Poker Lesson 8: The Turn and River

After going through flop play it is now time to take a quick look at turn and river play. While all concepts that we have previously learned are usable on later streets as well, there are some more concepts important in understanding both the play on the turn and river, as well as poker in general.

An important concept is pot control. This means keeping the pot size down when having a good, but not overly great, hand. Let us assume that we raised AK preflop and got called by both blinds. The flop came KT4, our opponents checked to us and we made a pot-sized bet and got one call. The turn is a blank three, and our opponent yet again checks.

The standard play here is to check behind. We most likely have the best hand, but our opponent could also be slow-playing two pair or a set. We do not want to be faced with a huge check-raise on the turn. If we check behind and the opponent checks to us on the river, we make a value bet. If our opponent bets into us on the river, we can make the call without losing too much money should we be beat.

With one-pair type of hands it is often good to exercise pot control on the turn by not betting on boards that are not draw-heavy.

Another important concept is not to bluff with the best hand. This, in essence, means that we should not bet if it is unlikely that worse hands will call us, even if we think we have the best hand. For example, let us say that we hold AA and we bet a flop of 984 with two spades. The turn was a jack, and after our opponent checked, we bet yet again and get called. The river is a non-spade king, making the board 984JK. Our opponent checks yet again.

Do we have the best hand? Probably. Should we bet? No. In this situation, our opponent either has us beat with a two pair or a set, or has a missed draw. If our opponent has us beat, we are getting called, but if he was on a draw, he will fold. There are almost no hands that we beat that our opponent could call a bet with. Even if he called on the flop and the turn with a hand like TT, it is not likely that he will call a big river bet. Therefore, we should check behind.

Try to recognize situations as these when they appear. Before betting, always ask yourself if there are probable worse hands that your opponent can hold that he will call with. If there are no such hands (or very few of them), there is absolutely no reason in betting.

Do not overdo it with the bluffing. Bluffing is an important part of no limit poker, but overdoing it is just chip-spewing. This is especially important to keep in mind after our continuation bet gets called. There is no shame in folding! We raised preflop, we took a stab at the pot and we got called. It is time to check and fold (if we do not improve), continuing the bluff on the turn and/or river is a bad idea more often than not.

The same thing goes with semi-bluffs. If we bet the flop with a draw and get called, we should check the turn. Our opponent will probably not fold often enough for it to be profitable to bluff again. Besides, we do not mind to see a free river card. Who knows, maybe our straight or flush will come on the river.

This is not to say that we should never bluff. Remember what I wrote about pot control? Well, since we can check a hand like top pair top kicker behind on the turn and value bet the river, we can also some of the times bluff the river. Let us say we hold 76 and continuation bet a JT4 flop after raising preflop from LP. We got called by a loose player playing many hands. The turn was an eight, and we checked behind. The river is a blank deuce, and our opponent yet again checks on the JT482 board.

This is a good spot to try a bluff. Our opponent might have made a loose call on the flop with just a ten or maybe a hand like 77, or a draw like KQ, and we will be able to pick up the pot with a bluff. However, don’t overdo it! As with all aspects of poker, the key is selective aggressiveness, not raving mad lunatic-aggression!

That’s it for now. Keep these concepts in mind, play a lot, develop your game and I am sure you will become a successful poker player in time.