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Raising post flop

our users say that this strategy is worth: a royal flush
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A ROYAL FLUSH
Friday November, 13th 2009 by fullhouse

Raising pre flop is one of the strongest ways to enter a pot; raising post flop is a continuation of this aggression. A pre flop raise is useless if there is no intention to follow through on the flop, turn, and river. As a hand progresses your reasons for raising should change. The likelihood of you raising on the flop as a bluff should be much higher than on the river. On the river it is much less likely that you will be able to get someone off of their hand, so it only makes sense that bluffs should be very sparse at this point in the hand. By contrast, your value bets will be most effective on the river. The river presents the last opportunity in the hand to extract as much value as possible; this needs to be taken advantage of. While the implementation of a raise during post flop play is crucial to a player’s success, it can be very detrimental if used incorrectly.

Post flop raises, the flop

In most cases you will be heads up on the flop if the pot was raised pre flop. There are some occasions where there might be three or four players in the hand, but they are relatively uncommon. No matter the players in the pot your decision to raise should be well thought out. Players tend to make flop raises as general “bluffs.” There are many alternatives to flop bluff raises, however. Calling a flop bet with the intention of taking it away later is better than raising the other player’s bet. A flop raise is best utilized as a value bet. If you have a strong hand, this is where you need to begin the process of getting max value. Try to stay away from flop raises that are pure bluffs.

Post flop raises, the turn

The turn is when the money will usually start to really pile up. Each decision you make after the flop will become more and more critical. A lot of big pots start to grow on the turn and it should be the time where you decide whether you are in or out. Don’t make a turn raise if you are going to play the hand very sheepishly on the river. If you are scared of your hand’s strength you can either fold or call, but don’t make a raise if you are not confident that you will be holding the winner after the river is dealt.

Post flop raises, the river

The river is your last chance to win the hand, be it through a bluff or a strong bet made only for value. It is much better that you try to take down pots when you are bluffing on the turn. Making a river bluff raise is incredibly high risk, low reward. The most unlikely time in a hand for a player to fold is the river, so why make attempts that are going to fail very frequently? You can use this tendency towards calling to your advantage, however. River raises will provide the biggest opportunities for payoffs when you have a very strong hand, so exploit other player’s inability to fold by raising when you have the best of it.