Beginner Strategies,
Texas Holdem,
online poker,
Tournaments
April 17 2009
Flopping a lead in Texas hold'em is never that cut and dry. Not all leads are created equal, and it's important to your game to know which situations are dangerous and which are safe. It all comes down to the texture of the flop, and recognizing when you may have a lead that could be lost on the following streets.
Say you have a pair of kings, and a flop of 10h-5d-3c comes off. In this situation you have an over pair and there are no flush draws. The only feasible straight draws would be gut draws of A-4 or A-2. So you have a big lead that you can even consider slow playing if the pot is small at this point. But if the flop is 10s-Js-6d, the texture is very different. It's now possible that you're up against flush and straight draws, and you have to bet enough to deter an opponent from staying in the hand and drawing more cards.
You do that by making bets that are a bigger percentage of the pot than the possible odds the drawing hands could have. If there are flush draws you should bet at least half the size of the pot. If your opponents call you have made them call a bet that was a poor mathematical decision. Over time this situation will show profit.
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