In my last post I wrote about the incorrect play of calling with flush draws without the proper pot odds. At the end of that post I said that instead of folding I would probably raise. My rationale for this is as follows:
1. Naturally I am assuming that my opponent is capable of laying down a hand. If the pot is short handed and I raise I may be able to take the pot away from him right there without having to make a hand.
2. Aggression is the key. More often than not in Texas Holdem nobody has a hand. Thus I like to lead to force my opponent into calling.
3. Assume he calls my raise. Then what do I do on the turn. Well that's really going to depend on what I can get him to do. In prior hands when I bet on the turn does he fold thinking I have a big hand? Or, does he get stubborn a lot and decide to pay me off all the time.
If I've checked the turn in prior hands when I show weakness and only bet the turn when I was strong I might mix it up here and bet the turn.
If he's in the latter category I'm going to check the turn and get a free card. The card isn't really "free" in a sense because I had to raise on the flop to get it. But it's a half priced card because I didn't have to call the turn.
Ok, what happens if I get 3 bet? Well, I'm probably going to call the raise as the pot is now big (unfortunately with a lot of my money). If he bets the turn I'll probably fold depending on pot size.
Opinions?
