ONLINE POKER TOP10 Beginner’s Tips No Limit Holdem – Part V - Playing After the Flop

Unlike Limit Hold’em, No Limit Hold’em is not considered a ‘drawing game.’ Because of the fact that there is no-limit to the amount that can be bet, much of the action in NLH is pre-flop and on the flop betting.
   
When you are playing a hand and are not all in before the flop, how you play the flop depends on how you hit the community cards. If you hit a big hand, how you play is easy – you go all-in. But what if you don’t hit a big hand?

When you play the Short Stack Strategy, top pairs and over pairs on the flop should be played very aggressively. Top pair means you have a pair with one of your hole cards and the highest community card on the table. For example, if you have A-Q and the flop is Q-3-9 you have top pair with top kicker. An over pair would be when you have A-A in the hole and with the same flop, you can beat a pair of queens, so your Aces are an over pair.

Whether you raised before the flop or not, you should bet or raise and try to go all-in on the flop with:

• Top pair with a jack or better kicker
• An over pair
• Any big hand such as three-of-a-kind, a straight, a flush, a full house, etc.

If you raised before the flop, you should also play any draws. Draws are hands that are incomplete, meaning they will make a strong hand if you hit the right card on the turn or river.
When playing according to the Short Stack Strategy, two kinds of playable draws are OESDs and flush draws. An OESD is an open ended straight draw. This is when you have four cards in numerical order and a fifth card on either end of the sequence would give you a straight. For example if you have a 5-6-7-8, any 4 or 9 would make your straight. If however you hold four cards to a straight but a card is missing from the middle, such as 5-6-8-9, then you have a gutshot straight draw which is not a playable draw according to the Short Stack Strategy rules. Remember when trying to complete your hand, it doesn't matter if you use both of your hole cards and three community cards, or only one hole card and four community cards, the best five card hand wins.

But what if you don’t hit a strong hand like top pair or a draw? In that case there is no use investing any more money. There are however these exceptions:

• You raised before the flop and are up against only one opponent - you bet as a bluff. If your opponent raises - you fold.

If your opponent calls your bet:

• You go all-in on the turn if you hit top pair, an over pair or better, or if you have an OESD or flush draw. You either check or fold if the turn card does not help your hand.

If the pot is twice the size of your stack at the start of the betting round:

• Go all-in - no matter what you have and no matter what your opponents do because you don't have to win often for this play to be profitable.

Now that you understand when to bet, we will explore how much you should bet:

• When no one has raised - you bet approximately 2/3 of the pot, if this equals more than half your stack - you go all-in.
• If a player has raised before you and your hand is strong enough to play - you go all-in.
• If you bet and someone raises after you - go all-in, as long as you have a strong hand.

The important things to remember when playing after the flop are:

• Always try to go all-in with top pair with a jack or better kicker.
• When you raise before the flop, try to go all-in with OESDs and flush draws on the flop.
• Fold when you miss the flop. Unless you raised before the flop, in which case you can then bluff once if you only have one opponent.
• When betting, bet 66% of the pot - if this amount is more than half your chip stack then go all-in.
• If an opponent raises before or after you - go all-in with a playable hand.

This sums up the Short Stack Strategy, which has been proven to be the shortest and most effective No-Limit Hold'em strategy to follow if you want to be a successful NLH player. The important thing is to follow the rules because any variation of the strategy will be detrimental to your success.