How do you play after the flop?

Video to the Article 

You raised with a good hand, following the starting hands chart, and got several customers. Or you were sitting in the big blind and
got a free flop. So far so good. Now the first three community cards,
the flop, are put down on the board. The first question now is: Did I
even hit anything?

Basically, you differentiate between three kinds of hands. Either you are already holding a good hand, or holding one that has the ability to develop into a good hand, or you only
have trash. Therefore the three kinds of hands are called made hands, drawing hands and trash hands.

• Made Hands

  These are hands which could already
  win now, such as a pair or three of a kind. They don't
  necessarily have to improve, sometimes they might not even be able to.

• Drawing Hands

  These are hands which have to improve
  first before they become a good hand. For example you have 2 spades.
  The flop is dealt and you didn't hit a pair or better, but there are two more spades on the board. Now you only need one more spade on either
  the turn or the river and you have a flush. This is called a flush draw.

• Trash Hands

  Worthless hands, or trash, are hands
  which will neither become made hands nor have any real hope to
  improve. On the showdown you will rarely have the best hand and at
  the most they are only good enough for a bluff.

Video: Postflop game
.
	You can also watch the content of this article in video format.  Simply click the picture in order to open the video. You should still read the article though, in order to ensure that you have really understood the strategy.  Your bankroll with be thankful.

2. What are made hands?

Most made hands you already know from the article about the basics
of Texas Hold'em: to
the article

This includes two pairs, sets, straights, flushes or even better
hands. These hands are also called monsters, as they are
usually very strong. With them you often hold the nuts (the best
possible hand) and you will earn a lot of money if you play them
correctly.

There are also pairs and worse hands. Only two kinds are actually
any good, which will be discussed in more detail now. They are
special kinds of pairs, the top pair and the overpair.

If you have a pair consisting of one of your hole cards and the
highest community card, then it is a top pair.

Of course it can happen that on the flop you have a top pair, but
the turn or river comes up with a higher card. For example you have a top pair jacks and on the turn comes a king. Naturally, your pair of jacks is no longer a top pair as any pair of kings could claim this
title now. The highest community card is now a king after all.

If you have a pocket pair and your cards are higher than any
community card, then you have a so-called overpair. No higher top pair is possible.

You only have two pairs if one of your hole cards pairs up with a
community card, as does the other one. Or to put it differently: If
one of the two pairs is on the board, you cannot count it. After all,
your opponent could have made trips or even a full house with it.

3. How do you play made hands?

With made hands, like at least a top pair with a jack kicker or
better, you don't have any problems: You put the pedal to the metal
and your goal is to get all your money in the middle of the table.

It doesn't matter if you bet pre-flop or not: You always bet and
raise at any opportunity.

You have a strong hand and you will often win, so shove your
money in! Sometimes you may lose, but in the long term you will
always be on the winning side if you put up some proper pressure.

A set of queens In this example you raised pre-flop with a pair of queens. The flop comes up with a third queen. What do you do?

A pair of nines Here you raised pre-flop with a pair of nines. The flop gives you a full house. What is the best way to proceed now?

A good top pair, but one opponent fights back You raised pre-flop and hit a strong top pair. But one opponent in front of you bets. How do you proceed?

A strong hand after a freeplay You got a freeplay in the big blind and the flop gives you a flush. What is the best playing style?

4. What are drawing hands?

There are many types of draws, but for the short stack strategy
only two of them are interesting from a mathematical and gaming
theory point of view.

If you combine your hole cards and the community cards, and are
able to put together a row of four consecutive cards, you have an OESD, which stands for open-ended straight draw. This means that right now, you have an
unfinished straight which is only missing the top or the bottom end,
thus being open-ended.

If you already have four cards of the same suit, you are able to
get a flush as long as another community card with the same suit
shows up.

5. How do you play draws?

With draws, the correct playing style is a bit more complicated
than with made hands. If you raised pre-flop, you may treat them like
made hands and step on the gas. The exception of course is when you
are on the river and you did not complete your draw. Now it is better to
muck your hand, whether you want to or not. Any further bet would
only be a desperation act which is hardly ever successful.

If you did not raise pre-flop but only got a freeplay in the big blind, your draws are considered worthless. You check and muck your
cards as soon as anybody else bets. As tempting as it may seem, in
this situation it simply isn't worth playing your cards.

6. How do you play trash hands?

Trash hands rarely have a chance to become the best hand
by the end of the round. They only have few chances to improve, and
even then they seldom make good made hands.

