Roy Rounder: How To Represent The Flop

You're probably familiar with the term "represent the flop". But do you know what it REALLY means?And do you know how to PROPERLY represent the flop in order to win more chips?

Most players think that REPRESENTING THE FLOP just means betting and acting in a way as if the cards on the board HELPED your hand...Although this definition is ACCURATE, it's much too simplistic to add any benefit to your game. Representing the flop is in fact a very in-depth strategy that is CRUCIAL to pro-level Texas Holdem poker...

First, let's look at WHY you should represent the flop: The primary reason is to find out WHERE YOU'RE AT IN A HAND.

In other words, you want to learn how strong and how weak the OTHER players at the table are. And the only way to do this is through BETTING. If you only check, check, call, call... then you will NEVER become a good poker player. Never.

You've got to bet... and PRETEND that the community cards helped you. If someone has a weak hand, they will be forced to fold.

If someone has a mediocre hand, they will probably fold too... because you're "representing" that youhave something good.

And if a player has a STRONG or VERY STRONG hand, they will either call you or raise your bet.

So based on what everyone does, you can find out if you have a chance at winning the pot, if you can bet other players out, or if you should just fold. All information you WOULDN'T have known otherwise.

Frequently representing the flop is an AGGRESSIVE style of play. If you do it, you'll get a lot of action at the table... especially after the flop.

For example, if you come out firing after the flop three out of four hands, your opponents will begin calling your bets and giving you action... because they KNOW you don't have a great hand EVERY SINGLE TIME.

This comes in handy when you hit a MONSTER... like when you flop a set or a flush or something. You don't have to worry about everyone folding to you.

But even more important than getting lots of action, representing the flop will help you STEAL a lot of pots over the course of every card game.

And when YOU control the action and the betting, you'll find it much easier to steal blinds and pots after the flop.

And trust me, THESE SMALL POTS ADD UP... FAST. If you only go for the "big pots" in a poker game or tournament, you won't last long. You've got to stick your neck out there and go for the SMALLER POTS too...

OK, so representing the flop is a USEFUL and IMPORTANT TOOL in no-limit Texas Holdem poker.

Now you've got to learn how to represent the flop the RIGHT WAY...

I have FIVE BASIC RULES when it comes to representing the flop... each rule gets progressively more complicated as they go on.

But trust me, if you master these rules, you'll DEFINITELY be on your way to higher "poker profits" and winnings. OK, so here they are. These are my FIVE RULES:

RULE #1: When you represent the flop, don't act weak by only betting the MINIMUM amount... BUT, don't bet so much that it can burn you.

This is kind of like the "not too hot, not too cold" principle. You see... when you represent the flop, you've got to accept the fact that you will likely NOT get the chips back that you're betting. I mean, obviously you want to WIN, don't get me wrong.

BUT, if someone has a great hand and you're representing the flop WITHOUT a great hand, then there's a good chance you'll have to fold soon. So when you make a representation bet, do NOT bet so much that you'll feel "pot committed".

On the other hand, don't bet too LITTLE. When you bet too little, your opponents will see right through it. And it won't be enough to scare the mediocre hands away.

For example... let's say you've got 9-8 suited and the flop hits K-8-2 and you're first to act. You don't want to CHECK because you know the guy after you will bet if you do. So you REPRESENT THE FLOP by throwing out a bet...If no one has the King, everyone will probably fold to your bet. Even if someone DOES have the King, they may fold if they don't have a decent kicker.

The key is you must make sure you BET ENOUGH. If you only bet the minimum amount here... someone with A-4 might call the bet, simply because the pot odds are in their favor. And if the Ace hits on the turn, you're in trouble. So always be sure to bet BIG ENOUGH to scare out the bad and mediocre hands, but SMALL ENOUGH to not get in trouble if you lose the chips.

RULE #2: Whenever possible, represent the flop when you have OUTS. This is a strategy most players don't quite "get" until you've been playing poker for a LONG time. Here's the thing: If you represent the flop frequently every single time you play Texas Holdem, you want the odds to be as much in your favor as possible. In the scenario above, for instance, representing the flop with middle pair is a good move.

Because you have some OUTS. If another 8 hits on the turn or river, you're going to have three-of-a-kind. Obviously, hitting the eight is NOT likely (about 8.42%). But there's STILL A CHANCE, and that's what is important. Think about it: Let's say you have just a 5% chance of hitting one of your OUTS that would cause you to have the best hand at the table. Well, if you represent the flop fifty times and get a caller TWENTY times, that means you'll MAKE your hand (on average) one time out of these twenty. And when you DO make your hand, you'll BUST your opponent and win a ton of chips. Make sense?

This is kind of a MENTAL DISTINCTION that separates the pros from the wannabes. Pros think about the LONG TERM ODDS of playing. They don't base their decisions on situational circumstances alone. They base them on WHAT WORKS OVER THE LONG TERM. That's how you develop a CONSISTENT winning career.

Because as you'll see in the next rule, you don't want to CONTINUE to represent the flop if people stay in the hand with you... unless you're confident that you can get them to fold. But usually, if someone calls or raises, you want to "let up". Don't risk more chips when someone's got you beat. So by representing the flop when you have OUTS you'll open yourself up to the chance of MAKING YOUR HAND on the turn (or sometimes river).

