Basic preflop actions

1. Actions on preflop, if everything was folds before you

Quite often on preflop you will face a situation when no active actions were taken at the table before you. 

In this case, you have a choice between the standard options:

We talk about each of the techniques in more detail, as well as about their special cases with the use of poker terms.

Fold — saved money

Such a proverb goes in the poker community. By choosing the pass (fold) option, you guarantee yourself that you will not lose more chips in this particular hand. The bad news is that you won't be able to win the pot either. Beginners mistakenly consider fold a sign of cowardice or weakness. This is not so. The ability to part with a weak combination on preflop is a manifestation of skill. The stronger hands you play, the less difficult situations you will see on the late streets of betting. 

However, it will not be possible to limit your range of combinations to pocket pairs of ladies, kings and aces only. According to the theory of probability, you will not receive them so often. To maintain your stack in working condition, you will also have to play weaker starters. You will learn how to do it correctly from the starting hands chart on our website. You can get it for free by registering in one of the affiliate poker rooms.

Call (limp)

Playing through a call is a passive line. If all the оpponents folds have dropped their cards before you on the preflop, the call amount is one big blind. Such a bet on the first round of betting is called a limp. Through the limp, beginners and weak poker players (recreational players or “phishes”) often play. They think that it is cheap to look at the first three common cards — a plus strategy even with a weak hand. But it's not. In fact, aggressive actions in poker are almost always more profitable than passive ones. Limp is a generally unprofitable action, which it is better to completely abandon until you become a professional. 

Raise — raise the bet

Raise is an active action in the distribution (raise bet). In the case when all players have chosen a pass before you, this action is called open raise. Its minimum size is two big blinds. The maximum raise size is unlimited. You can put at least all the chips that are on the stack. But a standard raise is considered to be a raise to 2 or 2.5 BB. We recommend that beginners play all starting hands through the raise. You aim to raise the bet when you have a good hand, and do not let people with weak starting combinations watch the flop cheaply or for free. And with each player who enters the pot, the chance of winning even pocket aces is sharply reduced. 

Characteristic of a raise: 

​​​​Steal — theft of blinds

Steal, theft of blinds is a raise from one of the late positions (cut-off or button), as well as a small blind on the preflop, when no opponent has entered the bank before you. Steal is not always done with a good hand. The later your position at the table in poker, the wider the range of starting hands you can play as a plus at the the long run.

There are only three positions from which the opening raise is called the style:

1. Cut-Off is one of the best positions at the table, since on the post-flop you say the word either last or penultimate, if there is a button in the hand button.
2. Button (Dealer) is the most profitable position at the table. On post-flop, you make the decision last, knowing the actions of all opponents.
3. The small blind is a rather rare situation when all оpponents, including the button, folds on the preflop. In this case, you will have the opportunity to try to steal the opponent's big blind one-on-one. On BB, the opponent has a lot of weak hands with which he does not want to play, so you need to open any two cards from the small blind. the optimal size of the bet increase is 2.5 BB.

All-in — all chips on the line

In tournament poker, there is a move when you deposit all your chips in the pot, i.e. go to All-In (all-in). This stroke is applied in stacks less than <20bb. There are several versions of Texas Hold 'em, but the most popular one is unlimited. In this format, you can declare an All-In or a raise for all chips as your first action. In tournament poker in the middle and late stages, players with short stacks quite often go to all-in -in on preflop not only with "monsters", but also with medium hands. 

One of the goals of this bet is to force all players to throw on the preflop and just pick up the primary pot. Also, this action is more profitable in terms of earning chips on the the long run. But you do not need to bet all-in your first action in the tournament when you have more than 20 big blinds on the stack. This is not mathematically advantageous. Doing basic preflop actions correctly is the key to a positive strategy in poker.

You will master it at Poker University. After registering on the site, you will receive a high-quality and proven chart of starting hands. He will come to the post office with a special self-education file. These are your first steps towards becoming a professional poker player.

