Playing Aggresive On The Flop

Aggression is the key to playing profitably on the flop in no limit hold em. This doesn't mean recklessly betting and raising everyone; it means making bets and raises with your strong hands and folding all the rest. There's no room for calls in an aggressive player's arsenal because if a hand isn't strong enough to raise, it should just be folded. The only time you should be calling is when you are getting good pot odds on a draw or are slow playing a strong hand.

If you flop a strong hand, like top pair top kicker or better, you want to start betting and raising right off the bat. By playing these hands aggressively, you are protecting your hand from draws and getting money from inferior hands. With top pair types of hands, you want to be the one putting pressure on your opponents. If any of your opponents re-raise you and gets you on the defense, it’s a better idea to fold than to just call him down.

Most of your opponents will be passive, so it will take a strong hand to get them to make big bets like that. Going down into check-call mode is a sure way to lose money. If you have a draw and are in position, you can play the draw aggressively by betting or raising an opponent's bet. By doing this you can win the pot one of two ways: you can get your opponent to fold or you can hit your draw and take the pot down. Raising with draws is a strong move in no limit because it makes it extra difficult for opponents to read your hand. Even if your semi-bluff fails, your opponents will wonder if you have a real hand or not the next time you make a raise.

If they catch you raising with draws once or twice, they'll be more likely to pay off your real hands.

This leads to the next point, if you get a strong hand like a set or better, it is often better to play it fast than it is to slowplay and try to milk the hand. If your opponents have seen you playing that aggressive game of yours, they're going to be much more likely to pay you off if you play your strong hands the same way you play your draws. Of course you can't always play your strong hands fast, depending on your read of the situation.

If you flop a hand like four of a kind on the flop, the chances are pretty slim that any of your opponents hit anything. It takes a read of your opponents to decide on the best course of action. Sometimes you can tell your opponent is really attached to his hand and a fast play makes sense; other times it's not so easy. If you're ever in doubt on whether to slowplay or play a hand fast, lean towards playing it fast.

Playing strong hands fast accomplishes two things.  First, it builds the pot early on so you can win more money by the river. Second, it charges your opponents to draw and protects your hand. If your opponents are on a draw, you want to trap their money before it gets to the river. It only makes sense to get that money before the opponent has a chance to miss his draw. On the river, he's not going to call anything if he missed his draw.

Keep these points in mind as you get used to playing no limit cash games. The point of aggression isn't to bluff everyone out of the pot, instead it is to quickly get money in the pot with good hands and to fold your weak hands before they cost you money over the long term.  Keep this in mind when playing real money online poker.