RULE #3: If you get raised, muck it. All of these rules are general in nature... especially this one. Obviously you don't want to ALWAYS FOLD every time someone makes a raise. BUT USUALLY, if you represent the flop with a bet and someone comes back over the top of you, that opponent will MOST LIKELY have a strong hand (maybe even a monster). It's not logical to continue to bluff at the pot if you're up against a surefire winning hand.
You'll lose too many chips that way. That's the downside of being an aggressive player:You've got to give up and cut your losses quite often. Discipline yourself to do it.

RULE #4: Change gears with your betting amounts. As we discussed earlier, one of the benefits to representing the flop is that opponents will give you more ACTION during the game because they'll "catch on" to your aggressive style. That does NOT mean, however, that you should become PREDICTABLE. Being predictable is a recipe for disaster. And that's why you've got to "change gears" and "mix it up" with your betting. For example... in our scenario where you made a bet with your 9-8 suited (middle pair), let's say your bet was for 50 and then someone RAISED YOU to 200.

Your opponent probably has the King and a good kicker... maybe even two pair. So you fold your middle pair with a loss of only 50 chips. NOW... when you fold, everyone at the table will SEE that you just made a bet and then folded to a raise. This will tell them that you were betting WITHOUT a good hand after the flop. Now... let's say a few hands later the flop comes out 5-A-Q and you're second to act and you've got pocket deuces. Your first opponent checks. Now, although you know someone at the table probably has you beat right now, you're not sure if someone has the Ace... because there weren't any pre-flop raises.

So you REPRESENT THE FLOP (and the Ace) by betting. (Remember, you also have outs here... if a two comes you'll make trips.)The key is to NOT BET 50 again, as you did with your eights just a few hands ago. If you bet 50 again... or always bet 50 when you represent the flop... your opponents will know exactly what you're doing and read right through you. If Blake... who's sitting to your left... is only
holding the Queen, he's going to fold if he thinks you've got the Ace. But if he thinks you're just REPRESENTING the flop, he will call your bet. And you DO NOT want that to happen (because his Queens are better than your two's).

So instead of betting 50 again, you bet 150 this time. This way you stay out of any PATTERNS that will give away your hand... and increase the odds that everyone will put you on the Ace and fold.

RULE #5: After you get better at representing the flop, INTENTIONALLY STOP mixing up your bets in order to trap your opponents. This is a "tricky" play that works very well against intermediate poker players. Here's how it goes:

When you represent the flop and get "caught" in your semi-bluff, use the event to YOUR ADVANTAGE to bust your opponents. Let's use the example from before with the 9-8 suited: You got middle pair. You bet 50. Your opponent raised. And then you folded. Well, let's say you represented the flop AGAIN a few hands later with a bet of 50. And then you got caught AGAIN when your opponent raised you... and you were forced to fold. After watching this happen two or three times, your opponents will suddenly think they're geniuses and that they've got you "figured out".

They'll think, "Woa, when he bets 50 on the flop he doesn't have anything... and all I have to do is raise in order to scare him away."And of course, you're doing this ON PURPOSE in order to trap your opponents. Let's say a few hands later you get dealt pocket fours. The flop comes: 4-7-J You've flopped trips. Now what? Well, since you've built a reputation for betting on the flop no matter what happens, you can feel safe betting and you'll probably get action. But what KIND of action are you looking for?

You want to get as many chips into this pot as possible. So you take advantage of the "trap play"that you've created and you bet 50... again. This time, your opponents think they've got you figured out. They think to themselves, "That flop didn't help him one bit, he's just up to his old ways." So your opponent RAISES you. And that's where you GET REWARDED for the trap you set up. Now you can either re-raise, or maybe call and hope that your opponent tries buying the pot again after the turn card...

It doesn't really matter. Because as long as there aren't any draws out there, you can feel safe in knowing that you'll win the hand and a nice pot either way. It's amazing to me how easily players will fall into this trap. (Especially with online poker.) But remember... only use this trap play AFTER you
have mastered the first four rules for representing the flop. And be sure that you aim the play at intermediate players, as they'll fall for it the quickest. There's one last component I want to mention here that relates to our discussion of representing the flop... and that's what you should do when you make a PRE-flop raise.

My technique is simple:

If I raised before the flop, I will come out betting AFTER the flop... no matter what hits. The reasoning is simple... For starters, NOT betting after the flop is like waving a red flag and TELLING your opponents that the flop didn't help you. If you represent the flop after your pre-flop raise, your opponents won't know what to put you on. They'll be more likely to fold. And using this strategy over and over and over again pays off in the long run. Because after awhile your opponents will catch on...
And this benefits you in three ways:

1. You'll get more action when you catch a BIG hand.

2. Your opponents will fold more frequently to your pre-flop raises because they know you're going to bet after the flop as well. This gives you the opportunity to steal more blinds.

3. Your opponents will be easier to read. When they have a good hand they won't be afraid of you and they'll come back over the top with a raise...This lets you know that they've got you beat and that you should just minimize your losses and fold. Learning how to PROPERLY represent the flop is a crucial aspect of Texas Holdem... If you'd like to get an even MORE in-depth view of "crusher" strategies that you can use to win more chips... along with advanced trap plays, bluffing techniques, and pro-level tactics...

Your Friend,
Roy Rounder

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