Well, class, after Lesson 8 and Lesson 9, there’s only one way to go for the final lesson in this unit—that’s right, it’s time to look at the turn and the river. As you know, the turn is the fourth community card in Texas Hold’em and the river is the fifth. If you’re still in the game in these later rounds, good for you! Here are some short hints that will help you stay in the game until the very end (in other words, to help you win).

Betting on the turn

The turn card is the first big opportunity to bet more, raise when the bets have doubled, and make the draws pay to beat you. If you have decided to see the turn card, you must be quite sure of what you need to win and what the odds of making it are. If you have top pair or make two pair on the turn, you should usually bet and raise to protect your hand and make the draws pay.

You should also consider raising on the turn if you have a medium-strength hand with a chance of improving on the river. Since you were going to put two big bets in the pot anyway, you can put it all in on the turn, giving the impression that you have a great hand and possibly winning the pot right there.

Betting on the river

There are two main reasons to bet on the river, when all the cards are out and you’re the first to bet. The first reason is to induce a weaker hand to put more money into a pot that you think you’re going to win. The second reason is to get a better hand to fold when you have the second-best hand.

Another time to bet on the river is when you’ve missed your straight or flush draw and you feel that your opponent has also, but holds two big cards. If you feel that your A-J will lose to his A-Q, you should consider betting. Your opponent will be hard-pressed to call with only an ace-high, and you could steal the pot.

Also, if you make the nuts on the river and you have to call a bet in early position, you might make more money if you call rather than raise. It’s better to have five players call behind you than to raise and only get one or two.

Good luck and go get ’em!