What is Straddle in Poker?

To know what is straddle in poker first you must know what it actually is. Straddle in poker is when a player makes a raise before the flop and if there is no flop then the player will make the bets. If there are a flop and the card is revealed then the player must stay within the bounds of their original position and they can now make their new bets. Now normally this would mean that they have raised their hand but in some cases the opponents have made a straddle with the same hand. You can see this in a number of places where a hand has been raised before the turn and then afterwards it becomes apparent that the opponent has made a new hand and has not revealed it.

Straddling is risky: because if you are found to be gambling within the rules of the game then by law you will be forced out of the game and will be found guilty. If you are ever found to be straddling in poker then you will be asked to leave the site and you could even receive a permanent ban. Some people say that this is unfair because you are trying to win money while playing a game of chance and therefore it makes no sense at all. However if you are ever in a live or pre-flop gambling session then you need to understand that the casino staff want your money and so are prepared to ban you for gambling with a known straddle. The problem is that many poker players often have to deal with a large strangle on the flop and they do not realise it until it’s too late.

So what is straddle in poker for the casual gambler?

For the casual gambler it might be something to consider but for a long term professional or tournament poker player it would be an issue. Straddle can be especially problematic if the blinds are not adjusted properly for when you place your bets. If the blinds are too low then you will be betting high amounts and if you are also betting high amounts then this can be very dangerous.

The best way to avoid straddling is to make sure: that you adjust your bets appropriately based on the amount of cash you are starting out with. There is no point in gambling big blinds because the odds are stacked against you. This means that you are more likely to lose money than winning it. If you start off with a small initial cash then you can slowly increase your deposit amount as you progress along but it does depend on many factors such as your comfort level at playing online casinos.

One of the biggest mistakes: that new players with poor fundamentals make is to bet high on the flop when they should be betering low. It is extremely easy for people who have never played poker before to be caught out by this mistake and make a horrible mess of their bankroll. The reason that they are trying to bet so much on the flop is because they are bluffing. They believe that the other person doesn’t know what they are up to and isn’t going to fold so easily to them so they continue to bet high. The problem with this approach is that someone with good fundamentals is going to see right through your act and will fold to you. On the other hand, if you are starting off with poor fundamentals you will be more likely to bluff but only because you don’t know what you are doing.

Another problem that new players: with poor fundamentals tend to fall into is to play weak pre-flop hands. These pre-flop hands are usually hands like Raising Combination, Straight Flush, Three of a Kind, Four of a Kind, Full House and Trips, Flush etc. Most experienced players will hit a good percentage with these hands, but they are still vulnerable to bad beats, which is what we are aiming to do with our strategy here. The purpose of our strategy is to try and make as many opponents unable to make a profit from their bets as possible and therefore fold to us on the flop and at the turnstiles.

This means that we need to use strong pre-flop hands to position ourselves so that we force the other players to make a horrible mistake that will cost them the pot and trip us at the flop.