Special Poker Moves

The Continuation Bet

In Texas Hold'em it is common to find you have missed the flop having made a bet before the flop; in such situations a continuation bet is worth considering. A continuation bet can only be made by a player who raised before the flop and did'nt improve on the flop, so long as nobody has yet made a bet after the flop. The size of continuation bet is important in order to increase the chances of making it a long term positive expectation play; by making a continuation bet of half the size of the pot you only need to win one third of the time to breakeven in the long term.

The Blocking Bet

A small bet made by a player who is out of table position in order to see the next card relatively cheaply, for example, making a small blocking bet with an open ended straight draw allows you to draw to the straight for favourable pot odds whilst also giving you the chance of seeing the next card cheaply. Your opponent may also fold to the bet, making the blocking move even stronger.

The Probe Bet

A small information bet made on the flop by a player who did'nt raise before the flop, with the intention of defining the strength of your hand aswell as your opponents. Based on the response to the probe bet, you may choose to continue or fold.

The Value Bet

A very simple concept to understand, when you are infront in a hand you get value by betting; an opponent with a lesser hand is providing the value, it's down to you to find the way which extracts most value from the situation. A common method of value betting is to size your bets between a half pot sized bet and a pot sized bet, you will make more value with pot sized bets if they are called, but in order to pursue a balanced strategy which makes it more difficult for your opponent to read you, it is advisable to make half pot sized bets too, hoping that opponents will confuse them with probe and continuation bets.

The Hammer

If an opponent is dominating the rest of the players at the table with super aggressive play, the hammer is a very useful way to counteract their style of play. A super aggressive player wants to win as many pots as possible with the minimum of resistance from the fellow players at the table, they are happy just to chip away at their opponents, continuously picking up the blinds and antes. Employing the hammer technique involves coming over the top of the super aggressive opponent for a big reraise, going all in if necessary; the expected result being that the super aggressive player folds, or, calls with a weaker hand than yours. A small percentage of the time, you will have the weaker hand, but the overwhelming majority of the time you will either have the best hand or your opponent will fold.

The Rope-a-Dope

If you can reliably expect a reckless aggressive opponent to bet into you on every round of betting, the rope-a-dope technique is a very usable tool to have in your arsenal. Feigning weakness throughout the hand by checking and calling rather than betting and raising, you encourage an aggressive opponent to try and force you out of the hand. Allow them to bet into you on every street and put in a raise on the river, putting them into an uncomfortable position where they have committed a significant portion of their stack, likely without the best hand.

Back Alley Mugging

A scary card arrives on the turn or river, although it did'nt improve your hand you decide to make a large bet, representing that the scare card improved your hand somehow, with the expectation that your opponent will fold. Back alley mugging works best when the scare card fits in with the likely ranges of hands you were playing, when you are facing a medium strength opponent who won't be too savvy to know what you're attempting and won't be too oblivious to understand what is happening. This type of play works well against tight players who have shown they are capable of laying down a hand.

Post Oak Bluff

A small bluff bet made on the river, typically no more than 20-25% of the current pot size, made with the intention of making your opponent believe you have a monster hand and are value betting it. In order to maximise the chances of this bluff succeeeding, it is advisable to only use this play against opponents who understand what a value bet is and have seen you make value bets on the river before and are capable of folding a hand when they feel they're beat.

The Squeeze Play

A large positional bet designed to make all opponents fold based on the situation at the table. An small initial raise is made by a loose and/or aggressive player, another player calls the raise, you make a substantial reraise effectively squeezing the original raiser into folding. The original raiser does'nt know what the caller will do and is pressured to fold; the caller now facing a much bigger reraise after the original raise faces a tough decision because a very strong hand is required to call a pre flop reraise. Choose the opponents to be squeezed very carefully as at the lower level online games you are more likely to be called by one or both parties if the opponents are'nt skilled enough to lay down a hand.

Isolation Play

A useful tactic for playing against opponents with greatly varying sized stacks, specifically trying to isolate shortstacks. A shortstack goes all in from early position, you have a good but not great hand such as KQ and want to put yourself in a heads up situation with the shortstack, so instead of calling, you make a large raise leaving just you facing the shortstack. You make this play on the understanding that the shortstack will be pushing all in with a wide range of hands that your KQ is most likely beating, or at very worst only a slight underdog to.

Cooperation play

A play made between multiple players at a table where they call a shortstacks' all in bet before the flop, intending not to bet on the later rounds with the goal of maximising the chance of eliminating the shortstacked player. Verbal agreements are'nt made between the colluding players, but it is understood that they are cooperating in order to achieve the same objective.