Pre-Flop and Post-Flop Poker Play

In poker, we mostly want to play tight and raise and re-raise pre-flop or else fold. Pre-flop play is crucial for a good post-flop turnout.

We seldom prefer to play loose calls before the flop. This play, however, is re-considered when playing 9/9 or 10/10, especially when there are a lot of players at the table. Generally, a play indulges in cold or loose calls before the flop is poor poker and affects the post-flop play so much.

If we start out with a mindset that accedes winning to the opponent and therefore merely calls, this gives out clear signals informing everyone at the table that we have a weak hand. Most non-raising players inadvertently do this, messing up their play up to post-flop phase of the game. And if we still don't have much and it's already post-flop, we mess all the way to the turn and the river. Post-flop play is when we give it all we've got for a good play momentum at the turn. But the "all we've got" at post-flop is decided pre-flop.

With the above considerations, it becomes possible to beat AK with AQ if we have positioned well pre and post flop. For instance, a player raises pre-flop, we re-raise but then we and the player who raised did not hit the flop, and also did not hit the turn. Though our not hitting the flop may affect our play post-flop, yet if we play post-flop in such a way as to make them think we have an AK, they won't dare do anything else except call our turn and river bets. This way, we improve our post-flop play and make call stations out of them and get real profits out of that when we have re-raised and then the players call us down with something like AK.

For more on post-flop strategies refer to Learn Texas Holdem.com and see more comprehensive examples. Another post-flop play is when the flop turns out suited. This is usually very interesting to play. We may work out a top flush draw post-flop using a king or ace, However, this is not as profitable when we just have lower flushes; consider this if there are few players at the table.

If we have gained a position strong enough and a 4th flush card appears and the players check it to us, we can decide not to bet and rather check/call at the river. If they choose to check again on the river, then we can bet.