Playing Big Hands After The Flop

Here is the scenario. You are in the big blind with a suited 5/6 in a no-limit game. One other player has doubled the big blind and two other players have called his bet. You decide the discount and the number of players warrant a call in this situation and you limp in.

You catch a fantastic flop; 3/4/7, all of different suits (a rainbow flop), giving you the nut straight. Without a miracle, nobody at the table is going to beat you. How do you play the hand?

I was watching the World Poker Tour the other day and Mike and Vince both chastised a player (Carlos Mortensen) for his aggressive play in a similar scenario. Carlos bet out and scared the other players at the table out of the hand winning nothing but the money in the pot with a fantastic hand. Carlos is a tight player. He knows the other players are aggressive and would have tried to push him out of the hand. It was a very big mistake in my opinion. Then again, I have never sat at the final table in a WPT event either.

I don’t always agree with the WPT commentators, but in this case they were right on. You have to slow play these hands. Let the other players do some betting for you after the flop. Even if you are on the button it is often profitable to check and give the other players a free card in this scenario. Maybe one of them was slow playing a pair of Jacks. Maybe one of them has an Ace and the Turn pairs them up. Maybe they feel your weakness and bluff on the Turn. Regardless of the scenario, you are hoping they will bet. If there are no cards to scare you on the table there is no reason to try to push the other players out.

If they do bet and you are in behind them, you just call the bet and let them bet into you again on the River (which you then raise). If they do bet and you are in front of them, you may as well re-raise here and raise again after the River if they call you.

The object here is to get as much money in the pot as you can. Players know aggression typically pays off in Hold’em and you can almost always get a bet in the pot, even at the tightest tables. Of course, it is important to observe and get to know the other players at the table. If the only other guy in the hand with you is a calling station (never bets, only calls) you have to give him something to call.

Occasionally you will get unlucky doing this. Maybe a 5 comes up on the Turn and another player is holding a 6 forcing you to split the pot. In this case you really have only lost half of what was in the pot before the Flop in exchange for a chance at a really large pot to yourself (worth it).

To summarize everything here, it always makes more sense to slow play a monster hand after the flop (well, unless you are Mike McDermott in Rounders). You are going to get more money in the pot than you would typically by betting yourself. If you are lucky, someone goes all-in. This happens a lot in tournament play where players push others around with their stacks quite often. In the worst case scenario you chase everyone out with a bet on the River, but at least you have given them a chance to play into your hands.

Poker Columnist
Gary Steele
www.poker-programm.com

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