Cometh the Flop -2

Not taking it seriously

 

In most Holdem betting formats, the second round    of betting which comes just after the flop, is at the lower betting limit. For example, in a $5/S 10 hold ‘em game, this second round of betting is a $5 round (the same as the round of betting before the flop). When you first start to play hold ‘em, it might seem to you that many people do not take this particular (lower limit) round of betting seriously! It probably seems quite fashionable to make wild and woolly bets and raises after the flop! Is there rhyme or reason to all this? The answer is generally yes — but, as with many things in life, the aggressive players often overplay the situation.

 

In most of these after-the-flop competitive situations, the more aggressive players are jockeying around (especially when the pot has been enlarged by before-the-flop raises) in order to further their own prospects by Intimidating and perhaps eliminating less tenacious competition. Good Players usually understand what they are trying to accomplish (such as “take the initiative,” “narrow the field,” or grab “the raiser’s edge”). But many  players act aggressively on instinct or are imitating the actions of good players (often inappropriately). Or they may be simply reacting to previous events. There are few reliable inferences from most after-the-flop raises. But note very well that most often these bets and raises are based on marginal cards rather than on truly good cards!

Last raiser’s advantage

If no one has a good hand (a situation which occurs often — perhaps more than one-third of the time), the person who bets, often wins the pot by default. Whenever there is a raise (or raises) after the flop, it is the last raiser who is most likely to win the pot uncalled. Although well under half of the pots are stolen (perhaps between ten and thirty percent depending on the game), being the bettor when no one has much is certainly an edge worth having and hence worth fighting for! You might refer to the (extra) percentages of winning by default obtained by betting or raising as “the bettor’s equity” or “the raiser’s edge.”

There are a number of other tangible benefits gained by betting aggressively after the flop. Some of the positional considerations will be discussed later. Sometimes “image adjustment” is a factor. And sometimes these raising battles after the flop degenerate to interpersonal psychological battles.

An illustrative example of sound aggressive raising strategy after the flop is in the situation where there was a late raise before the flop trapping several callers, thereby creating a big initial pot. The flop comes and one of the early players bet. You have a reasonable (but not great) call, and you would like to compete because of the pot size. But you suspect that the before-the-flop raiser in back of you might raise (frequently on nothing but high cards).

In these situations, sound aggressive “hold ‘em mentality” tells us that if you are going to compete, your odds improve considerably if you take the initiative by raising! Note that you are essentially inverting your normal strategy. You raise with lesser marginal hands(!) and merely call with very good hands!