Monotone flops

 Monotone flops give my students the biggest headaches, and rightfully so, they are perhaps the trickiest boards to play in poker. 

Some broad characteristics I have identified about monotone flops are:

• There is no leading from the BB

• Bet sizes go down

• There is much more checking

• Most hands mix

To simplify, monotone flops see us play poker "with the handbrake on" where we take less aggressive actions, build the pot less, and largely try to get to showdown more. 

Why do we play more timidly when all the cards are the same suit? The main reason is that we could already be betting into a flopped flush. Our top pair might be no good and our flush draws could already be dominated by a made flush. When we bet big we are not getting flush draws to fold, we are just bloating the pot when we could already be crushed. 

In addition, there are so many board-changing turns and rivers. A fourth card of the same suit devalues so many hands. Pairing the board will sometimes reverse the fortunes for the player who was ahead.  

The natural impulse on monotone boards is to play careful anyway, and in this instance, it's good to follow your instincts. Monotone boards are under bluffed spots anyway in real life. Keep the pot small, try to get to showdown with the weaker portion of your range and keep the handbrake on. 

We are just putting together the finishing touches to a new video course which replicates how I work with my 1-1 students. As part of it we delve into every major type of flop including Ace high, King high, monotone, paired and more. We have over 20 hours of footage and it should give you a solid foundation for how to study without a coach. 

If there is a certain board type you struggle with, drop me a line and let me know. We may be covering it in our upcoming course. 

Until then, good luck at the tables.

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