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An infinite number of unique situations await you at the post-flop gaming tables. If you give all these situations a structure, then they can all be divided into 4 main sections. Each of these sections can also be structured and divided into subsections that will have a certain goal and the right strategies to achieve them. But this is already a bottomless pit of post-flop in poker and you can't write about it briefly in the article. If you want to study in depth the profitable strategy of drawing in the whole set of post-flop situations and, most importantly, see this tree of options in volume, to form a holistic strategy from disparate thoughts and models of strategic behavior - then I advise you to refer to the video course "Easy postflop"
1. Basic separation of situations on post-flop
Velju on postflop value
In this type of post-flop game, we believe that our hand has more than 50% equity against the spectrum of the opponent he is going to continue to play against us.
The goal is to earn chips at the expense of the equity advantage.
We can do this in several ways:
- Direct
collecting of value We act aggressively, make bet and raises aimed at maximizing the pot; - Slow
play Here we act passively, provoke the opponent to show aggression or open up free cards that can strengthen the opponent and force him to put more chips in the pot; - Fine
collecting of value When we make a bet of up to 35% of the pot on the turn or river. In this situation, we believe that in the spectrum of the opponent's continuation there are quite a few hands with which he is able to equalize a small bet, but often drop to a larger bet.
It is important to learn to understand in which situations which of these strategies will be optimal for earning chips. Also, each of these strategies includes a certain set of paylines suitable for certain situations. Inexperienced players make a lot of mistakes in the value of their hands, which leads to a strong drop in the winrate. Play of vellyu is the main source of earning chips.
Bluff on post-flop
This category includes situations where we are not in the board and have less than 25% equity against the range of an opponent continuing to play after our bet or placing a bet against us.
The goal is to earn chips without having a good combination, due to aggressive actions in those situations where it is profitable at the the long run.
The mathematics of decision making here is completely different from the situations when we are ahead in equity. Most players of low and even middle limits play this type of post-flop game intuitively, without in-depth knowledge in this area. For some reason, the majority of players consider this type unimportant. Attitude like: I wanted to bluff, I didn't want not to bluff. As if it were their own choice, and no one refusing to bluff would consider it a big mistake. In fact, this notion is fundamentally wrong. Earnings of chips in a post-flop bluff are considered to be in the same % of the pot as when collecting the vellya value.
If the player, having 65% equity, does not make a value bet - everyone will say that this is a big mistake and he lost, say, 2,000 chips in the the long run. And if the player does not make a bluff bet, which at a distance brings 3000 chips, many will not even pay attention to it. Because of this perception, the vast majority of players, if evaluated in the point system, have the worst score in the strategy of playing on the post-flop in this particular type of it. Bluff is the area that gives the greatest potential to gain an advantage over other players.
Pot control on postflop
We have a ready-made hand that has a chance to win in the pot. But this chance is around 30-50%. For this reason, we do not want to overclock the size of the pot.
The goal is to get to the opening, keeping the pot small
It is also beneficial for us to achieve this goal in various ways. Sometimes it is advantageous to make small defensive bet and not let the opponent seize the initiative. Sometimes it is advantageous to play as passively as possible and try to reach the opening as cheaply as possible, or provoke an opponent to bluff bet. The main mistakes of players in this type of post-flop game are turning their controlling hand into a bluff as a bluff and failing to leave the bank in time pot.
Wood-fired post-flop draw
Another type of post-flop game is when we have a draw hand that has a certain chance to collect its combination. This situation stands out because when drawing, we must take into account both the mathematics of post-flop equity (value) and the mathematics of post-flop bluff (fold equity of our actions). Both of these mathematical types are intertwined in this type of post-flop game.
The goal is to find the best strategy for drawing a draw hand in each specific situation.
Drawing options can be aggressive and passive. And for each specific situation, this or that will be more profitable, and sometimes it is important to be able to part with your hand and not take negative actions.
- Aggressive play - allows you to maximize the expected winnings in the hand due to fold equity. This is called a semi-bluff in poker.
- Passive play - allows you to increase the equity realization coefficient (in simple languages increases the chance that we will look at the following cards and find out whether our ready-made combination will grow together or not) and also allows you not to make expensive mathematical mistakes.
It is necessary to understand well in which situations it is more profitable to play draw combinations aggressively, and in which situations it is passive. The game on the post-flop is much more voluminous than on the pre-flop. It contains so many different unique situations that it is incredibly difficult to structure your game strategies in this area and assemble them into some kind of logical clear structure. It is recommended to devote your energy and time to form a structure in this endless chaos of situations, otherwise, over time, the number of contradictions and the lack of logical relationships between different parts of the game strategy may become unmanageable, and you will miss the opportunity for further growth in the understanding of poker and simply come to a dead end. To build a high and strong house, you need to have a high-quality and reliable foundation.
