Playing and Betting the Turn in Online Poker: A Discussion

Staying the Aggressor with Strong Hands
A common situation in Hold’em is that you raise preflop and then either bet or raise on the flop. Generally, you should continue to be the aggressor on the turn with a strong hand, although there are a few exceptions. For purposes of this section, a strong hand is one that you are relatively confident is currently the best hand. When acting early with a strong hand, your two options are betting out or trying for a check-raise. Generally continue to bet when you are unsure that an opponent will bet and giving a free card would be dangerous. Against several opponents with a large pot, you might consider checking, hoping that a late position opponent will bet so that you can check-raise to drive out your remaining opponents. If a free card would not be too dangerous, a check-raise can sometimes be a good strategy to gain extra bets against your opponents. You gain extra bets by either inducing your opponents to bet a weak hand that they would have folded or by them calling a check-raise. If they don’t bet, you might gain a crying call on the river when you come out betting. Checking also gives you equity in future hands. If your more observant opponents notice that you always bet out your strong hands, they will steal many pots when you check. On the other hand, if you check-raise a lot, they may tend to steal less in fear that you might check-raise. This could give you a tree card, which might improve your weaker hands to the winning hand.

On the Internet, players tend to be a little more aggressive than in live play, so this kind of play works even better online than in a live game since many opponents can’t resist trying a bluff at the pot. This type of play should not be used too often. It is often difficult to know when your opponents will fold, and most hands are not strong enough to be able to give a free card. In addition, sometimes an opponent might be slow-playing a strong hand weaker than yours and you could lose the opportunity to gain a few bets on the turn. For example, you raise preflop with KK and bet the flop with a K♣ 8♥ 2♦ 5♣ board. What should you do if your opponent checks? A free card could only hurt you if your opponent has a runner-runner flush opportunity. However, what could your opponent have been calling with on the flop? He might have the last king or possibly 88 or 22, in which case you would lose a lot of bets by slowplaying your set on the turn. If your opponent calls on the flop with this type of board, there is a decent chance he will call the turn also, so usually go ahead and bet.

What if the board is K♣ 9♣ 2♦ 5♥? Giving a free card in this case is dangerous, because your opponent could be on either a flush or gut-shot straight draw.
Let’s look at an example when you might consider checking. You hold T♣ T♦ with a T♥ 6♦ 2♣ 3♠ board. You might consider checking this hand on the turn against a strong opponent if the pot is small and it is unlikely he holds a small set based on your opponent’s position and betting on previous rounds. Your opponent might be playing two overcards and would probably fold if you bet. Note that I specifically referred to your opponent as a strong opponent. Never give up betting opportunities against weak opponents who will call with all kinds of hands.

Staying the Aggressor with Weak Hands
There are many situations when your hand is not very strong and you have to decide whether to continue betting as a semi-bluff or to back off your hand. For
example, a common situation is raising preflop with AK only to miss your hand on the flop and turn. Some of your considerations include:
• Number of opponents: Generally only consider a semi-bluff against one or  two opponents. A semi-bluff is rarely successful against three or more opponents on the turn.
• Type of board: The type of board, along with the position and previous betting of your opponents, should give an indication of the type of hand you are against. Could your opponents be on a draw, or do they already have a made hand? Do they have a strong draw or a weak draw? Betting out can sometimes win the pot against weak draws or when a scare card comes such as an ace.
• Type of opponent: Avoid bluffing a lot against weak opponents who will call to the river with many types of hands. On the other hand, you have a better chance of success if you are against a strong opponent who will respect your turn bet and fold either weak draws or medium pairs. For example, a strong opponent might fold middle pair or even top pair with a weak kicker while weak opponents will almost always call with these hands.
• Your position: Acting early can sometimes communicate a strong hand by your willingness to bet into one or two opponents; however, this may be risky
depending on the board. If you plan on calling a turn bet in any case, you must weigh the possibility of winning the pot immediately by betting versus the risk that an opponent will raise making your draw more expensive.

