Poker is a situational game, especially in the No-Limit format. By the turn and river there are so many factors involved in your decisions that it’s impossible to give you rules to learn by rote. A special note if you’re playing in low stakes games: action on the turn is something you should usually take very seriously. Many players play their good hands the same way – slowly on the flop, then strongly on the turn.

If you hold a hand and you’re not sure whether it’s good or not you often need to make a decision about it on the turn because you will face the same decision for more money on the river. If a player is willing to bet their hand or raise you on the turn, you’re likely to face a bigger bet on the river. If your hand has little chance of improving (for example, top pair with an average kicker) you should often throw it away.

Hand example

In the following example, you’re playing in a $2/$4 No-Limit Hold’em cash game against four players. You have K♥ Q♥ on the button. The under-the-gun player raises to $8. You call, as do both blinds. The pot is now $32. The flop comes 7♥ 3♣ 8♣. Although you manage to hit your Queen by the turn, you decide to fold – putting your opponents on a set of sevens or eights.

If a player makes a massive bet on the river, very often they have a strong hand.

If your opponent makes a big bet, and the only hand you’re scared of is 8-6 for a straight, you need to stop and seriously consider that they may well turn over 8-6 when you call.

Let’s say you face a bet on the river and there’s some chance that your hand may be good. Your first action is to compare the size of the bet to the pot. So if there’s $50 in the pot and your opponent bets $25, making the pot $75, you’re getting odds of 3/1 on your call. So you need to establish if there’s a 3/1 (or 25%, if you prefer) chance of your hand being good.

A huge number of factors go into this decision: the cards on the board, the previous action in the hand, your opponent’s tendencies, your holding and so on.

Again, experience will help you make this kind of assessment but the sooner you start thinking in this way the better it’ll be for your game.

One important concept to grasp is not to be afraid of betting big on the river – it may be your most profitable play. Generally speaking, players don’t move in on the river enough, but you should embrace the idea of maximising your expectation.

Out of position

Whether you’re a beginner or a world champion, playing out of position sucks – especially when you’re first to act with a marginal hand on the river. One technique you should experiment with is using blocking bets on the river. These are useful when you have a hand that may or may not be the winner, as it lets you control the size of a pot and counter potential bluffs from your opponent.

For instance, say you hold A-K, the board is 4-J-K-9-2, and you’re first to act in a heads-up pot. The problem here is that if you lead out and are beaten you may be raised and end up in a big pot with just one pair.

Alternatively, if you check, you may face a big bet and a tough decision as to where you are in the hand. Instead, it’s worth trying a bet of 15-20% of the pot. If you get raised, you’re usually beaten and it’s time to fold. However, keep in mind that blocker bets are not as effective against good players who may see it as weak and raise you.