Advanced Strategy.
Reasons for Betting in Texas Holdem: When it's your turn to play if no one has placed a bet you have two options, check or bet. Check is when you don't put any chips in the pot. You wait to see what other players are doing. You do this for one of the following four reasons:
1. You have a weak hand and if someone bets you will fold. For example, if you five and a six of hearts and the flop is ace of clubs, king of clubs and three of diamonds.
2. You have a marginal or drawable hand and if someone bets you will call. For example, if you have a five of clubs, seven of clubs and the flop is two of clubs, six of diamonds and eight of spades.
3. You have a great hand and if someone bets you will raise. For example, you have an ace of clubs, three of hearts and the flop is ace of spades, eight of spades and three of diamonds.
4. Or you have a weak hand and if someone bets you intend to bluff by raising.
A bet is when you put chips into the pot. You do this for one of the four following reasons:
1. You think you have the best hand and want to make the pot bigger. For example, if you have an ace and a jack and the flop is a four, a seven and a jack.
2. You think you have the best hand and want to eliminate the competition, for example, you can have an ace of hearts, a king of spades and the flop is ace of diamonds, king of diamonds and jack of hearts.
3. You bluff with a lousy hand, for example a ten and an eight and the flop is a two, a five and a seven or.
4. You want to get the respect of the players on the next turn, for example, you have and ace of spades, a five of spades and the flop is king of spades, ten of spades and five of hearts.
If someone has already bet, you have three options Fold, Call, or Raise
Fold is when you don't put any chips into the pot, through your cards in, and are no longer a part of this hand. Do this when you think you don't have a good hand. For example, an eight and a three and the flop is an ace, a queen and a five. You are not getting the right pot odds in order to call the bet, for example, you have a seven and a five, the flop is four, six and ace, you are playing heads up and the bet is very big or you think that bluffing would not work in this situation.
A call is when you put the same amount as the bet into the pot. Do this when you have a drawable hand, a straight or a flush usually and you are getting good pot odds. For example, you have a king of hearts, a ten of hearts, the flop is ace of hearts, nine of diamonds, a four of hearts and the bet is relatively small compared with the size of the pot or when you have a great hand and want the other players to call, for example, you have two aces and the flop is ace, nine and four.
A Raise is when you make the bet bigger by putting in more chips than the original bet. The amount you put in the pot should be at least double the original bet. Do this when you have a good hand and you want to eliminate the number of opponents, for example, you have an ace and a queen and the flop is a queen a seven and a three or if you are going for a bluff.
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