The Flop in Poker

‘The flop’ is the name given to the first phase of post flop play in a variety of different forms of poker, such as No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) and Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO).

The dealer’s job is to burn the top card of the deck (i.e. lay it face down) and then turn the next three cards face-up for all of the players to use in order to make the strongest possible hand.

There are different names given to different types of flops and here are just a few of them:

• Monotone: A monotone flop is one that contains three cards of the same suit irrespective of card rank. So, for example, [Jc] [7c] [5c] is a monotone flop.
• Rainbow: A rainbow flop is the name given to a flop that has three different suits irrespective of card rank. So, for example, [Jc] [7d] [5h] is a rainbow flop.
• Flush Draw: A flush draw flop is one that contains two suits of the same kind. So, for example, [Jc] [7c] [5d] would give anyone holding two clubs in their hand a flush draw hence the name.
• Dry Flop: A dry flop is the name given to a flop that is a very un-coordinated rainbow flop. The term ‘dry’ means that there is very little chance that a drawing hand improved. For example, [Jc] [7d] [2h] is a very dry flop.
• Wet Flop: This term is the opposite of a dry flop and is used to describe a flop that hit a lot of drawing hands well. So, for example, [Jc] [Tc] [9h] is a great example of a wet flop as it hit flush draws and straight draws.
  The type of flop heavily determines the way that you will proceed, so learning them all becomes a very important process, especially for poker tournaments.