Poker 'Free Cards'

“Buying” a free card at Texas Hold’em, you must have heard    talk about this. For me, it took a long time before I realised what players meant by the expression ‘free card’. But managing to receive a free card is by no means a difficult strategy to undertake, it is used almost as a matter of routine in many variations of poker. The following article will explain the way in which the free card works:

yle="text-decoration: underline;">HOW DO YOU SEE A FREE CARD AT THE FLOP?

Say that you have arrived at the flop with a colour draw hand of 8 of hearts and Jack of hearts and the flop deals 7 of hearts and King of hearts. Your opponent has the Ace of clubs and the 9 of diamonds and he bets 60 with 100 in the pot. Naturally, with around 36% chance of completing your colour draw- which, if you manage to get it, will probably give you the winning hand- you have the odds on your side to call.

yle="text-decoration: underline;">SHOWING AGGRESSION AT THE FLOP:

But instead of calling, why not raise with your colour draw? If you were to raise, you will give yourself other opportunities to win the hand: you will make the pot larger in the case that you do manage to complete your colour draw. Otherwise, you will see a free card at the river.

What will happen is that your opponent will call the raise- unless he decides to fold at that moment, something that happens from time to time. But, in any case, it is probable that he will then check the turn, because you showed strength in the preceding round. At the turn, even if you have not completed your colour draw, you can:

-Either make a bet straightaway in order to try and steal the round.

-Or, check behind in order to see a free card and attempt to complete your colour draw hand.

By contrast, in making a check-call at the flop, you will reveal weakness, your draw hand will become obvious to your opponents and you can then find that you are forced out of the round by an opponent placing an excessively high bet at the turn, this will mean that you do not have the backing of the odds in order to see a final card.

yle="text-decoration: underline;">SELECTING YOUR OPPONENTS:

Now, there may well be some opponents, at your table, who are sophisticated enough at poker to understand what you are trying to accomplish. And they will re-raise you at the flop, or bet at the turn if no connector or unsuited cards are dealt. This aggressive attitude on the side of your opponent counteracts all the advantages you obtained from raising at the flop. So play selectively. Attempt these tactics sporadically, so that you remain unpredictable, and against less skilled players, it is an excellent move and should definitely form part of your poker arsenal.

yle="text-decoration: underline;">DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS MOVE WHEN OUT OF POSITION:

Remember that it can sometimes be favourable to raise with the intention of intimidating your opponents so that they do not undertake a raise in the following round, as they otherwise would have done. This is a good move because there is a strong possibility that your opponent will still be ahead at the turn and that you will need to go all the way in order to see the full board to chase your opponent away.

Of course, you need also to have the position over your opponent, it will not work if you are first to speak in the subsequent round- because the fact is, that the check communicated you your opponents your weakness, and the opponent will therefore make a raise in order to crush you.

yle="text-decoration: underline;">USE CONNECTING FLOPS TO DISGUISE A GOOD HAND:

There are other advantages of undertaking this move from time to time- to the detriment of your best opponents. If you have a well hidden monster card at the flop where drawing hands are possible- a served pair that transforms into 3-of-a-kind, for example- and that you re-raise at that precise moment, they will say to themselves that you are making this move in order to buy a free card. They will not believe that you have a good hand, and will call or even re-raise by telling themselves that you are underplaying your draw hand. And there you go, a move that can bring you enormous dividends.

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