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.
NEXT...Calling Bets