When acting in late position and your opponents check to you, a bet might win the pot since your opponents have indicated weakness; however, you
still have the risk that an opponent might check-raise. In marginal situations where you are not sure if a bluff will be successful, tend to check hands with
outs and bet hands that don’t have many outs. You can safely fold to a check-raise with only a few outs, while checking with several outs allows you
to draw for free rather, than risk paying two bets for your draw. Sometimes you might bet a marginal holding with the intention of checking the river for a
"free" showdown. This strategy is usually better than checking the turn and calling the river since you don’t give your opponents a free card.In summary, you can sometimes continue to be the aggressor with weak hands against one or two opponents: however, this type of aggression should only be used in the right situations. In many cases, you will need to back off your hand even against a lone opponent, depending on the type of board, opponent, and betting sequences

Let’s look at when you must act first and have a big hand from either slowplaying the flop or hitting a draw on the turn. The two most common options available to
you are betting out or trying a check-raise (in rare cases you might simply check and call as a possible slowplay to the river). An important consideration between the two options is whether or not you expect an opponent to bet behind you. As discussed previously, it can be disastrous to give a free card on the turn;however, check-raises can be an effective strategy, especially against aggressive opponents who you are relatively confident will bet the turn. On the other hand, sometimes you might bet out hoping to be raised so that you can reraise.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. You hold 7♦ 7♣ in both of them. In the first example, the board is A♦ T♦ 7♥ 2♣. You called preflop from early position and were raised by a middle position player. You checked and called on the flop as a slowplay. Check-raising the turn in this type of situation can be a good play since
there is a decent chance that your opponent will bet again with this board. Even if he doesn’t bet with a hand like KK or QQ, a free card is not too risky. Another
option is to bet oat hoping that your opponent raises with a hand like AK or AQ so that you can reraise. Let’s say you have the same hand, but this time the board is A♦ T♦ 7♥ 2♦. The board is now three-suited. If your opponent has K♦ K♣ or Q♦ Q♣, he may be more inclined to check the turn and take a tree card with his draw to the flush; therefore, betting out is probably the best option against most opponents. If you are acting behind your opponents and it is checked to you, it is almost mandatory to bet a strong hand. You generally don’t want to give a free card to your opponents and you want to gain bets with your good hands. Again, there are some rare limes when checking may be considered as a slowplay with a small pot (see Staying the Aggressor with Strong Hands section), but in most cases you should bet out your hand.

The other time you might bet the turn is as a bluff or semi-bluff. Sometimes you can bet out if you sense there is a decent chance your opponents will fold. If your
opponents check, a bet could win the pot since they have indicated weakness. Sometimes a scary turn card will allow a bet to be successful. For example,
whenever an ace comes, the board pairs, or a third suited card comes, you might bet out hoping that your opponents will fold. Remember that semi-bluffs are more
successful against a lone opponent than several.

Raising the Turn
There are three main reasons to raise the turn:
• You have a strong hand and want to get more money in the pot.
• You have a semi-bluff opportunity.
• You want to protect a vulnerable hand.

Whenever you have a strong hand, the turn is a good round to show your strength by raising. You should rarely slowplay all the way to the river. Sometimes you might just call a turn bet when your hand is exceptionally strong so that the remaining opponents behind you will call. Another example where you might slowplay to the river is against an aggressive opponent who you believe is bluffing. Allowing him to continue a bluff and then waiting to raise the river can sometimes be a good
strategy.

A semi-bluff raise can also be a successful strategy sometimes. As we have discussed before, when you have a good draw against one or two opponents, you
usually want to make at least one attempt at winning the pot either on the flop or turn. Raising the turn with a strong draw can be a profitable strategy under the right
circumstances. For the cost of one more bet, you have the chance of winning the pot immediately, and when you are called you still have a lot of outs. The biggest
risk to this strategy is that you are reraised. For example, you have A♦ 9♦ with a board of Q♦ 9♥ 5♣ 2♦. A semi-bluff raise could be a good strategy here. You might be able to get hands such as JJ or TT to fold, as well as overcards to your pair of 9’s. Another example of a semi-bluff raising opportunity might be K♦ Q♥ with a T♦ 7♥ 5♣ J♦ board. Be careful in trying these raises against weak opponents who are not capable of folding a hand like second or third pair.

The final reason to raise on the turn is to drive out your opponents to protect a vulnerable hand. For example, you hold TT with a J954 board with several players
seeing the turn card. You might raise hoping that you hold the best hand (you would not do this against a rock) and to drive the remaining opponents out of the hand.
You probably would just check the river if an opponent calls your turn raise. Notice how this strategy cost the same as calling a turn and river bet. The benefit is that it drives out the other opponents to protect your hand if it is the best.
 

