Raising on the Turn

Is there a poker equivalent to Beanie Babies, hula hoops, and buying tech stocks? I think so. Some plays become very popular for periods of time. These plays start off being made occasionally mostly by advanced players, gain publicity and popularity, and then come up against counterplays and eventually fall somewhat out of favor.

Free-Card Raise

For example, let's look at the free-card raise. For a long time, this was a very profitable play for good players. Someone would lead at a pot, one or more players might call, and then a late-position player would raise with a draw. Everyone would call, presuming the raiser had a very good hand with which to raise the pot. On the turn, everyone would "check to the raiser," who would bet if the turn card completed his draw and check if he did not improve.

As more and more players became familiar with this play and began to use (and abuse) it, people began to assume that a raise from a late-position player on the flop was very likely an attempt at a free-card play. There were two reasons for this:

1. It is a whole lot easier to flop a draw than a big hand. Therefore, a raise is much more likely to be a draw.

2. A player with a big hand would frequently wait for the turn to raise, making it even less likely that a late-position raise on the flop would be a big hand.

People began disrespecting this raise, either by three-betting the raiser or calling and betting out on the turn if the card did not seem to complete a draw. This counterplay has been happening so much at the middle limits that lots of players have given up trying for a free card in many circumstances where it would have been routine a few years ago.

Raising on the Turn

A more recent trend involves raising on the turn when heads up and in position. For a long time, this raise meant, "I have you beat, and you are in trouble." In many games, a raise on the turn still does. But in many middle- and higher-limit games, sophisticated competitors are using the heads-up turn raise in position to mean a variety of things. Let's look at the ways you can use this bet:

1. You have a big hand. Yes, annoyingly enough, raising on the turn can still mean what it always did. In fact, it is the threat of this possibility that makes the play so powerful and makes the other meanings difficult to deal with.

2. You are going to call on the river and might improve. Usually, players raise here with some chances to improve. For example, you have the A Q and three-bet a middle-position raiser. Everyone folds, and you take the flop heads up. The flop comes A J 6 and your opponent bets. He may well have you beat here with A-K or A-J, or he might be betting a pair of kings or queens, or a weaker ace. While you might want to raise here, a reraise would be very unwelcome, and you would like to see the hand develop. After the turn brings the 8, your opponent bets again. Now, a raise will be very effective. First, he might fold either a better hand, which would be great, or a weaker hand that still has outs. If he does call, he will almost certainly check on the river, in which case you will check unless you make your nut flush. Also, the raise might win you an extra bet when the spade does come, because if you just call, he will certainly check on the river, and you will collect two big bets instead of three.

3. You are going to call on the river. Even if you do not think you have lots of outs, a raise on the turn still might be effective against many opponents who are fairly passive or timid. Whenever you are sure you are going to call your opponent on the river, you should consider raising. After all, your opponent might figure you for a more powerful hand and release. If not, you check the river behind him and see who wins. There are two downsides to this play, however. First, if your opponent has an excellent hand, he might reraise, and you will likely be forced to fold. Second, if your opponent is extremely passive, he might have decided to check on the river even if you did not raise, and you could have seen the showdown for one bet instead of two. So, you need to be selective in making this raise when you think you have few or no possible outs.

4. You have a semibluff. Another popular use for this raise is a semibluff, which is a hand that cannot be the best right now, but might improve to be the best or will win should the opponent fold. When this play works, it is very gratifying. You either win right now or show down a hand you made on the river. In addition to profit, this play gets you credit (or ridicule) for "raising on the come," enhancing your image as a gambling player. Unfortunately, this semibluff raise was more effective before turn raises became so popular; it is getting tougher to get people to lay down a hand to a raise on the turn. In addition, you are faced with the dilemma of what to do when you miss your draw and are checked to on the river. There is a lot to be said for betting as a bluff, of course, since it is now the only way to win the pot, which has grown large. But this makes your overall play cost three big bets, when it might have cost only one (calling on the turn and folding when you do not improve). You really need to consider both pot size and your opponent's tendencies before trying a play like this.

5. You are bluffing. Of course, you can simply bluff-raise. While it seems to have all of the problems of a semibluff raise without the offset of being able to make your hand, it can be an effective defense against aggressive players who frequently bet with nothing. For example, assume you are in the big blind and everyone folds to a very aggressive small blind, who raises. You call, and the flop does not help you. Now, of course, giving up is certainly an excellent option, but assuming this situation will happen frequently, you cannot give up every time you miss, especially when you have position. If you choose to continue, calling on the flop while planning to bluff-raise on the turn no matter what card hits is an excellent option. Sure, it will be expensive when your opponent actually has a strong hand, but he will miss the flop as often as you do. Also, since you have a tight image, your raise will be scary even if he does have a little bit of the board. I am not recommending that you use this bluff-raise-on-the-turn-in-position very often, but occasions do arise when it has merit.

Using these plays. Astute readers may have noticed that the preceding list of hand types covers virtually all of the hands you might hold when you are in position on the turn. So, should you always raise?

No, of course not. The power of the play depends on its credibility, which means you should usually have a big hand, just like the bet says. Most other uses should be of the "I am going to call anyway, and I might improve" flavor. The others are very risky and rarely should be used. For example, the pure bluff-raise not only will fail much of the time, but you must make a bluff call on the flop just to get to the turn. In general, if you do not have very much, you should not be looking for chances to put in extra big bets.

But some of your opponents will make these plays, so you do need to be aware of them. In fact, in some games, you will find your opponents positively addicted to them. So, at a minimum, against these players you need to make fewer laydowns and call them down more often than you otherwise might.

These concepts have extensions when a third player is behind you and you are looking at a bet into you on the turn, and when you are out of position and considering check-raising the bettor. Also, consider raising when you are the in-position bettor and are check-raised on the turn. However they come up, though, I believe you will see, and make, a lot more of these raises in the future.