Reading the Flop During a Poker Hand

The flop is one of the key moments in any poker hand. From this point you have a full poker hand – ie, five cards are now available to you – and you can act accordingly.

We can separate hands at this stage into four categories.

• VERY STRONG HANDS: flushes, straights, sets, and two pairs or better.
• STRONG HANDS: over pairs and top pair, top kicker.
• MEDIOCRE HANDS: any pair lower than top pair, top kicker is considered a mediocre hand.
• TRASH: Anything else.