How To Play Flop, Turn & River
How To Evaluate Your Hand
If you have already gone all-in, it means you can’t do anything but wait for the showdown. If you still have chips left from your 20 BB buy-in, then you need to evaluate your hand.
Once the flop is dealt you can have three types of hands which you should already be familiar with:
►Made hands
►Drawing hands
►Trash hands
A made hand can be anything from top pair to royal flush. Bear in mind that a made hand must have at least one pocket card contributing to its ranking. Community cards of matching rank are not worth anything to you if none of your pocket cards can be combined with them to form a higher hand.
| Made hands: Top Pair, Over Pair, Two Pairs, Trips, Straight, Flush, Full House, Quads, Straight Flush, Royal Flush. |
As we have already established, the short stack strategy is a very tight and aggressive strategy and this does not leave much space for drawing hands. The minimum worthwhile draw is a straight draw with 8 outs; assuming you brought one of the qualified starting hands with you. Below is the full list of the worthwhile draws:
| Worthwhile drawing hands: Double ISD, OESD, FD, ISFD and OESFD |
If your hand is not made and nor a worthwhile draw, then you have a Trash Hand.
How To Play Your Hand
To fully understand the prescribed actions outlined below you need to understand the concept of the continuation bet.
| Continuation bet: You make a continuation bet when you continue your aggressive pre-flop action on the flop. Aggressive pre-flop action means that you raised pre-flop. A continuation bet (or raise) must be relatively big to qualify as a continuation bet. It must be aggressive. As a rule, you should bet 2/3 of the current pot size or alternatively raise to three times the bet before you. This gives your opponents bad odds for calling. |
The continuation bet is a powerful action because it renders your opponents passive and thereby prone to folding; thus making it possible for you to win the hand prematurely (without having to see the showdown). This is particularly valuable if your hand is questionable.
Click here for printable version of the complete No Limit Cash Game handout (including the chart below).
Made hand: All-in.
Worthwhile drawing hand (minimum straight draw with 8 outs): All-in.
Trash hand: You should generally fold but there are two scenarios where you should bet:
Scenario 1 - The pot is at least twice as big as your remaining stack at the absolute beginning of the betting round:
All-in. With this kind of ratio between the pot and your stack there is nothing to think about. All-in is the correct way to go.
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Scenario 2 - Only one opponent remaining in the hand:
►You should bet or raise once but if your opponent raises you must fold. You should bet or raise to 2/3 of the current pot size. If this means spending more than 50% of your remaining stack you go all-in. If your opponent calls it means the flop ends and you get to see the turn.
►If you hit a made hand or a worthwhile draw on the turn you go all-in. If you do not hit anything you check if possible, otherwise you fold. If your opponent also checks, then you get to see the river.
►If you hit a made hand on the river you go all-in. Otherwise you fold.
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Post-flop Play Example 1
You have chips left from your 20 BB buy-in. Your pocket cards are Qd-Qh and the community cards are Th-6h-Jc. You have an over pair - a made hand.
Your correct action: All-in.
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Post-flop Play Example 2
You have chips left from your 20 BB buy-in. Your pocket cards are Ah-Qs. The community cards are Jd-Ts-5c. You have an OESD.
Your correct action: All-in.
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Post-flop Play Example 3
You have chips left from your 20 BB buy-in. Your pocket cards are KdKs. The community cards are Ah-Js-3d. You have a trash hand. The pot is $2. You have $1.5 left in your stack. You have two opponents remaining in the hand. None of the two exceptional scenarios for trash hands apply.
Your correct action: Fold.
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Post-flop Play Example 4
You have chips left from your 20 BB buy-in. Your pocket cards are 9s9h. The community cards are Kh-Ts-7s. You have a trash hand. You have one opponent left in the hand. The pot is $0.55. You have $1.6 left in your stack. The first of the two exceptional scenarios for trash hands apply. Your opponent checks.
Your correct action: Bet $0.37 (0.66 x $0.55).
Your opponent calls you. The betting round ends. The turn comes as 8s. You have an OESFD! This is the most worthwhile draw.
Your correct action: All-in.
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You should now be ready to play the No Limit Hold’em Cash Game using the Short Stack Strategy. We wish you the best of luck!
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