Pre Flop vs. Post Flop Play
In no limit Texas holdem, one of things that set the professional poker players apart from the rest of the poker-playing world is their playing ability after the flop. Many players tend to play very aggressively before the flop and are willing to gamble on close plays and coin flips because they don't make the correct decisions post flop. By getting most of their money in the pot pre flop, they don't have to make decisions, which lead to mistakes, after the flop.
Overall, I would say that this is a poor strategy, but it does have some practical uses, especially in the later stages of a tournament. For example, if you are fortunate enough to be heads up against a player who is much better than you after the flop, you can negate this disadvantage by moving all in before the flop or folding. This does have dangers, because your opponent can always hit a big hand like pocket Aces, Kings or Queens, but unless the blinds are vary small, your opponent will eventually be forced to play a hand against you that they don't want to. In addition, even if a hand like AQ calls you when you have 86, you still have a good chance to win. The point is that when you are forced to play regular poker against a far better player, they will slowly chip away at your stack until you are forced to make a desperation move.
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Pre flop play tends to be easier than post flop because it is easier to assign accurate value to hands, especially when you are able to adjust their values for your position. This is a skill that can be learned and many players are able to squeeze out a small overall profit by just mastering pre flop play. Post flop play on the other hand, is much more difficult because it involves pot odds, the ability to recognize betting patterns and playing tendencies of your opponents and being able to reconstruct the way a hand has played out and decipher what hands your opponent or opponents may hold. This requires a great deal of practice, work and study time.
Most people don't view poker as hard work. This is a very good thing for you and me, as we will continue to work on our game so we can win more from recreational players. Take some time this week to work on your post flop play. You will be glad that you did. Until next week, good luck at the tables!
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