Hold’em Strategy – Play preflop, on the flop, turn and river

Most people know what starting hands to play and once they have that down pat and are limiting themselves to those hands they are usually playing pretty tight. But knowing what to do at the various stages of the hand is also very important. You need to know what is correct in most situations.

Preflop

Resist playing hands that are not one of the starting hands. Should you get a premium hand, say the top ten hands then raise. A raise does several things for you.

1. Gets more money into the pot when you are likely a head.
2. If you are re-raised, then you know who else has a very strong hand. Just remember the player because some players will re-raise with weak hands too and you need to remember who these players are.
3. Gets more players to fold who are holding weaker hands that may have beat you.

Post-Flop

After the flop has hit, you need to look at the texture of the flop and assess:

1. Has my hand improved? If so, it is usually better to raise if you think you are in the lead. If you hand has not improved and you think you are not the best hand, then it is usually best to fold if there is a bet.
2. Can my hand win? If you think your hand can win, they you should be betting or raising. If your hand is so far ahead you can also check to either give a free card and let players catch something so they will call a bet on the turn or checking may induce a bluff by another player. Such a hand would be if you held A-J and the flop was A-A-J.
3. Can my hand improve? Your hand may have not improved or be a winner but it may have the potential to win. In this case, you need to use pot odds to decide whether it’s best to continue or not.
4. Has this flop helped my opponent(s)? Once you can start to read your opponents, then you can assess whether a flop has helped them or not. If it has not helped them and you think you can either improve to win, bluff them later or already have them beat, then it may be worth a call.

Turn and River

1. Did this card help me? Again, if it’s a yes and you think you have the best hand then you need to be betting or raising.
2. Did this card help my opponent(s)? If no, then based on what you know about the opponent then maybe a bluff is proper. I may know that my opponent is weak-tight and that they will always bet on the flop if they raised preflop but if they check the turn then they will usually fold to a bet.
3. On the turn, you also need to ask – Can my hand improve as per the flop.

These fundamentals are the next stage after learning the starting hands. By following these guidelines, it will limit any losses and improve on your wins.