Setting a goal for the hand.

Just finished a section in Hold'em: theory and practice and thought I would share this concept.

Set a goal for each hand on how much you want to make with your hand.
I generally raise the standard 3 big blind + 1 big blind for every limper.

After you see the flop make a decision on how big you want the pot based on how you hit the flop. Do you want to make it big? Keep it small? Stack the donkey? The keys are you have to have some idea on how the other person is playing. Will he bet for you, will he call check/raises etc? You also have to assume he caught a piece of the flop since you don't want to waste and chances to bet.

Now that you have set your goal, you can figure out how you need to bet each street to reach your target amount. Here is an example:

Cash table: 25/50 blinds everyone at the table is deepstacked, you raise to 150 and get one caller. You hold 77 and the flop comes A 7 5 rainbow. You are pretty sure he has an A with good kicker and is a calling station. You want to get the pot to 3500 from the 375 it is now. That means your river bet needs to be around 1500 to make it a pot size bet. You now have two betting chances to get the pot that big. You can bet 200 on the flop to get the pot to 775 (200+200+375). The turn comes and you can bet 400 to get the pot to 1575 (400+400+775). Now you can bet 1000 on the river to get to your desired amount.

It takes some practice to know what you want to get out out of each hand. Of course you will not alway make it since your opponent will fold or the board can get scary so you are forced to back off. You still need to assume the other player will at least call your bets to get to your goal. I have been doing this the last couple days and I seem to be winning alittle more from the hands I play because I have an expectation and goal in mind after the flop.

Most of us do this to some extent but by doing it for every hand makes you concentrate on your opponent and what you think you can get out of him by how he plays. You can set larger goals for calling stations or smaller ones for tight players. You will have to do the betting against passive players or sit back and let the maniac hang himself.

^^^^^^^ is the kinda thing i need to learn i never set goals on how much to win just win as much as i can i will have a thnk bout it good post `