Every cash game player knows about the ‘buying cards’ concept. You raise with a draw in position, in order to see the turn card for free. The idea is that because you raised on the flop, players will check to you on the turn – expecting you to raise again.

But is this the best line to take? While there is value in saving two bets on the turn, there are several problems with this line of thinking.

You are not assured that it will not be three-bet, or even four-bet, after you raise. You’re trying to save bets here, not increase them.

You might actually lose value if you hit your hand because instead of raising on the turn and garnering additional bets from the initial bettor/caller, they will now defer to you and just call or even fold to your turn bet.

It removes the possibility of making a river bluff if your draw goes unimproved. If you use the free card ploy on the flop and check behind on the turn, the type of hand you have becomes readily apparent to your opponents so any potential for bluffing the river is in most cases eliminated. However, if you had just called the flop bet, you then set up the possibility of bluffing the river.

Hand example

In the following hand animation, we see an example of this. After the flop, there are four players remaining with the flop showing J♣ 6♣ 4♠. We’re on the button holding 9♣ 8♣. An early position player bets $10 and everyone calls.

The turn is a 2♦. Three players check and the player bets $20. One mid-position player calls. The other two players fold.
Our three opponents check and you bet. One opponent calls and the other two fold. The river is a King. Our opponent checks, we bet, and they fold. If we had raised the flop, and checked the turn, this play would not have been possible.

1. Patricia Curtis says:

   February 13, 2010 at 9:31 pm

   Thanks mike for sharing , I bluff a bit, but its good to hear from a pro, when is the most effective