Poker betting strategy for Strong Hands

Strong hands hardly come, but once they come, you must play with them in the right way. You need the right poker strategy. Strong hand provide a wonderful opportunity to maximize your winnings. In this situation, it’s important to bet the correct amount. If you put too many chips in the pot, the players will fold; but if you bet too small, you are allowing others to see the free cards and surpass you.

How to play on the flop and the turn?

When you happened to get a strong starting hand, you should bet large enough on the flop to make the pot odds unfavorable for the opponents. You have a strong hand so you will not want anyone to surpass you. You big bet can make them give up the intention to chase the draws. Meanwhile, your bet should be small enough to induce someone else to raise you or bluff you.

Most drawing hands have 20% win rate in each betting round. Therefore, it’s good for you to bet 25% pot size. Ideally you should bet 2/3 to 1/1 pot size. The more you feel you may be called, the bigger your bet should be. And on the turn, you should bet even bigger. If enough bets are placed on the flop and turn, your opponents will be stuck there on the river. Maybe they will try to bluff you, if their hands are the second best.

On the river

When you are not sure whether a player is chasing the draw or actually having a strong hand, please bet. If you are sure they only have a second best hand, you can bet as much as possible, as long as you will be called on the river.

On the river round, if you feel they are just drawing, then you can check and induce them to bluff. You should play this way especially in online poker games where the players are more aggressive. The players will definitely not call a bet if they have missed a draw, so the only way to get their remaining chips is to check and induce them to bluff. Of course, if you made the wrong judgment and they have good hands, they may bet, and this is a good result for you because you have put less money in the pot.

But if they hit their draw and get a made hand, it’s your tragedy and you may be stuck in the pot. However, they will definitely pay you back when they draw dead. So in the long run, this approach is profitable for you, because they never have the correct pot odds.

As a final notice, we’d like you to know that the “strong hand” we refer to means “two pairs” or better. But if your opponents are calling stations or fish players, you can think of “one pair” as a strong hand. That’s why we suggest you play with the bad players. There are numerous table choices in an online poker room. You can “sit” on a table and watch them for a while before you start to play.