Flop
Once the flop has come, in a limit poker game, you can decide if you should stay in the hand and risk more money, or if you should get out. If you have a medium pair or higher from the flop you should bet or call, and after you do this you will get a feeling on what cards your opponents have. If a person calls/bets then you have to conclude that he/she has a hand, since players don’t bluff as much in limit. If this was your situation then you have made a good play by betting, even if u get called by opponent who has you beat. It is better then you checking and giving him free card and you not having a clue on what he has. The next decision you have to make after this is based upon fourth street, which I will talk about next.

If you have flopped top pair then you have a couple of options. You can choose to slow play and check, or to bet or raise if someone has already bet. Slow playing has been described in other articles on this site, so if you have questions then refer back to that article. If you choose to bet or raise, and are called then you have to worry about one main thing that could happen; your opponent out drawing you. To avoid this from happening, make sure you make it as expensive for him/her as possible on the flop and 4th street so they can’t receive any free cards. There are always situations where your opponent will hit trips, or some other monster hand on the flop and you will be beaten. If this occur just remember that you played the hand right, and try to avoid going on tilt.

The last situation that you can be in when the 3 cards are flopped, besides folding, is having a good draw. If you are four to a flush with a high kicker, or four to a high straight, you should call a bet, or check to see fourth street. I would suggest you not call a raise since you know you are beat if your cards don’t come, unless your opponent is bluffing. Try to get as many free cards as you can so that you have cheap chances to get your draw. This situation brings up an interesting tactic that you can try to execute: the semi-bluff. If you feel like your opponent has a low to medium pair and your draw has a 35% or higher chance of coming, you could bet and try to take the pot. This is considered a semi-bluff because you don’t have a hand yet, but you have a good chance of making one. Coming soon will be an article focusing specifically on semi-bluffing.