Calling Bets
The preferred strategy in poker is generally to raise or to fold, but there are times when calling is correct, especially with your strong draws and little chance of
winning the pot on a semi-bluff raise. Calling bets on the turn is much different than calling bets on the flop. Because flop bets are small, you are generally getting decent odds to see one more card to try and improve your hand. However, you rarely are getting good odds to draw on the turn, except for the premium draws to flushes and open-ended straights. Exceptions to this are when the pot is very large. Let’s look at strategy when an opponent bets and you are unsure whether or not
you hold the best hand. There are four considerations in your decision to call or fold, assuming you have determined that raising is not a good option:
• The probability that you currently have the best hand
• The probability that your hand will improve to the best hand
• The probability that your opponent will improve to the best hand if you
currently have the best hand
• The pot odds
The three top bullet points combined is the probability that you will win the hand. This probability does not always need to be very high if you are getting good pot
odds. For example, if you feel you have a 25% chance of winning the hand, you need at least 3 to 1 implied pot odds on your calls. In summary, to call a turn bet,
you need to compare the overall probability that you will have the best hand on the river versus the implied pot odds on your call.

 
Calling Raises
Calling raises too often on the turn is another common mistake made by many players. One problem with calling raises on the turn is that you often end up calling
the river. Since your goal is to win a big bet an hour, making the mistake of calling the turn and river when you shouldn’t would wipe out two hours of earnings. When calling a raise on the turn, think shout whether or not you will call the river if you don’t improve. Paying two big bets significantly decreases the pot odds you are receiving to see if you will win the hand.

Many opponents wait until the turn to raise their really strong hands, A lot of players are also reluctant to make semi-bluff raises on the turn, especially at the lower limits. For these reasons, you need to be very careful about when you call raises on the turn. Most opponents who raise the turn almost always have at least top pair with a good kicker, and they often have two pair or better; therefore, you should often fold pairs when raised on the turn. The main exception to this is in tight aggressive games where some opponents will raise the turn on a semi-bluff, especially in heads-up situations, so you sometimes need to call with a mediocre holding such as a pair depending on the circumstances. Let’s look first at a couple of situations where folding to a raise is quite straightforward. Many opponents are very predictable on the turn and you can use this to your advantage to make correct decisions. For example, some opponents will never raise or check-raise on the turn as a bluff or semi-bluff. If this type of player raises, you can safely fold unless you have a very strong hand. Another situation where you can safely fold marginal hands is when an opponent raises after two players have already called the turn. It is very rare for a player to
raise two players on the turn without a very strong hand. For example, if you bet out, are called by one opponent, and then raised by another, you should generally
fold unless you have a very strong hand or are getting good odds on a draw. Advanced Concept: There are two situations when folding to raises on the turn with a mediocre holding such as a top pair is relatively straightforward:

1. Your opponent is the type who never raises the turn on a bluff or semi-bluff.
2. An opponent has raised after two players have already called the turn.

In these two situations, I would need at least top pair with top kicker to call, and often an even better hand depending on the type of opponents I am against.
Unfortunately, in tight aggressive games, turn play is not this straightforward most of the time. You will find yourself in a lot of heads-up situations where it is difficult to get a good read on your opponent’s hand. In heads-up situations, some players will raise the turn with many types of hands such as top pair, middle or bottom pair, flush and straight draws, and of course two pair or better. When these types of players raise, sometimes you should fold top pair with top kicker, while other times you might be reraising. You might even need to call with bottom pair and possibly even ace high in some situations. Calling in these types of situations often depends on the type of board and how your particular opponent might play that board.

Let’s look at a common example. You raise in early position with AK and a middle position player calls. The flop is all rags such as 642. You bet and are called. The turn is another rag such as a 4. You bet and your opponent raises. What do you do? Against most opponents you should almost always fold; however, you sometimes need to call in some of the tight aggressive high-limit games where some opponents will raise with Ax. Realize however that most players will not raise in this situation as a semi-bluff. The type of opponent you are playing often has an impact on these types of borderline decisions. Always evaluate the type of board to guide your decision. If the board is threesuited such as A♦ T♦ 5♣ 2♠, consider what types of hands your opponent could be holding. For example, a raise on the turn with this board could mean your opponent hit a flush, or it could mean he holds the K♦ or Q♦ and is raising on a semi-bluff, or maybe he has Ax and is protecting his hand against an opponent with a draw. Note how the number of players in the hand makes a difference on the possible holdings. If two players have called a turn bet and an opponent raises, you can generally assume that he is not raising on a flush draw. However, in a heads-up situation some aggressive players might raise with K♦ T♣ hoping that you might fold a hand such as KK, QQ, or JJ. Also note how high the board cards are. It is less likely for opponents to make
draws on a flop like A♣ 9♦ 5♥ than they are with a flop of T♣ 5♦ 2♥. If your opponent waits to raise the turn with an A♣ 9♦ 5♥ 3♠ board, you should ask yourself. "What kind of hand would my opponent call the flop with and then raise the turn?" You should be concerned about a set, two pair, or a pair of aces with a good kicker.