In poker, the term “preflop” describes the first betting round before the first three community cards are dealt.
After the blinds have been posted and hole cards have been dealt, the preflop betting round starts with the player in the Under The Gun position.
The action continues clockwise until all players but one have folded or until the last bet has been called.
Since there are no community cards during this betting round, the only thing the players use to make their decisions is the strength of their hole cards and the actions of their opponents.
Preflop is often considered one of the most important betting streets in poker because it sets the tone for the rest of the hand.
Making the correct decisions on this street can give you a significant advantage and set you up for success in future betting rounds. For this reason, it is very important that you create a solid preflop strategy before you start working on your post-flop game, and you can start by grabbing free poker cheat sheet.
Poker Preflop Example:
Imagine that you are playing Texas Holdem. The SB and the BB post their blinds, and the dealer deals two cards to each player at the table.
After each player receives their cards, the player on the direct left of the BB (UTG) makes a raise, HJ and CO folds, BTN had a good hand, so snap calls and both of the blinds fold.
All of the action that happened from when the UTG made a raise to the moment BB folded happened in the preflop betting round. After this, postflop play begins.
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