether you make your hand. You might also win by pairing either of your cards on the turn or river. Sometimes just two big cards will be sufficient to win in a showdown.
Multiway possibilities
You’ll occasionally flop hands that offer a plethora of possibilities. Assume you hold 87, and the flop is 765. You’ve flopped top pair, as well as a straight draw, and you have backdoor flush potential (see the “Starting Hands” section for more about backdoor draws).
When you flop a hand with more than one way to win, your hand is stronger than any of its individual components. Your pair may win by itself. Your hand could improve to trips or two pair. You might make a straight on the turn or river, or make a flush if the next two cards are both hearts.
Here’s another example: You hold AJ and the flop is A94. Chances are, you hold the best hand and are favored to win even if your hand does not improve. You may also get lucky and turn your good hand into a great one. A Jack gives you two pair, an Ace gives you three Aces, and any club makes the nut flush.
With a hand this promising, you want action. Get more money into the pot by betting or raising. And if you think one of your opponents is going to bet, you can try for a checkraise.
Playing the Turn
The turn card is the fourth card dealt face up and is common to everyone’s hand. Some poker pundits have suggested that the turn plays itself. Although you can’t play the turn on autopilot, you shouldn’t get yourself into too much trouble unless you’ve already made the mistake of seeing the turn when you shouldn’t have. If that’s the case, you’ve already thrown good money after bad.
Much of the time, you won’t even see the turn. You’ll have thrown away most of your hands before the flop and released others after you saw that the flop didn’t fit. If there’s no logical reason to be in the pot by the turn, you should have folded.
It’s ver
y easy to squander your bankroll one bet at a time. Poor players do just that, calling one more bet and then another. Although calling any one bet may be insignificant by itself, collectively it can break you.
If you’ve made it to the turn you should be holding a good hand, be holding a promising draw, or believe your bluff can pick up the pot.
What to do when you improve on the turn
Your hand can improve on the turn in one of two ways. The first, and best, happens whenever the turn card improves your hand. But you’ll also benefit if you had a good hand going in, and the turn — though not helping your hand — did nothing to improve your opponent’s either.
If you have top two pair on the turn and an opponent bets, you should usually raise. If you’re in late position and none of your opponents have acted, go ahead and bet. If you’re in early position, check with the intention of raising if you’re fairly certain one of your opponents will bet. If you think your opponents might also check, forget about trying to checkraise and come out betting.
If you have the best hand, betting gets more money into the pot and makes it expensive for anyone to draw-out on you. But it’s not a totally risk-free strategy. If your opponent has made a set or turned a straight, you can count on being raised or reraised.
What to do when you don’t improve on the turn
It’s unfortunate, but true: Most of the time the turn card will not help you. What’s a player to do?
If you have an open-ended straight or flush draw and you’re up against two or more opponents, you should usually call a bet on the turn. However, if the board is paired and there’s a bet and raise in front of you, be wary. You may be facing a full house. If you are, you’re drawing dead. (Drawing dead is a draw where, no matter what card you get, you’re still going to lose.)
You may be facing a set or two pair. Once again, knowing your opponents will help you determine what they might be holding. If you’re up against someone who never raises a three-suited board unless he can beat that probable flush, release your hand.
If the turn didn’t help and there is a bet in front of you, not only has the cost gone up, but the number of future betting rounds has decreased. You have less opportunity to punish your opponents if you make your hand. Moreover, many of them will probably fold on the turn, too — leaving you with fewer opponents to punish, if indeed you were to get lucky on the river.
Should you continue with a draw?
Flopping four-flush or an open-ended straight draw is a common situation. If it’s relatively inexpensive, you’ll invariably stay for the turn card — particularly when you’re certain yours will be the best hand if you make it. But most of the time the turn card will not help you. Players call that a stiff. After all, if you’ve flopped a four-flush, there are only nine remaining cards of your suit in the deck.
Even if you don’t complete your straight or flush on the turn, it usually pays to see the river card in hopes that deliverance is at hand, and you can reap the rewards.
Should you checkraise or come out betting?
Suppose you were dealt Q-J, flopped an open-ended straight draw when 10-9-5 showed up on board, and made your hand when an 8 appeared on the turn. If you’re really lucky, one of your opponents holds 7-6, or J-7, and made a smaller straight. You’d love to see that, because he’d be drawing dead, absent flush possibilities.
If you try for a checkraise and your opponents all check behind you, you’ve cost yourself some money. Should you bet, hoping to get some more money into the pot? Or are you better off checkraising and trying for a bigger payday, bearing in mind you may not get any money into the pot at all if your opponents also check?
It’s time to put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and do some detective work by reconstructing the play of the hand. Was there a lot of action before the flop, suggesting that your opponents held big hands or big pairs? Did they raise on the flop, suggesting they might have been trying to force any straight draws to fold? Or did they just check and call, suggesting that they were also on the come, and have now made their hand — albeit a lesser one than yours.
