What to do when you flop a made hand

Flopping a made hand can be one of the most lucrative plays in No-Limit Texas Hold Em poker. Depending on your table position should depend on what your next action should be.

Suppose you hold JQo (Jack, Queen, Offsuit) in the small blind position and you see the flop four handed leaving 3 more actions behind you on the flop. Lets say the flop comes 9, 10, King (rainbow). Very few people are going to be strong on this flop. Most of the people at the table will be on a straight draw or a high card like someone in late position calling with an AK.

Since you are first to act with a made hand, your table observation should of informed you before the hand on who plays aggressive and who is playing passive. If you have any aggressive players behind you then you would probably want to check-raise here. A check raise is when you check in early position with the hopes of someone behind you betting into the pot so that you may re-raise over them.

A straight is a fairly strong hand in poker, especially on our fictitious board here where we flopped a rainbow (3 suits, no draw for flush) Realistically if one of your opponents holds an AK here (typical of a tight aggressive player) then he is going to bet the pot in late position giving you the option of check raising him.

Lets say the next card on the turn is a 5 followed by a 2 on the river. Now you really have the board dominated, there is no way for any of your opponents to make a straight unless they have the exact same hand as you, which would result in a split pot. You are probably going to want to lead out with a bet here on the turn and another bet on the river. If you trapped any of the 4 people from the original flop then you have some room here to make a substantial amount of money. On a made hand, with no flushes or other straights available on the board and no full house you just want to pull as much money from your opponents as possible. Another words, don't get greedy, try to make bets that you think people will call. The more money you get stuffed in the pot, the bigger it will be for you on showdown.

Good Luck Players!