Poker Tips from Jake

There are a few things one needs to take note in looking at the flop. Here are a few:

1) The strength of your hand – You need to ask yourself just how strong your hand is. If you are drawing just how strong of a draw do you have?

2) The type of flop – When the flop comes down, you need to assess just how strong your hand is relative to the flop?

3) The number of opponents you are up against – The more players in the hand increases the chance that one of them has a strong hand. If there are three or more players in the hand you should assume that one of them has a very strong hand if they bet. When you are up against multiple players you need to stick to the best hands. Bluffs and semi-bluffs are really good against one or two opponents (but don’t overdue it!). If you show that your are a pretty tight player the others at the table expect that you will only bet good hands. That is when bluffs and semi-bluffs work. Also, keep in midn who you are betting against. If the players are loose, then bluffing just doesn’t really work.

4) Possible hands of your opponents – you should look to figure out what hands your opponents are holding based on their position at the table, their betting patterns before the flop an on the flop. Once you understand what they may have you can then figure out what hand you have compared to what they may have. Don’t forget that the more players in the pot the greater the likelihood that one of them has a strong hand. You want to make sure that when you draw and hit your hand that your hand will win.