An opponent holding a single big pair might also check, because the turn showed straight possibilities. If you think this is the case, you’re better off leading with a bet, because she may call, but she would throw her hand away if she were the bettor and you raised.
If your opponent were also drawing, you might want to check, hoping she would try to steal the pot by bluffing. Another possibility is that she made a smaller straight than yours, and will bet from late position. If that’s the case, you can raise with the assurance that she won’t lay down her hand — even if she suspects you have the nut straight.
This is a case where recalling the play of the hand is more important than knowing the tendencies of your opponents. If you can deduce what kind of hand — or hands — your opponents are likely to hold, you can decide whether to come out betting or try for a checkraise. Remember: Unless you think your opponent will bet and call your raise, betting is the preferred course of action.
Bluffing on the turn
Suppose that you raised with A-K before the flop and then bet into two opponents when the flop was J-7-3. You don’t suspect any strength, and know your opponents are solid enough players to release a hand when they think they’re beaten.
Because your opponents have to consider the possibility that you’re holding an overpair or a Jack with a good kicker, it’ll be difficult for them to call with anything less than a hand like J-8. Of course, if your opponents are calling stations, they’ll call with almost anything, and you’ll have to become adept enough at knowing their proclivities, so you don’t try to bluff someone who never releases a hand.
A good player also understands that you might be betting a hand like A-K. But she may not call even if she holds a hand like 8-7, because she can’t be certain about what you have, and she could be beaten if her inclination about your bluff is wrong.
Your bet may cause an opponent to lay down the best hand. Even if he calls, the river could bring an Ace or King and win the pot for you. But if you bet and are raised, throw your hand away. Sure, someone may be making a move on you. But it doesn’t happen frequently enough to worry about, particularly in low-limit games. Most of the time, you’ll be beaten when you’re raised in this situation.
Playing the River
If you’re still contesting the pot while awaiting that last card on the board (the river card), you should have a strong hand, or a draw to what you believe will be the best hand if you make it. If you’re playing with reasonably prudent opponents, what may have begun as a confrontation between five or six will probably be reduced to two — or perhaps three of you — after all the board cards have been exposed.
Realized versus potential value
Prior to the last card, many strategic considerations are predicated on your chances for subsequent improvement. You could, for example, bet a hand composed of a pair and four flush. Taken together, that pair, coupled with its potential for a flush as well as the possibilities of improving to two pair or trips, made it worth playing. And its worth was made up of both realized and potential value.
After the river card is exposed, your hand no longer has any potential value. Its value is fully realized — for better or worse. If that flush draw never materialized, you’re left with one pair, and it may not be enough to win the pot. More importantly, your strategic thinking has to change, too. You have no remaining potential upon which to base decisions.
What do I do when I make my draw?
Many Hold’em newbies automatically check a good flush from early position, hoping to checkraise, thereby trapping their opponents for an additional bet. Others will always bet. These are two very different strategies. Which is correct?
Here’s part one of the general rule on checkraising: Do it when you believe you’ll have the best hand most of the time you are called.
Part two of the general rule on checkraising states that you need to be certai
n your opponent will bet if you check. It’s no fun to check a big hand only to have your opponents check behind you, especially when you know they would have called if you had bet.
If you aren’t certain that you’ll hold the best hand if you’re called, or you aren’t sure one of your opponents will bet if you check, do not checkraise.
Top pair on the river
An enduring dilemma is what to do when you’re holding top pair against one or two opponents and all the cards are out. Now you have to decide whether to check or bet, or if your opponent acts first, whether to call, fold, or raise.
If you’re observant, you’ll have noticed that some opponents will almost always bet top pair on the river, unless there is a strong threat of a flush or straight. Others seldom bet one pair, even when the board is not threatening. Most, however, fall somewhere in between. This is a judgment call. There is no formula to help you determine the best course of action, but there are some things you can do to clarify your decision.
Suppose you’re first to act and raise before the flop with A-K. Two opponents call. You bet the flop and the turn. Now the board shows A-Q-4-7-9 of mixed suits. All the cards are out, no one has folded, and it’s your turn to act. Should you bet or check?
You’ll beat any pair, but lose to any two pair. Unless one of your callers held a pocket pair of 9s and made a set on the river, you can probably dismiss the notion that there is a set out against you. If one of your opponents either flopped or turned a set, he would have raised on the turn — when the betting limits doubled.
Your real concern, of course, is whether one of your opponents holds two pair. If an opponent held A-Q, she probably would have raised before the flop, called on the flop, and raised your bet on the turn. An opponent holding A-7, A-4, Q-4, or Q-7 would probably have raised on the turn.