Getting Played on Fourth

By "getting played on fourth," I am referring to situations in which you bet the turn and get raised. This may be a pleasant occurrence when you have a good hand like a set or better and your decision is whether or not to reraise, but when you have only a fair holding like top pair, getting raised on the turn usually means you are in trouble. You frequently are beat and often do not have enough outs to merit continuing. Occasionally, you may be facing a semibluff. The raiser may have picked up a big draw and hopes to win the pot outright by raising, but he has lots of outs if he gets called. In these cases, your decision needs to take into account: (1) the number of opponents, (2) your knowledge of the raiser, (3) the texture of the board, and (4) the previous betting action.

The following set of hands discuss some of these fourth-street situations:

Hand No. 1 ($15-$30 game): You are in the small blind with the 6 6. An early-position player limps in and you limp in. There is $45 in the pot and three players. The flop is 8 6 4, giving you middle set. You and the big blind check. The early-position player bets. You raise and the big blind calls. The early-position player now folds. There is $120 in the pot and two players. The turn is the A. You bet and your opponent raises. What should you do?

Answer: Reraise. Your set is a powerful hand given this betting and that board. Your opponent is most likely raising with two pair, possibly aces up. He might even be raising with just a pair of aces, which he thinks is good. If he happens to have a straight, which seems unlikely, you have 10 outs to beat him.

Hand No. 2 ($20-$40 game): You open with a raise from early position with the Q Q. Only the big blind calls. There is $90 in the pot and two players. The flop is K Q 5, giving you a middle set of queens. Your opponent checks. You bet and he calls. There is $130 in the pot. The turn is the K, giving you a full house. Your opponent checks. You bet and he now raises. What should you do?

Answer: I prefer calling. Reraising is not bad, but I think just smooth-calling is better. If he is bluffing or semibluffing, you do not want to lose your market by raising. If he has trip kings, he will not fold if you raise, so raising does not protect your hand. Plan on raising him at the river if a blank comes and he bets into you. Otherwise, if he checks the river, you can bet and may well get a "curiosity call" from a worse hand.

Hand No. 3 ($20-$40 game): You are in the small blind with the K Q. The under-the-gun player opens with a raise. The button, you, and the big blind all call. The big blind is a tight-passive player. There is $160 in the pot and four players. The flop is Q 8 7, giving you top pair, excellent kicker. You bet and everyone calls. There is $240 in the pot. The turn is the 4. You bet, the big blind raises, and the other two players fold. What should you do?

Answer: Fold. When a tight-passive player raises you on fourth street, you know he is not bluffing or even semibluffing. Tight-passive players don't make big semibluff moves on the expensive street. He has at least two pair and could even have a set or a straight. Against two pair, you have anywhere from three to eight outs. Against anything better, you are drawing dead. Furthermore, if you call now and a blank comes at the river, you may be calling a river bet as well, so you could be making an $80 decision here. Overall, I believe you are a long-term money loser to hang around.

In the actual hand, the player called. The river was the J. The player checked, and the big blind also checked. The big blind won the pot with the 6 5, the second nuts. He correctly called the preflop raise from his big blind with 6-5 suited, flopped an open-ender, and made the nuts on the turn. He did not bet the river because he reasoned that his opponent could have made a bigger straight if he had a 10-9. To his way of thinking, you cannot be too careful in this game.

Hand No. 4 ($30-$60 game): You are under the gun and open with a raise with the A A. The player sitting right next to you cold-calls your raise. Everyone else folds. There is $170 in the pot and two players. The flop is 10 8 4, leaving you with your big overpair. You bet, and your opponent calls. There is $230 in the pot. The turn is the K. You bet, and your opponent raises. What should you do?

Answer: Call. I think calling is better than three-betting. You are risking another raise by three-betting, and your opponent could have a wide range of hands that beat a pair of aces at this point. While raises on the turn are occasionally semibluffs, they usually denote two pair or better. He easily could have cold-called your preflop raise with K-K, 10-10, or even 8-8, and now have a set. He might even have called your raise with K-10 suited, and now has the top two pair. You will get four-bet if you are up against a set, and you have only two outs.

You have eight outs against the top two pair, and again, you can easily get four-bet. By calling, you can check the river if a blank comes and perhaps induce a bet on the end if he was raising with a worse hand than yours. For example, if your opponent has A-K, you can call here and check on the end, and he will probably bet the river for you.

Hand No. 5 ($10-$20 game): You are in the big blind with the Q 4. An early-position player, a middle-position player, and the cutoff limp in, so you take a free play. There is $45 in the pot and four players. The flop is Q 8 7, giving you top pair. You bet and only the cutoff folds. There is $75 in the pot and three players. The turn is the 10. You bet, the early-position player calls, and the middle-position player raises. What should you do?

Answer: Fold. Calling would be very bad poker. You have three outs at best, and could even be drawing dead. There is also a third player in the hand who called your flop bet. The 10 showing up on the turn is a horrible card, since it ties in with so many of your opponents' playing hands. If you call now, a blank comes at the river, you check, and an opponent bets, will you call that as well?

Hand No. 6 ($15-$30 game): You are in the big blind with the Q J. An early-position player, a middle-position player, the button, and the small blind limp in. You take a free play. There is $75 in the pot and five players. The flop arrives with the J 8 3, giving you top pair, good kicker, as well as a backdoor-flush draw. The small blind checks, you bet, the early-position player calls, the middle-position player folds, and the button raises. The small blind folds. You and the early-position player call. There is $165 in the pot and three players. The turn is the Q, giving you the top two pair. You bet, the early-position player calls, and the button raises. What should you do?

Answer: Call. This is a close one. It is tempting to reraise with the top two pair, but the problem is that the button may have a straight or a set. Furthermore, with no flush draw on the board, you do not mind if the early-position player calls since he probably has a small number of outs.

Editor's note: Jim Brier has co-authored a new book with Bob Ciaffone entitled Middle Limit Holdem Poker, and it is available through Card Player.