In poker, the flop is an important point in the game. Especially in Texas Holdem, this is a point from where there is no returning back. When you wait around to see the flop, you would have already committed a good part of your stack to the game. You can risk losing the bet at this point of time or at the very least, you risk losing a potential pot win at this point in the game.
The strategy that you use pre-flop in the game is very crucial. You should know how to play your cards wisely before the flop in the game to increase your chances of winning or at least minimizing your losses. Given below are a few basic poker tips which can be used as a guideline for a pre-flop strategy. The actual circumstances during each game can be quite different each time so it would be best to act according to the situation.
Pre-flop fold
One of the least expensive and the easiest things to do is to fold pre-flop. When you fold your cards before the flop, you would not be losing anything other than the small or big blind that you might have put at the start of the game. Folding pre-flop would minimize your losses and it would ensure that you would not be risking much in case your cards are not really worth playing. However, it would also be important to know when to fold pre-flop. If you have been dealt bad hands or weak pocket cards that would not hold high chances of winning, then you must fold. This is a general rule which has to be followed whether or not you have invested in the pot in the form of a blind.
Pre-flop call
During the betting round pre-flop, you should know when to call and when not to call. The poker players would typically limp in when they want to play slow. This is normally done when they have very good pocket cards or they are waiting to get a good Full Tilt hand. In such circumstances, you can just match the bet of the other players since you would want them to remain in the pot and put in more money. However, if you are just trying to see the flop to know if you manage to get a good hand, you should keep your costs at a bare minimum until you get a good hand.
Betting, raising and re-raising pre-flop
You should be betting, raising or re-raising pre-flop only when you have a great or a very strong starting hand. If you have pocket cards that are very strong, you can try to play aggressive rather than slow in order to steal the blinds if there have been good blinds in the pot. You can also raise so that the cost of seeing the flop would be higher. This would reduce the number of opponents so you would have higher chances of winning the hand.