Betting the Turn

Have you ever noticed how some players are aggressive preflop and on the flop, but "freeze up" on the turn? I believe there is a certain mindset that comes over players once they get on the expensive street where prices double. It is almost as though they are thinking: "Since my opponent has stayed with me this far and my hand could be beaten, I guess it is time to back off and hope that my hand holds up at the river." But failure to follow through with a bet on fourth street can be an expensive mistake in hold'em when your opponent has done nothing but respond to your play. The following hands taken from live play illustrate some important considerations that come into play.

Hand No. 1 ($20-$40 game): You are on the button and limp in behind two early-position limpers with the 10 8. The small blind limps. There is $100 in the pot and five players.

The flop is K 8 6. Everyone checks and you bet, and only the early-position limpers call. There is $160 in the pot and three players.

The turn is the 6. Your opponents check. Should you bet or check?

Answer: You need to protect your fragile hand with a bet. If you get raised, you can fold, but you must give your opponents a chance to fold, since any card that comes off on the river that's higher than an 8 but not a 10 or a king may be bad news. You might force another 8 with a better kicker to fold, since your opponents will fear a top pair of kings if you bet. You can also get a free showdown at the river, and are less likely to get bluffed out if another overcard to your eights shows up. In the actual hand, the player checked. An ace came on the river and was bet by the first limper. The second limper folded and the player made a crying call, only to be shown A J.

Hand No. 2 ($30-$60 game): An early-position player limps and a middle-position player raises. You call from your small blind with the J 9. The big blind and early-position limper call. There is $240 in the pot and four players.

The flop is 5 3 2. You bet your flush draw and two overcards that don't complement the board. The big blind and the early-position limper fold. The middle-position player raises and you call. There is $360 in the pot and two players.

The turn is the A. Should you bet or check?

Answer: You should check with the intention of check-raising. This is a good scare card if your opponent does not have an ace and was raising on a big overpair. You might get him to fold if you check-raise. Furthermore, since you were in the small blind, you could have called a preflop raise with a 4 in your hand, now giving you a wheel. If he calls your check-raise semibluff, you still have a lot of outs with your flush draw. If he checks it back, you have been given a free card, which is not bad since you were drawing anyway.

In the actual hand, the small blind checked and the preflop raiser bet $60. The small blind then raised to $120. The preflop raiser thought awhile and reluctantly folded.

Hand No. 3 ($10-$20 game): You open with a raise under the gun with J J. Everyone folds to the big blind, who calls. The big blind is a TOM (Tight Old Man). TOMs play in a tight, cautious manner. If they hang around once the flop comes, it is because they have something. They are quick to fold if they think they are beat. They like to slow-play if they think they have the best hand, waiting until one of the expensive streets to check-raise. There is $45 in the pot and two players.

The flop is K 7 3. The TOM checks. You bet your good second pair and he calls. There is $65 in the pot.

The turn is the 4. The TOM checks. Should you bet or check?

Answer: You raised preflop under the gun and are marked with a good hand like A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, A-K, or A-Q. The TOM knows this. When you bet the flop, the TOM knows that a king-high flop would touch the A-K hands with which you could be raising. When he calls your flop bet, you should realize that he probably has at least a king, so your pair of jacks is no good. He will not fold top pair, but will faithfully check and call if you keep betting and make you show him a better hand. If by some remote chance he has a pair lower than jacks, like tens, nines, or eights, it is highly unlikely that he would call your flop bet, since he figures that he's beat, unless you happened to raise on specifically A-Q. If he has middle or bottom pair, he is playing five outs, which is an 8-1 shot. Although it is possible that you are giving a free card to a worse hand, the fact that the pot is small diminishes the magnitude of that error. In any case, it is unlikely that you have the best hand, since he would have folded a worse hand than yours on the flop. For these reasons, I think you should check.

Hand No. 4 ($10-$20 game): You open with a raise from middle position with the 9 9. The button and both blinds call. There is $80 in the pot and four players.

The flop is Q 8 5. Both blinds check. You bet and only the big blind calls. There is $100 in the pot and two players.

The turn is the Au. Your opponent checks. Should you bet or check?

Answer: You should bet. It is hard to tell where you're at, but there is a good chance that your opponent fears the ace more than you do, since you raised preflop. A preflop raiser should normally bet into one opponent who checks after an ace comes off. If he check-raises, you can fold.

Hand No. 5 ($15-$30 game): You raise from the button with the 10 10u behind an early-position player, a middle-position player, and the cutoff, who all limped. Everyone calls. There is $180 in the pot and six players.

The flop is 9 5 5. Everyone checks to you and you bet. The blinds and the middle-position player call. There is $240 in the pot and four players.

The turn is the 9. Everyone checks to you. Should you bet or check?

Answer: It would be strange for three players to call your flop bet and not one of them have a 9 or a 5 given a rainbow, uncoordinated board like this. I think you have too many opponents to bet here, and the likelihood of getting check-raised on the expensive street after showing all of this strength is very high. I would check and take a free card to my two-outer. The free card has great utility because you are the last to act.

In the actual hand, the player bet and got raised and reraised by both blinds. The middle-position player folded, and he folded rather than calling another $60 with the possibility of further raising. The small blind called. The river was the 10. The small blind checked, the big blind bet, and the small blind called. The big blind won with the 9 8, for nines full of fives on the turn. The small blind mucked.

Hand No. 6 ($10-$20 game): You get a free play in your big blind while holding the J 8 after an early-position player, a middle-position player, and the small blind limp. There is $40 in the pot and four players.

The flop is J 8 3. The small blind checks and you bet. Only the small blind folds. There is $70 in the pot and three players.

The turn is the J. Should you bet or check?

Answer: You should bet because there is a flush draw on the board and you will get callers. You might even get raised by the case jack. Getting a free play in your big blind means that you could have anything, including two pair without a jack. If both opponents call and a spade comes at the river, you could go for a check-raise. If only one opponent calls and a spade comes, you should bet the river because you cannot be sure that your lone opponent was on a flush draw.