Post-Flop Poker Betting

Let us suppose that you played your hand until the flop.  After the flop, what should you do?  Should you give up and muck your cards or should you continue playing and become even aggressive post flop?

Post-Flop Play’s Rule of Thumb

There’s no simple rule for post-flop play except the same rule that guides sensible poker players (most of the time):  you should play to win.  If you can win with the flop as it is, then go on and continue your play.  If your common sense and your poker smarts are telling you there’s no way (that is there’s a very slight chance) that you will win the hand with that flop, then better listen to yourself and fold to keep your cost to a minimum.

Of course, we need specific examples about how to play post-flop.  Different situations call for different actions.  The same rule of thumb mentioned above will be applied differently depending on how the action at the poker table has played out so far.

Specific Examples of Post-Flop Poker Betting Strategies

The following are some recommendations on how you should bet and play post-flop:

•    A monster hand
If you flop a nut, rejoice.  Your objective in this case is to increase the size of the pot.  You can play it slowly after the flop (check and call but do not raise or re-raise).  However, if you have already raised pre-flop, you should just continue with the same tack; changing your strategy post-flop will be a clear signal to the other players that you are holding the nut.

•    An okay hand
If you have an okay hand, then you can play your hand in different ways.  If you have a medium pair and the flop has revealed medium cards, then chances are high that you are still in the game.  You can continue as you have so far; for instance, play aggressively if you have been playing aggressively pre-flop.

If, however, the board has top cards (Ace, King, Queen), and all you have is a mid-range pair (say a pair of nines), better fold before you are overcommitted.  Your opponents probably flopped a top pair.

•    A small pair
If you flop a pair of small cards (say a pair of 3s or a pair of 4s), you’d better muck your cards after the flop (in fact, you would have done better if you just folded pre-flop).  The odds of your opponents not having a bigger pair than yours are very, very slim.