Texas Holdem Poker Flop Play

Avoiding Mistakes on the Flop

This poker strategy article is the second in a four article series on playing the flop in Texas Holdem Poker. I recommend that you start out by reading the first article - important flop considerations.

The reason that I am spending so much time on playing the flop is - the mistakes you make on the flop usually means that it costs you even more money on the turn and river. If you know what to look out for on the flop you can help minimize your losses and maximize your winnings.

What I'd like to discuss is how having the top pair after the flop can give you a very strong hand or a weak hand depending on what the flop is.

Let's look at some examples. First let's assume that your hole cards are an Ace of Diamonds and a Ten of Clubs.

Flop #1
If the flop comes down Ten of Diamonds, Five of Hearts and Two of Clubs, this is a very good flop for you. Not only do you have top pair (pair of Tens) you also have the best kicker (Ace). Your opponents do not have a flush draw and they do not have a straight draw.

Flop #2
The flop is Ten of Diamonds, Five of Hearts and Two of Hearts. You should still consider this a good flop for you but you must now consider that one of your opponents may be on a flush draw.

Flop #3
The flop is Ten of Diamonds, Five of Hearts and Five of Clubs. You should be careful with this type of flop especially when you do not have three of a kind or a full house. The risk you face depends on how many other players are calling and what there position at the table is. If you know that a strong player is in early position a Ten, Five, Five flop will probably not be too dangerous. However, if there are five other players calling, including both players in the blinds, then this flop will lessen the value of your top pair.

Flop #4
The flop is Ten of Diamonds, Nine of Hearts and Nine of Clubs. On a flop like this you have a couple of things to worry about. There is a relatively high pair on the board (Nines) and many players will play hands like Ace-Nine, Queen-Nine etc... This flop also has two connected cards so you may also be up against a player drawing for a flush.

Flop #5
The flop is Ten of Hearts, Nine of Hearts and Nine of Clubs. This kind of flop also adds the possibility of a flush draw. This is a dangerous flop.

Flop #6
The flop is Ten of Diamonds, Nine of Hearts and Eight of Clubs. With a flop like this someone may already have a straight or a very good chance of hitting a straight. If you find yourself faced with a flop similar to this and you have several opponents in the hand I would recommend that you fold. Especially if one of them is playing this hand aggressively.

Flop #7
The flop is Ten of Hearts, Nine of Hearts and Eight of Clubs. In addition to all the considerations we spoke about on flop#6 you also have to contend with a flush draw on this flop.

Flop #8
The flop is Ten of Hearts, Nine of Hearts and Eight of Hearts. By now I bet that most of you can see the problems that you face from this kind of flop. You have to worry about flushes, straights, and overcards. You may already be beat and drawing dead. Any heart, King, Queen, Jack, Nine, Eight, Seven or Six could be very bad news for you.

I have given you a good amount of information to analyze and help you start through some of the basic thought processes that you should go through on the flop.

The third article in this series will discuss other specific hands on the flop and some specific strategies on how to play them.

You are now well on your way to improving your game. You can practice and play Holdem for free or real money in any of our recommended online poker rooms.

When you are ready, read the third article in this series.