The turn and river are important parts of a limit hold ‘em game – as although you will already have seen the majority of the cards, the bet sizes on the turn and river are double that of before. So, this is the point where you look to make your money from the weak players who are following you hoping to hit one of their lucky draws.

Things to look out for on these streets include:
• Players hitting their draws – has there been a passive player calling who now bets out or raises, why is he doing this? Check if he could have made a flush or straight draw, as well as any other hand that could beat you. Occasionally the opposition will make a hand that you can’t foresee, at this point just take into account the aggressiveness of the player to decide your action.
• Overcards to your holding. Especially if an Ace hits as many players will call your bets previously just holding an ace, or a weak pair with an ace. Don’t be afraid to get away from your hand in this situation – just accept that the opposition played badly and got lucky, just try not to pay him off.
• Slowplayers. Some players will always slowplay their hand on the flop looking to get more action on the later streets – keep an eye out for these players and beware of them.

If you are still drawing then you will have to re-evaluate the odds after the turn to see if it is worth you playing on to the river – if you have a good hand you believe is in the lead then bet and raise to get the value from your hand.

Once the river card has been turned then again you must think if the card has improved any of your opponents hands. If you have been drawing and missed then at this point you will lay you hand down, however with any made hand it is rarely correct to fold to a bet. The odds almost always dictate that you should call as the size of the pot to potentially be won compared to the cost of one bet is so good.

Tags: poker, strategy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 5:29 pm and is filed under Poker Tips. Both comments and pings are currently closed.