Thinking ahead at the poker table is always good

When you’re playing poker — or doing anything in life, really — make it a point to think ahead and prepare for a variety of possible outcomes.

When you cross the street, you should know what you’re going to do if you see a car heading straight at you. And obviously, you’re going to look in both directions before taking your first step into the street. In poker, before you make any bet, you should stop and think about what the result of that bet will be in the current betting round, as well as the effect it might have on future betting rounds. Then, based on the probable results, determine whether betting is in your best interest.

Let’s say someone raises under the gun to three big blinds out of their 100 big blind stack, and you’re sitting in second position with Ah Jd.

Normally, A-J is a decent starting hand. But in this situation, it’s a pretty easy fold because of the many bad things could happen on future betting rounds.

While A-J could certainly be the best hand pre-flop, think about how the hand is likely to play out post-flop. If you flop an ace and the initial raiser has a better ace, you’ll probably lose a lot of money. If an ace flops and your opponent does not have an ace, you’ll most likely win a small pot.

If a jack comes and your opponent has an

overpair, you’re going to lose a lot of money. If a jack comes and your opponent has worse than a jack, you’ll win a small pot. If the flop misses you, there’s a good chance you’ll have to fold to a bet

s you can see, you’re likely to either lose a large pot or win a small pot in this situation, making a fold the optimal play.

But let’s say that instead of A-J, you have 8c 7c. Now, it isn’t very likely that you’ll lose your whole stack if you make one pair because it will be a marginal made hand. But if you flop a premium hand or a good draw and have a premium hand by the river, you’ll often win a large pot. There’s also a good chance you’ll be presented with semi-bluffing opportunities that might allow you to win some pots when the flop misses your opponent. This is a situation where you’ll either lose a small pot or win a large one, which is a fine outcome.

Poker is all about trying to figure out the optimal decision for each situation. None of the decisions you make at the table is made in a vacuum. Because of this, you need to constantly think about how each decision you make will impact the next.

As long as you think ahead and always have a plan, you’ll rarely find yourself completely lost in any hand.