How To Play Your Cards After The Flop

Hold'em is a community card game where the two most critical moments occur when you receive your hole cards and when you see the flop of the first three community cards. Playing your hole cards is a finite art that can be mastered, because there are a limited number of combinations, and each combination has a distinct value. Playing the flop is not nearly as straightforward, requires far more skill, and will vary according to context. It is the pivotal moment in hold'em simply because you now know 5 of the 7 cards in that hand. 

In limit hold'em the bets double on the turn, so a lot of players defer decisions until that 4th card appears. This is a huge error and should be avoided wherever possible. Novices are content to check and call the flop because it is cheap. It may be relatively cheap at that instant (although throwing away any number of extra bets is very poor management of your stack) but what happens when you improve just enough on the turn to be sucked in and lose 4 double bets? Now your undisciplined decision to remain in the hand after the flop doesn't look cheap at all. Perhaps you flopped a pair, but there is a higher card on the board. You decide to stay in just in case you hit a set on the turn and end up making two pair. Now you're committed to the hand, but the problem is that the opponent who has been betting all along also improved to two pair on the turn, but he was betting top pair all along (funny, that) and now has you beaten and involved. 

On the flop you need to be aware of the following: How strong is your hand? How many players are left in the pot? If there are four or more of you it is likely that the flop improved one of those hands. What are your pot odds if you have hit part of your draw? Where are the aggressive players sitting relative to you in this hand, and have they shown strength before the flop? What is your position in the hand? If you are last to act you have far more flexibility and might be able to take down the pot with a bet or a raise, even though the flop did not make your hand. 

Finally, all top players are acutely aware of flop texture, and you should be as well. Certain flops are extremely dangerous and likely to help numerous players (JQK, with 2 cards the same suit, for instance) - if you hit a big part of the flop you must expect a lot of action, and you also need to have a chance to draw to the nuts. If the flop comes JQK with two cards of the same suit and you hold 9T unsuited against 5 callers you cannot approach the hand with complete confidence. But imagine you were holding 9T and the flop came 678. The texture of that flop is tremendous for you, and you hold an incredibly strong hand. Certain flops, such as all rags in a rainbow (no immediate help to typical straight draws or flushes, and no premium high cards) like 3d, 7c, 2s are unlikely to help a lot of hands. If you can show strength first there is a good chance you will take down the pot. On the other hand, if someone shows genuine strength (by re-raising on this flop) there is a very good chance that he has flopped a set or two-pair.