The best playing style with worthless hands is quite easy: You
don't invest more money. If somebody bets, you're out. You won't bet
yourself.

There are only two exceptions in which you will further invest
money into a trash hand:

• You raised pre-flop and on the flop you only have one opponent. Then, and only then, you bet 2/3 of
  the pot. Same here: If you have to invest more than half of your
  money, you immediately push all-in. If on the other hand your
  opponent raises or even only calls your bet, you're through with
  your hand. You won't invest more money and will give up when facing
  any resistance.
• If you raised pre-flop and at the start of the next betting
  round you already have less than half of the pot left, you also
  invest the remainder of your stack no matter what. Mucking your hand
  makes no sense as the pot is too big for that.

A weak top pair You got a freeplay and hit a weak top pair. Should you bet now?

A bluff You raised pre-flop, but on the flop you have a trash hand. Against one opponent you still try your luck and bluff. But what now?

A pair of kings, but the flop reveals an ace Pre-flop you put up the pressure with a pair of kings, but the flop comes up with an ace. Do you have to give up now?

7. Conclusion

Let's wrap up the playing styles for the different card
combinations in a compact form again:

Made
Hand:

• You bet 2/3 of the pot.

• If somebody else already bet or raises after you, you push all-in.

Draw:

• You raised pre-flop:

  • You bet 2/3 of the pot.

  • If somebody else already bet or
    raises after you, you push all-in.

• You did not raise pre-flop:

  • You check and muck your hand in case anybody bets.

Trash
Hand:

• You don't invest more money.

• Exception 1 – You raised
  pre-flop and only have one opponent:

  • You bet 2/3 of the pot. If your
    opponent raises, calls or already bet before you, your hand is
    done.

• Exception 2 – You raised
  pre-flop and only have less than half of the pot left:

  • You push all-in in any case.

Generally:
If you have to bet more than half of your stack, you push all-in
instead and bet all of it.

Congratulations!
Now you have learned the complete short stack strategy. You know
which cards to play pre-flop, which hands to keep after the flop and
how to play them. There's only one last missing piece: The big plan.
How does your poker career proceed? How can you increase your poker
balance in relative safety and climb up the limits step by step?
Maybe you don't only want to play for fun, but instead be part of the top players of PokerStrategy and play for the really big money.

How this works, how you go your way through the limits and
minimize the risk of downswings will be elaborated in the last
article of this set: How
to go your own way – Bankroll Management.

9. Appendix: Solutions

Question 1: A top pair is always a pair consisting of one of your hole cards and ...	c)		The highest community card.
Question 2: You have a pair of queens (QQ) as your hole cards. When is this pair an overpair?	a)		If the community cards don't include a queen, a king or an ace.
Question 3: Which hand is stronger?	b)		Overpair
Question 4: You have a top pair kings, and the board shows two queens. Are you allowed to include this pair of queens and assume that you have two pairs?	a)		No
Question 5: With a made hand your goal is ...	a)		To push all-in.
Question 6: You have three of a kind, and the pot is $0.90. Everybody checked to you and it's your turn. What do you do?	c)		Bet $0.60
Question 7: You have three of a kind. One player bets $0.40 and it is your turn. The pot is $0.80. What do you do?	c)		Push all-in
Question 8: If you have two spades in your hand and the flop adds two more spades, what do you have then?	a)		A flush draw
Question 9: If you have a king and a queen (KQ) in your hand and the flop includes a jack and a ten, what do you have then?	b)		An OESD
Question 10: What is an OESD?	a)		Four consecutive cards.
Question 11: You raised pre-flop and the flop gives you a flush draw. How do you play?	b)		You play it like a made hand.
Question 12: You raised pre-flop and the flop gives you an OESD. The pot is $0.90, everybody checked to you and it is your turn. What do you do?	c)		Bet $0.60
Question 13: You raised pre-flop and the flop gives you an OESD. One player bets $0.40 and it is your turn. The pot is $0.80. What do you do?	c)		Push all-in
Question 14: You raised pre-flop and on the flop you have a trash hand. The pot is $1.00, you are first to act and have $1.30 left. Should you bet?	c)		Only when you don't have more than one opponent.
Question 15: You raised pre-flop and on the flop you have a trash hand. The pot is $1.40, you are first to act and have $0.60 left. Should you bet?	a)		Absolutely. You simply push all-in.
Question 16: You raised pre-flop with two queens. The flop comes up with an eight, a seven and an ace. Is your hand now a trash hand because of the ace?	a)		Yes