2. Actions on preflop, if there was a raise before you

If one or more players made a raise on the pre-flop before your action, then you have 4 options: 

The number of options that you will have in the case of one or more raises on the preflop does not change: pass, call or another raise. However, they will be called differently in poker terminology. The right names are important to remember. This will make it easier for you to understand the material in video poker courses, training videos and poker streams. 

Cold call or cold call

Cold Call is a passive technique that you need to be able to use correctly. In other words – open raise in front of you and you equalize it. In this action, novice players always make a lot of mistakes. It is not highly profitable and is strategically vulnerable. For example, one of the opponents after you can raise the bet, and then you will be like in a sandwich, not understanding how to play further. Another situation: after you, several more opponents will equalize the bet. You won't know for sure what to do with your average couple or even the top couple on the post-flop. Therefore, beginners are advised to clearly follow the starting hands chart, which indicates with which hands the cold call at the the long run is a plus solution. All other hands are at a loss.

3-bet — another raise

With a strong or even medium hand on the preflop, it is better to choose an aggressive line — a reraise of the opponent's bet. In other words – before you open raise and you still raise. 

On the first street of betting, this action is called 3-beta or third promotion:

• The first bet is staging a big blind
• Second bet - raise from opponent
• 3-bet - your reraise

With experience, you will learn to put 3-bet not only with good hands, blurring your range with suitable hands for bluff. However, at the beginning of a career, it is better to use this technique only with those starting hands that are offered in the basic chart. Correct sizing (size) of 3bet: 3-4x (multiple) raise of the opponent's raise. 

4-bet — fourth preflop raise 

From the description of the previous bet, you can understand that before you raise + 3-bet and you raise further. With this bet, you declare that you have an incredible strong starting combination. With experience, you will learn how to make 4-betas as a bluff. But at the beginning of your career, it is better to refuse such bet. Play 4-bets only on the strongest hands, respecting the range from the charts.

Resteal — do not let us steal blinds

Steal is a fairly frequent reception. However, a raise from a late position does not mean that your opponent has a strong combination. And you need to be able to resist this method. The best solution is resteal (raise style). 

In fact, the resteal is the same 3-bet against the style, which can be done only from one of three positions:

By your action, you show the initial aggressor that you do not believe in the power of his starting combination and declare that your hand is stronger. The main goal is to pick up the pot on preflop. But if the game has reached the flop, be sure to bet a cbet of 30% of the pot, and also be bold — and bet a second barrel of 70% of the pot very often.

3. Actions on the preflop, if there was a limp in front of you 

Often there are situations at microlimits when the preflop turn comes to you after one or more limps. The higher the game limit, the less often you will find yourself in such a situation. Experienced players almost never use the limp, because this action  is considered a weak strategy. 

We tell you about several options for action in such a distribution:

Below are more details about each option 

Overlimp

We do not recommend doing this with almost any starting hands. The exception is when you are on a small blind. In other positions, there is only a very narrow range of hands with which the overlimp will be profitable at the the long run.

Isolate

An open raise has already been made in front of you, and you raise the bet to 3-9bb. 

With its help, you want to achieve one of the following layouts:

1. Reduce the number of opponents - you do not mind if one weak player (fish) comes under your strong hand with his dubious starting combination. There is a high probability that you will be able to win the pot with an extended bet, even if you do not get into the flop.
2. Winning the pot here and now is a good result for the isolate. Especially if the bet was not made with a very strong hand.

Check

Such an option on preflop is available only in one position and subject to a strict condition — the absence of raises, styles and other actions to increase bet rates. In this case, being in the position of the big blind, you can announce a “check”. The pre-flop betting round will end after your action, the dealer will distribute the first three community cards (flop) — and a new round of trading will begin. 

4. How to learn to play preflop

The rules of poker seem simple. However, even professionals at high stakes spend a lot of time training. If you want to succeed in poker, get ready to practice a lot — and the result will not be long in coming.

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