Deceptiveness in Texas Hold'em
Adding deception to your game is very important because it makes you unpredictable. If your checks always mean that you are weak or your bets/raises always mean you are strong, the more observant players will have an edge over you.
Creating a Free Card
From the last position you have a good opportunity to show strength simply by betting on the flop if no one has bet earlier. The opponents will likely check on the giving you the option of checking to see the river for free. This is especially effective when you have a good straight or flush draw. It is risky to bet the turn in the last position if the draw didn't hit. The worst scenario is if an early position player check-raises thus costing you two big bets to draw for a flush or straight.
Check-Raising
When you hold a good hand and it is your turn to act, check in the hopes that an opponent will bet so that you can raise when your turn comes again. For example, you are in early position and have As-Kh. The flop is Ah-Qh-3c. You check and a player in late position bets and you then raise when the turn comes back to you. The closer to the left of you the player who made the first bet is the more effect your check-raise will have since it forces the players to the left of him to pay the raise as well since they already have paid one bet.
Semi-bluffing
Semi-bluffing is when you bet or raise with a hand that is not likely to be the best (at the moment) but you have many outs to outdraw your opponents if you get called or raised, although you are actually hoping to win the pot right there. For example, you are in late position holding 9s-10s and the flop shows As-10h-2s, thus giving you a flush draw with 9 outs and a middle pair but you suspect someone has the Ace. Even if you do get called, you have 9 outs to the flush and maybe an additional 6 outs to win if you hit a 9 or a T, 15 outs in total. If called and it is checked to you on the turn, you have the option of taking a free card in case your hand did not improve.
Slowplaying Big Hands
When you have a strong hand it is often a good play to slowplay. This means just checking or calling on one betting round with the intention of betting/raising on later rounds of betting, hoping your opponents have hit something that will make them call your raise. In Hold'em this is a very common play on the flop, because you want to lure players in and raise on the turn or river where the bets are doubled. Many players slowplay too often and lose pots they would have won had they not slowplayed, so in order to slow play safely a flopped full house or nut flush is hand that is strong enough to slowplay.
In general you shouldn't slowplay when one of the following criteria's are met:
- The pot is large
- Several outs that can beat you.
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