Online Poker Articles: Limit Texas Holdem (Part 3)

Now that you have an idea of what hands to enter the pot with, let's discuss how to get the most profit from your winning hands while minimizing your losses when you are beaten. This is a very general discussion using a few examples designed to help you see how your actions can have a direct influence on the size of the pot and your chances to win.

Example 1:       You are in the small blind with A 4 and call a single raise to see the flop along with three other players. The flop is 2 3 5 rainbow (all different suits), giving you the best possible hand. Should you bet out or check? The correct answer is to check. The pre-flop raiser will undoubtedly bet and by letting him/her bet, the other two players may call a single bet. Further, I usually only call the bet on the flop for the same reasons. I don't want to let the pre-flop raiser know the strength of my hand and I want the other two players to put money in the pot. The correct play is to also check after the turn card. Then at this time, when the pre-flop raiser bets, you check-raise and bet into him/her on the river. Remember that the bets double on the turn. The point is that it is often best to check and call to let others become involved with your strongest hands. You don't want to do this if your hand is vulnerable to being outdrawn.

Example 2:       You are under-the-gun with KK, raise pre-flop and get two callers, one in late position and the big blind. The flop comes A 7 2 rainbow. The small blind checks to you. What do you do? You must bet for a couple reasons. If an Ace scares you so bad that you would check after raising pre-flop, you should be either playing lower limits or another game, and more importantly, you must bet to try to get the late position player to fold, giving you position on the small blind for the turn and river. If both players call, you can check the turn. If this were the case, I would still call a turn bet and a river bet against some players. Most of the time you will know that you are beat, and when you know you are you should fold, but many players will call a flop bet with middle or bottom pair in hopes of hitting their second pair on the turn. For this reason, if I have the Kings, I usually bet on the turn again if no opponents have shown strength. If you are check-raised on the flop, you must either raise or fold. Don't wait till the turn to get fancy because it costs you twice as much. If you are check-raised and you re-raise and are raised again, then you are beaten and should fold. I realize this may be painful, but think about the situation. You raised pre-flop, bet on the flop, were raised and then you re-raised showing tremendous strength. If a player can stand up to all of this strength by continuing to raise, this is a clear signal you should fold. The only players capable of making a play this sophisticated on a bluff are the top professionals and if you are playing and holding your own against them, you have already advanced past the scope of this article.

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