Continuation Betting and the Importance of Position at the Table

Continuation Betting and the Importance of Position at the Table

When deciding whether or not to make a continuation bet on the flop, one truly critical factor in that situation is your position at the table.  You're playing a hand,  you raise before the flop from under the gun and get called by the player sitting in the big blind position. You should strongly consider making a continuation bet most of the time, whether the flop helped you or not, this portrays that your preflop raise from the worst position at the table holds a very big hand. In the same situation, your opponent's call before the flop doesn't signify nearly as much strength because he was getting a huge discounted price to call from the big blind. If he checks to you on the flop, you should make a continuation bet at least 90-95 percent of the time, mixing in a check here and there when you have a hand like A-J or A-Q and hit the flop with your ace or queen.
Now let's say you make a preflop raise on the button and get called by the big blind. You still have position on your opponent, but he's probably not going to give you any credit for having a strong hand because stealing blinds from the button is so common on the button. There's a chance he might check-raise you with absolutely nothing, so you should be much more inclined to check after your opponent checks, especially if you actually have a decent hand like pocket eights on a 9-5-2 flop or A-K on a T-Q-5 flop. In the second situation, you would be better off checking and taking a free card with A-K because you're likely drawing to ten outs and, even if you don't improve, your hand is still strong enough to have showdown value on the river. If you do decide to make a continuation bet and get called, you can almost always have a good idea your opponent has a better hand than the one you hold at the time. You should then take a free card on the turn, which will give you another shot at hitting one of your outs on the river.  
Continuation bets have become common also, so preparation is a must due to the fact the your opponent has seen this dance before.  Your opponent looks at this as a steal attempt in this situation, you should be prepared to go all the way with your hand whenever you're short-stacked and connect with the flop. For example, if you only have 50 big blinds in your stack, you raise from the button with J-10 suited and the flop comes 9-J-5, you need to be willing to get all your chips into the middle of the table. You should make a continuation bet most of the time, but occasionally you're going to want to check behind in this spot in order to disguise the strength of your hand. Now if you had 70 big blinds in your stack in the same situation, you might want to check behind because you're a little too deep to entice an opponent who has a J to want to put you all in. If you check, most of the cards that fall on the turn won't hurt you. Only an A, K, or J would give you much concern. Having disguised the strength of your hand, you can then bet for value on the turn and the river. Your turn bet will most likely get called by many hands worse than yours, including those holding small pocket pairs. If your opponent checks to you again on the river, you should continue to bet for value, but if he leads out with a bet you should just call. If you raise, you're only going to get called by a better hand than yours.
Now let's turn it around and say you're out of position. You raise before the flop from middle position and get called by the player holding the button. Now you're in much more of a sticky situation if you decide to come out and make a continuation bet because, if your opponent calls, you're going to have to act first on the turn and if you check the turn your opponent will often dive in on your shown weakness, and make a large bet.  

However, there's a great way to take advantage of this situation. Wait until you actually have a strong hand on the flop, top pair or better, and make a continuation bet and get called, this is a great spot for you to check the turn. By doing this it will appear to your opponent that you're conceding the pot, and more often than not, it will fool him into believing he has the better hand. If the flop is J-4-2 and you have Q-J and check on the turn, your opponent could try to put you all in with a hand like pocket nines, whereas if you bet the turn he would probably fold that hand.  
 If you want to succeed in tournaments, you should always be very aware of your position at the table when deciding whether or not you should make a continuation bet on the flop.  What types of horror stories have you experienced, did a continuation bet fall apart at the seams for you, or was there success I want to know!

The Texas Holdem Attention Span

 

 Texas Hold'em Patience and Feeling Out the Situation Based on the Board.   

Your Ability To Read The Board

Your ability to read the board will help make you a winning, money earning player, and it is not hard to get comfortable with. As you play Texas Holdem, the community cards are the most significant group of cards in the game based on the fact that they are simply face up. You can easily determine the best possible hand that can be made from the community cards and two cards that may or may not be out there. It is extremely important that you learn determine how your hand stacks up against the other possible hands that your opponents may hold. Two common situations should peak your radar when you see them.
If there are three suited cards on the board someone has the opportunity to build a flush. If a player raises when the third suited card is turned over you should be aware of that player first,but second feel it out to where you make a judgement on whether or not a bluff is in the air. If there is a pair on the board a player can make four of a kind or a full house.

 

Pay Attention to all Possible Detail
When you are not involved in a hand you should still pay attention to the game. You can gain valuable information about your opponents simply by observing what hands they play, not to mentio you can give all your attention to the situation around the table rather than yourself. It’s easy to determine the players who play suited cards, or single aces by watching the hands they turn over at the end. That brings me to one controversial tip.
Think about the situation where it is appropriate to show your hand. if you don’t have to. If you win the pot because everyone else folded you are under no obligation to show your cards. You don’t want to give away any information about yourself if you don’t have to and players who turn over their cards when they don’t have to are doing just that.You can of course perform a premeditated show, as to later set someone up to take down a big pot or throw down a big bluff.

The Basics to No Limit Hold"em

No Limit Texas Hold'Em

One of the most popular forms of poker today is Texas Hold'em. In This great game called Texas Hold'em each player receives two hole-cards and five subsequent cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table, these cards are simply known as the "flop", "turn", and the "river". The object of the game is to make the best five-card poker hand possible using your two hole-cards and the five community cards.
To indicate which person is the dealer from round to round, a disc or other such marker, called the button, is placed in front of them. To start the action, the person to the left of the dealer posts the "small blind", a forced bet usually half of the minimum bet. The next person to the left posts the "big blind", a forced bet equal to the minimum bet. These two bets are called "blinds" because they are posted before the two players look at their cards.

Players are then dealt the two pocket cards, face down, and the person on the left of the player who posted the big blind will begin the first round of betting. In the first round, a player can call, raise or you could also fold . In order to call, the player must place a bet that is equal to the previous bet. After the first player, each subsequent player is given the option to call the current bet, to raise up the bet, or to fold. Players who fold are out of that round until the hand ends and the next deal is out.


After the first round of betting is finished, the dealer takes the top card and sets it aside (called "the burn card"), and then lays the three community cards face up on the table. This is called the flop. At this point all other betting rounds now start with the first player to the left of the dealer. Players now have the option to check (the term used to pass on betting without folding), or to put out a bet. After the betting is opened by a player, players can no longer check when it is their turn to act, but can instead call or raise the action occurring at that point. The round concludes when all bets have been called, or in a limit game, when the maximum number of bets possible (the "cap", usually 1 bet and 3 raises) has been reached.
After betting is finished another card is burned and the fourth card, called the "turn card" or "4th Street," is added to the community cards. Players bet again just as they did on the flop betting round. In a fixed limit game, the bet is now double the previous bet and remains double for the final betting round as well. After the third betting round, another card is burned and the fifth and final card, known as the "river" or "5th Street," is dealt. There is one last round of betting, after which the remaining players turn up their pocket cards. The highest five card poker hand that can be made using any combination of the available seven cards (a player’s two hole cards and the five community cards) wins the pot. If there is a tie, then every player who is tied divides the pot evenly between them.
After the hand is finished, the Button moves clockwise to the next player, who becomes the dealer and play begins again after a new deal, and the blinds are right.
Heres the Basics, look for future posts on strategy and the best online sites to dive into, with the best chance to get your share of the Millions being made online in the poker rooms