One mistake I often see in beginner NLH players is wrong raising amounts before and after the flop.

The “logic” behind the low raise / reraise move goes like this:

I have a very good hand / I flopped a very good hand, I know that by  raising/Reraising I am actually implying my hand strength, so I make it a low reraise to both keep my opponent in with a worse hand  then mine and maybe imply my hand is not that strong…

The problem with this argument is that good players recognize this and will tent to call only with drawing hands as flush or straight or a low pair preflop, this way when it does hit they know you have a big hand and you will have trouble laying it down thus paying them off!

My way of playing in these situations is to assume that when I raise, only drawing hands which can easily crack me will call thus I make sure the raise is significant in relation to the pot.

One additional advantage I get beside protection to my hand is players tend to put me on a drawing hand when I raise big, they apply the reverse logic of what I explained before and figure I do not want them in the pot, that’s why I am betting big..

I will try to give you an example of how my raising goes.

I have KJ and the flop is 3 K J with two hearts,  the pot is $80 and a players bets $65.
I have $600 in front, I raise to $265 total, this way I feel more comfortable paying him off should a flush hit on the turn, and I plan to go all in on the turn either way.

If you can not resist trapping your opponent and keeping him in the pot I suggest call his bet on a heavy draw flop like I mentioned and if the turn is a blank you can then go for a smaller raise / bet giving him less odds to crack your hand.

In this way you should be careful if an Ace nine or a heart hit the turn since Q 10 and a flush draw are a very possible hand for your opponent to have on the 3 K J flop…

I hope you find these tips useful.

Good luck on the tables,

Dan
Poker Room School Team