Strong or Weak, Bet the Flop!
The flop bet is a useful tactic for both old-school and new-school players because it can be effective if you are strong, weak, or somewhere in between. Betting out weak on a bluff can allow you to pick up an uncontested pot while betting out strong gives you the opportunity to control the size of the pot.
Top-notch, new-school pro player Tom "Durrr" Dwan bets a ton of flops and it doesn't matter if he's strong or weak. In fact, it's not unusual for Durrr to win pots with a flop bet when he has absolutely nothing at all.
How does Durrr induce his opponents to fold? Well, his flop bets put his opponents in tough spots.
Say, for example, a player raises pre-flop with pocket tens. The next two players call and Durrr also calls from the big blind with J-8.
The flop comes Q-9-2. Durrr bets out which puts the player with tens in the middle. He cannot easily call Durrr's bet because he has to worry about the other two players that called his own pre-flop raise. He also has to worry about an almost certain bet from Durrr on the turn as a call by any player on the flop shows weakness.
The player with pocket tens really has to ask himself how much money he is willing to commit with a queen onboard. That's why Durrr's well-timed bet will cause the player with 10-10 to fold more often than not.
Part of the effectiveness of Durrr's flop bet is that it enables him to gauge his opponents' strength. If he senses weakness, he'll pounce with another big bluff. And when he actually does have a strong hand, like A-Q in our example, his flop bet gives him the chance to bet both the turn and the river, enabling him to determine exactly how much money he wins.
Betting the flop is a particularly valuable lesson for me. I've played way too passively on the flop for too long now and it shows. I've just been winning too little with my strong hands. By taking the lead on the flop, I can give myself opportunities to win more money when I am strong and pick up some uncontested pots when I'm not.
Old-school pro player Mike "The Mouth" Matusow likes to bet out on the flop when he has a strong hand like top pair or a set. Why? He thinks it looks weak when he bets the flop so his bet might induce an aggressive opponent to raise. Also, he knows that a flop bet will enable him to control the size of the pot when someone does call his bet.
I sometimes disagree with Mike's use of this tactic because he doesn't follow it up with flop bet bluffs often enough. As a result, when he fires out with a strong hand, he'll too often win the minimum because his opponents will simply fold. On the other hand, he'll check-fold too often on the flop when he's weak.
I typically don't bet out on the flop because I've been in the business of trapping my ultra-aggressive opponents so much that I've simply forgotten the benefits of a simple flop bet!
Setting a trap for my opponents can result in them making a continuation bet that I wouldn't have received had I bet out myself. But now that I'm famous for trapping, my opponents will routinely check behind me when they flop top pair so I'll win the minimum when I have K-Q against their Q-J on a Q-9-2 flop.
-Phil Hellmuth
Top-notch, new-school pro player Tom "Durrr" Dwan bets a ton of flops and it doesn't matter if he's strong or weak. In fact, it's not unusual for Durrr to win pots with a flop bet when he has absolutely nothing at all.
How does Durrr induce his opponents to fold? Well, his flop bets put his opponents in tough spots.
Say, for example, a player raises pre-flop with pocket tens. The next two players call and Durrr also calls from the big blind with J-8.
The flop comes Q-9-2. Durrr bets out which puts the player with tens in the middle. He cannot easily call Durrr's bet because he has to worry about the other two players that called his own pre-flop raise. He also has to worry about an almost certain bet from Durrr on the turn as a call by any player on the flop shows weakness.
The player with pocket tens really has to ask himself how much money he is willing to commit with a queen onboard. That's why Durrr's well-timed bet will cause the player with 10-10 to fold more often than not.
Part of the effectiveness of Durrr's flop bet is that it enables him to gauge his opponents' strength. If he senses weakness, he'll pounce with another big bluff. And when he actually does have a strong hand, like A-Q in our example, his flop bet gives him the chance to bet both the turn and the river, enabling him to determine exactly how much money he wins.
Betting the flop is a particularly valuable lesson for me. I've played way too passively on the flop for too long now and it shows. I've just been winning too little with my strong hands. By taking the lead on the flop, I can give myself opportunities to win more money when I am strong and pick up some uncontested pots when I'm not.
Old-school pro player Mike "The Mouth" Matusow likes to bet out on the flop when he has a strong hand like top pair or a set. Why? He thinks it looks weak when he bets the flop so his bet might induce an aggressive opponent to raise. Also, he knows that a flop bet will enable him to control the size of the pot when someone does call his bet.
I sometimes disagree with Mike's use of this tactic because he doesn't follow it up with flop bet bluffs often enough. As a result, when he fires out with a strong hand, he'll too often win the minimum because his opponents will simply fold. On the other hand, he'll check-fold too often on the flop when he's weak.
I typically don't bet out on the flop because I've been in the business of trapping my ultra-aggressive opponents so much that I've simply forgotten the benefits of a simple flop bet!
Setting a trap for my opponents can result in them making a continuation bet that I wouldn't have received had I bet out myself. But now that I'm famous for trapping, my opponents will routinely check behind me when they flop top pair so I'll win the minimum when I have K-Q against their Q-J on a Q-9-2 flop.
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