What is a strong hand in poker if you are unable to earn any money from it? If you make a strong hand you will need to build up the pot. Extracting max value is one part of the equation, but you have to start somewhere. Igniting the fire is often the most difficult part when trying to build up a substantial pot. There are a handful of different ways that a pot can be built depending on the situation. If you are holding the absolute nuts it is likely that a value bet would be effective. Value bets are not going to be effective, however, when you are on a strong draw. If you are holding a mediocre hand you might not want to build up too large of a pot at all.
Your opponent is going to play a big role when deciding the best route for building up a pot. If they are loose it will be easy to make substantial value bets and get paid off. If your opponent is tight you will need to make smaller value bets. The best type of opponent is a spastic players. You can build up a pot against these types of players by throwing out teaser bets. Teaser bets are small bets that are designed to garner a reaction. Spastic players will often see a teaser bet and then make an unnecessarily large re raise. Take a look below for an example of a teaser bet and why it is effective.
Pre flop play is relatively easy to refine. Most players today have a solid understanding of how to properly adjust hand ranges and raise sizes. 3 betting and 4 betting have become commonplace and the games have gotten much more advanced from a pre flop perspective. Amateur players will be lost if they sit down at a cash table online because they won’t know how to react to all of the aggression that they will inevitably be facing. Weak players get punished now more than ever so it is important that you assume the role of aggressor if you want to become a profitable player. Enough about pre flop though, lets discuss the problematic area for most poker players, post flop.
Post flop play is impossible to master and requires massive amounts of experience just to achieve a solid level of competency. If you don’t know what you are doing pre flop you will inevitably get burned, but if you don’t know what you are doing in post flop play you will be lit on fire. Fold equity is one concept that far too many poker players neglect. Fold equity is essentially represented by the percentage of times where you will force a fold from your opponent. The rest of the percentage is represented by the times where you will be called and either make or miss your hand.
Floating
Floating is a technique in poker that helps players to help weed out bluffs with minimal risk. A float means that you are calling another player’s bet with the intention of taking away the pot on a later street. Floating is not done when you are holding a strong or made hand, the float aspect of it is derived from the fact that you have a weak hand.
The reason for calling is not because you feel that your hand is the best, but simply because you are sure that the other player is weak. This will allow you to make a bet on a later street if they check to you or raise them if they again bet out. Floats are most effective when done in position because an out of position float will require a player to check call. Check calling is indicative of much more weakness than a call in position.
Even your poker BFF might not tell you these secrets of online poker. You can read all the strategy articles you want and practice your skills till the end of time, but you’ll never be as good as many of your online opponents because they know some things that you might not.
Let me make clear that the tips offered are in no way forms of cheating; they are all perfectly legal tricks or resources that are not available in live poker. Cheating at poker online is illegal and immoral, so don’t do it. Actually, by implementing some or all of these secrets into your game, there will be no need for any illicit activity anyway.
Dec 8 2009
3 Betting Pre Flop and Over Betting the River Against a Loose Player
written by: John Comments: Comments Off
3 betting pre flop is a fundamental Texas Hold’em skill, playing a loose player heads up is a reward from the poker gods. Every now and then you will be fortunate enough to get tangled up with one of the loosest of calling stations, and let me assure you that there are few greater feelings in poker than when you lock up a moron in a battle.
Some players will waste this opportunity with timid play, or they will play against a loose calling station just as they would against a standard tight player. This is one of the biggest sins a poker player can make.
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