Texas Holdem Poker River Flop

Basic introduction to Texas Hold'em Poker. This video is not intended for intermediate or advanced player's. We will upload more video's to match your level of skill later on. Or you can request.
Playing after the river Your options on the turn After the flop, there are two more community cards to play – the turn and the river, each with a round of betting in between. Before you put more money in the pot, ask yourself: is it worth your while to see these cards or not?
The three communal cards (referred to as the flop) are now dealt face up in the middle of the table. There follows a second round of betting, at the same levels as before ($5, with possible raises to $10, $15 and $20).
After the flop, the decisions in Texas Holdem get a bit tougher. Understanding pot odds will help determine your best action from here. Check out our Texas Hold’em Pot Odds article to learn more about pot odds, what pot odds are, calculating your pot odds, implied odds, etc. You can also view our Texas Hold’em Pot Odds Chart here.

Posted on Sep 14, 2012 Updated on Sep 7, 2018 by Carolyn J Dawson The three cards that are placed face up on the board after the first betting round in Texas Hold’em Poker are collectively called “the flop.” All the players at the table must use these cards to create the best poker hand.

The three cards that are placed face up on the board after the first betting round in Texas Hold’em Poker are collectively called “the flop.” All the players at the table must use these cards to create the best poker hand. The flop is followed by another betting round, initiated by the player who sits to the dealer’s left.

Beginners who successfully reach the flop often get overwhelmed at this point of the game. They feel that they have played a good hand so far, but are not sure how things will turn out in the near future. Such beginners need to implement some tested and proven flop strategies. Here is a collection of interesting flop tips for confused Hold’em players.

Evaluation

Players on the flop must carefully evaluate their situation. They must carefully re-analyse their hand and determine once and for all if their hand has the potential to win the pot for them. Here are a few factors that players should consider on the flop:

Hand strength
Winning potential of the hand
Chip stacks
Table position

Players might feel that they do not really have the time to consider so many factors at a time, but if they do so, they will be able to make a wise decision. Making the best decision on the flop is of paramount importance because the jackpot begins growing in size from this point, and any mistake made post flop is going to cost the player plenty of money.

For instance, a player might have an A – J pair in his/her hand and the flop might comprise cards like Four, Ten, and Ace. Initially, players might be jubilant and feel that they are well on the way of winning, but after carefully considering the above-mentioned factors, they might feel that folding is a better option. It all depends on the situation at the table.

Watch the follow video to play No Limit Texas Holdem Poker

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Prediction

Thinking about the present barely suffices; players should also give ample thought to the future. All the possible answers to the question, “What could happen to this hand in the near future?” are of equal importance. Players should especially think about what might happen on the turn as this will prevent them from getting into a fix on the turn.

The biggest mistake a player on the flop can make is to make a move based on flop situations without giving a thought to what might happen on the turn and the river.

Flop Strategies

Learning the best Texas Hold’em flop strategies and implementing them at the proper time is of great importance if players want to become Texas Hold’em winners.

Excellent hands can turn sour – Hold’em players must never pin all their hopes on their excellent starting hands because the best starting hands can turn sour. For example, players might feel that an Ace and a King in the hole and an eight, a nine, and a Jack on the flop is the best thing that has ever happened to them without considering the simple fact that a pair can easily defeat them.
Fold on the flop – If players feel that the flop cards have converted their excellent starting hands into the worst possible hand, they have to fold immediately. Players should never make the mistake of thinking that the river and the turn will save their hand because it never happens.For example, the flop might have a king or an ace, but players might not have these cards in their hand. This means that they do not have a pair or a better combination, and under these circumstances, they must fold instead of waiting for the river and the turn to save their hands.
Take the risk – Sometimes, players on the flop might feel that their hand has a chance of becoming the winner hand on the turn or the river. In such a case, players can take the risk. After all, the fun of playing Texas Hold’em lies in taking as many calculated risks as possible. Players can also play a bad hand if they feel they can fool their opponents into folding their better hands and leaving them free to grab a pot they do not really deserve.

There are plenty of flop strategies that players can implement to improve their chances of winning.

In Texas hold'em, the cards placed by the dealer on the board is called community cards. The community cards are dealt in three phases, which namely is the flop, the turn and the river. This is not the case in all poker variations, but you will face this order in the most popular games, such as Texas hold'em and Omaha.

The first three community cards are dealt together and are called the flop, the next card is called the turn and the very last card is called the river. It can look something like this:
Flop: 3♠-A♠-7♣
Turn: K♥
River: J♦
These two last phases are also called streets (4th and 5th street, respectively) and there's betting rounds on every street. There's also a separation of before and after the flop: pre-flop and post-flop.

In other words, we can separate a hand in poker in four phases with following betting rounds. This will, of course, create some strategical circumstances. It's time to look into these.

Strategic approaches

Some players are very reluctant to fold their hands before all community cards have been revealed on the table. But staying in the hand and calling bets with mediocre holdings only because you want to see if your hand will improve or to be absolutely sure that the opponent has you beaten is very far from an optimal strategy.

There are certainly some cases when calling on several streets is the right approach, but only when the odds are positive.

In poker, we don't want negative odds and we don't want to be passive. Instead, we want to operate either before the flop or directly after it – this said in general, not as a strict rule.

The operating before the flop is primarily based on the strength of our hole cards. The benefits of patience are huge and a good player in poker is a disciplined one (this is probably true in all forms of gambling). This means that a great number of starting hands should be folded immediately. More about starting hands criteria is discussed in another article.

The action directly after the flop is critical. Here we must plan our actions for all the remaining betting rounds. The call-and-wait-and-see-approach is not good poker. Let's say we have a draw, in this case we must consider the odds and also the value (how big the pot is going to be) in making the hand.

If we need a card to make a straight, but there are two suited cards on the board that also has been paired, it is an immense risk that our hand will be beat by a flush or a full house even if we make the straight. Or, maybe we will be forced to lay down the straight in a later betting round facing a very big bet. This is an example of bad planning.

The best action in most cases is therefore 1) to fold directly or, 2) to make a bet or a raise. By betting or raising we get information from the opponent's response and, not the least, we get a chance of winning the pot right away. This is a solid way to play poker.

Strategical thinking on the turn

The turn is often more complicated when the flop. On the flop you can always try to win the pot with a c-bet and it will not be too costly in most cases. But on the turn, the pot is often bigger and you must more often think about stack commitment from you and your opponent.

If your bet was called on the flop, will you bet again? This can be a very hard decision with a marginal hand. If you bet again, you will lose more money against a better hand; but if you not bet, you will show weakness and your opponent could take over the initiative.

When acting on the turn, you should also think about what will happen on the river.

Strategical thinking on the river

No river, no fish.Amarillo Slim

One of the most important things on the river is to value bet or not. Many players that have been called both on the flop and the turn will act careful on the river and only check. This could be correct, but in many cases your opponents are calling with a marginal hand, for example an ace pair with a worse kicker and you will lose profit by not bet a third time.