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Multi-Street Planning

Lesson 28 · Plan flop through river before you bet · 24 practice questions

Plan from the flop

A flop bet is the first step of a line, not a decision on its own. Before you put chips in, answer three questions: what do I do on a good turn, what do I do on a bad turn, and what do I do if I get raised? The answers sort hands into plans. Strong hands plan to bet three streets. Medium hands plan one bet, or none, and a cheap showdown. Draws and floats plan to apply pressure on specific cards and to give up on the rest. A bet with no answers is how players end up on the river with a big pot and a hand that cannot stand a bet. The plan is not fixed — new cards update it — but it must exist before the first chip goes in.

Example. Flop 9♥6♥2♣, pot 8, checked to you with A♥K♥: bet. The plan is clear — any heart, ace or king improves you, and on blank turns a nut flush draw with two overcards still barrels well. Flop Q♠8♦3♥ with Q♣9♣ checked to you: the plan is to keep the pot small and reach showdown, and a bet does not fit that plan against a raise or two more streets — check. Flop Q♠8♦3♣ with A♥J♥ facing 6 into 9 (need 29%): calling is a float with a plan — an overcard, a backdoor straight draw, and position to take the pot when he checks the turn.

Common mistake: c-betting because 'I raised preflop' and then discovering on the turn that you have no idea what to do. If no turn card makes you happy, the flop bet was the error.

Three-street value

Pots grow geometrically. Bet two-thirds of the pot on the flop, turn and river, and a pot of 8 becomes about 19, then about 44, then about 100 — more than twelve times the start. Skip one street and the final pot is about 44. That is why strong hands — sets, two pair, overpairs on safe boards, top pair top kicker on dry boards — start betting on the flop: a missed street cannot be made up later without an overbet that few hands call. Choose sizes so that the river bet is still a normal bet that leaves villain room to call with one pair. And keep betting when the turn changes nothing: checking a strong hand 'for deception' gives a free card and loses the one thing your hand wanted, a bigger pot.

Example. Flop 8♠5♦2♣, pot 8, checked to you with A♥A♦: bet now. Worse pairs call today and may not call after an ace, a king or a four-straight arrives. Flop K♠9♣4♦ with 9♥9♦, and K♣Q♥5♠ with K♥Q♦: bet — these are three-street hands, and the king on board means villain has plenty of second-best hands to pay with. Turn K♥7♦2♣7♠ with K♣Q♥ after your flop c-bet was called (pot 12): the pairing seven changes little, so keep barreling for value. River K♥9♦4♣2♠7♥ with K♣K♠ after two barrels (pot 24): bet again — the plan was three streets.

Common mistake: slow-playing the flop with a strong hand and then trying to win a big pot in two streets. The pot you can win on the river was decided by what you did on the flop.

Give up lines

Every plan that contains bluffs needs an exit. A c-bet with air or a float was a bet on certain things happening: villain folding, a good card arriving, a sign of weakness. When none of them happens — he calls, the turn helps his range more than yours, your draw bricks — the plan says stop. Continuing 'because I started' turns a cheap, profitable play into an expensive one. Barrel on cards that improve your hand or your story and that he cannot like; give up on cards that change nothing for a caller who already showed he has something. Draws follow the same rule in reverse: count only clean outs, and fold when the outs you were counting are no longer good.

Example. Turn K♠Q♦8♣2♥ with 7♥6♥ after your flop bluff was called (pot 12): no pair, no draw, and a caller who likes this board — check and give up. River 9♥5♦3♣2♠K♥ with Q♥J♣ after two barrels (pot 18): he called twice, so he has a pair, and the king does not make him fold it — check. River Q♠8♦3♣4♦2♠ with T♥9♥ after floating twice: facing 10 into 16 you need 28% with ten-high — fold. Dirty outs: turn J♥T♦8♣K♠ with Q♣7♥ facing 10 into 14 (need 29%) — a nine puts four to a straight on board and an ace gives any queen the same straight, so the outs are worth far less than they look: fold. But on 7♠6♠3♦K♥ with 9♠8♠ (pot 12): fifteen outs — keep barreling.

Common mistake: firing the third barrel because giving up 'wastes' the first two. Those chips are gone either way; the only question is whether this bet makes money.

Key takeaways

• Set, two pair, overpair or top pair top kicker on a dry board → bet the flop and plan three streets; two-thirds pot each street grows the pot about twelve times.
• Weak top pair or middle pair → check or bet once, then control the pot to showdown.
• Strong draw or a float with overcards → bet or call now, and barrel the cards that help you.
• Your bluff was called and the turn changes nothing → check and give up.
• The draw bricked and villain bets the river (need about 28%) → fold; do not bluff-raise to 'finish the story'.

Sample drill from this lesson

FAQ

Key terms in this lesson

Outs · Range (Poker Hand Range) · Board Texture (Wet vs Dry) · Continuation Bet (C-bet) · Position (IP vs OOP) · Barrel (Second and Third Barrel) · Float · Overbet

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