Post-flop play

insafehands

Good afternoon. What an afternoon it is, actually..

Anyway, I'm what you'd call a tag player, prob even ultra-tag. 90% of the hands I play will be pocket pairs (sub 88 and I'll only play if I can limp), AK AQ AJ A10 and the odd A5. The remaining 10% are just hands where I have position and don't expect a raise, am getting bored, and would be something like Q8, K4, A7, etc.

If I don't hit with those hands I'll either check, bet or cr trying to take it there. For example, in the Fitz, dealt K4, flop comes Kxx rainbow. Player bets €20, I re-raise to €50, fold. I wouldn't do that everytime, this one being due to the looseness of the player involved.

But overall, my post-flop play is very weak, and I'll shut-down most of the time if I don't get a solid piece of the flop. So no setting up river bluffs or anything like that. It's a very vague question, but how do I improve in this department? Bear in mind, I'm a reasonably profitable player playing this way (cash games), but don't feel I'm making any progress and would imagine my tournament play is horrendous. The obvious reason for making a profit in Fitz is the standard of the other players; meaning I'm not great, just average, but some of the other's will just get involved in every hand and pay you off well enough when you hit.

There are undoubtedly a lot of good players on boards, so I'm hoping for a good amount of advice that will help improve my game.

Cheers,
ish.

BobSloane

I suggest that you move down a level and play loose aggressive for a while. Raise in mid position with suited connectors and small pocket pairs. This is more to steal position than anything else, which will give you a better chance to win the pot with nothing obviously.
You will have to be prepared to raise with draws and often air when faced with one opponent on the flop depending on your read. On the flop try to play sets and 12+outs hands very aggressively.
You're probably well used to the common situations a TAG confronts regularly, TPTK,TPGK, overpair, missed AK, underpair with one overcard, etc.

Playing LAG presents a whole new set of situations and will help develop your hand reading abilities imo. It also opens your eyes to what LAG players may be doing to you if your game is too transparent.

Hands that you're getting frisky with like K4 are trash and should be treated as such. Like in the example you gave you hit top pair on the flop and raised a bet. This is obviously not a bluff. You want to be raising in this situation(player dependant) with 56 suited.

The swings playing LAG can be severe, as I have found out, which is why I'd suggest moving down a level to compensate for what could turn into a nightmare lol. I think everyone should play LAG for a while anyway and experience poker in technicolour

Mr.Plough

call weak flop bets from single villains and bet the turn following a villains check at lower levels.

inflating the pot pre flop in position with an aim to take it down on the turn when you miss serves me well.

padraig_f

In a very loose game, tight and straightforward play is a good way to play so I wouldn't go changing too much. If you want to open up your game a bit, I would concentrate on two things:

1. Make sure you have position when you're playing your non-premium hands.
2. Target specific players.

In the second case, look for the loose weak player who plays too many hands, and isolate him with position. Another good one to target is the tight straightforward player who you know won't play back at you without a hand, and obviously play more aggressively against him. This is a good way to make yourself look more loose/aggressive than you're playing in general.

Ste05

To give you an answer to a VERY vague request, learn the true value of position. It's basically everything.....