Postflop Basic Position Strategy

See also

• Online Hold'em Strategy
• Martingale Strategy

There are two major postflop basic strategy position plays that cover the majority of the postflop situations in which you have position on your opponents. Here are the two secret strategies for making money after the flop:

1. He checks, you bet
2. He bets, you fold

That's it. If you've played in a few tournaments already, then you know this is no big secret. You see it all the time. But do you do it? You have to do it! In fact, about the only time you shouldn't bet when your opponent checks is when you've flopped such a monster hand that you want to give your opponent every possible chance to make something so that he'll be willing to put some money in the pot.
Let's dissect the logic of these two postflop strategies.

He Checks, You Bet.
He-checks-you-bet is just a standard basic online poker strategy play when you have position. Standard. Requires no thought. Just do it. As your skill level increases and you begin to get meaningful reads on your opponents, you will occasionally make an exception to this play but don't make a habit of violating this strategy.

If your opponent didn't bet, it is far more likely that he disliked the flop than that he is slowplaying you. About 90% of the time, the routine is: He checks. You bet. He folds. Forget about the 10% of the time when he is either slowplaying you, or likes his hand just enough to call, or has a strong draw and wants to see the next card even if he's not getting sufficient pot odds, or just thinks you're taking a position shot and is determined to be the sheriff. Unless you have some kind of an actual read on your opponent, ignore these possibilities. Follow the basic strategy.

If your opponent calls your bet, you continue with the he-checks-you-bet strategy on the turn, though in fast tournaments there's a good chance your bet on the turn may have to be all-in. It doesn't matter what your cards are. The simple math of this situation is that your opponent is unlikely to have a hand he can call an all-in bet with. If this play knocks you out of a tournament, so be it. You're going to get knocked out of most tournaments before you reach the money, and if you get knocked out on aggressive plays, that's a hell of a lot better in terms of your long-term prospects than getting knocked out by being slowly ground down by the rising costs of the blinds and antes. You want to go down fighting, not whimpering.

He Bets, You Fold.
The postflop he-bets-you-fold move is also basic position strategy, but it will be one of the basic strategy plays that you will be correct to violate most frequently. Basic strategy decisions are never based on any specific player who is betting at you. Assuming you have no read on your opponent and no legitimate hand yourself, the correct play is to just get out of his way when he bets. Now let's look at the times when it's correct to violate this basic strategy.
The main reason you will often depart from this strategy and play back at your opponent is because experienced hold'em players all know that they should not "give up the lead" in their betting.

Any skilled opponent knows that to check here just because die flop didn't hit him would simply be giving you an opportunity to take a position shot at the pot, which he couldn't call. So, if you believe that the player who is betting has a pretty good grasp of traditional hold'em theory, there's a good chance that this postflop bet of his is meaningless. If you raise him here, he'll often fold.

One guideline to use on whether to play back at this player is the size of his bet. If his bet is a standard postflop bet, somewhere around half the size of the current pot, you should call. This is most likely a meaningless "don't give up the lead" bet in which he is simply not giving up his aggression. The reason you just call is to try and get him to make another of these don't-give-up-the-lead bets on the turn, so that you can get even more chips out of him.

If his postflop bet is much smaller than half the size of the pot, then make a substantial reraise to take the pot right here. Don't just call if he makes one of these half-hearted stabs at the pot. That weak bet usually means that he won't bet again on the turn unless the turn card gives him a strong hand, and you just don't want to give him a free chance to beat you. Take that pot now. You won't get any more chips out of him. Some players hope that a small bet like this will make you believe they've got a strong hand and are just trying to get more chips out of you. But in the fast tournaments, that's almost never the reality. Push all-in on that sucker and take the pot.

If his postflop bet is much greater than half the size of the current pot, however, get out of his way. He probably has a pretty good hand and he's unlikely to give it up.