Contents of the article

• Do you have the initiative?
  
• Don't waste your chance with a good hand
• There's no profit from a draw on the river

You've already known the way you should act in the first two betting rounds. Yet, this is only half the work, as there are still two community cards to appear. Now it's time to learn the strategy of playing these rounds.

Of course your actions on the flop influence greatly the strategy afterwards. Are you attacking or just trying to keep up the other players' pace?

You're in attack

If you were the last to bet or raise, than you are the one who has the initiative. You're pressing and you have a good hand.

You're under attack

There was somebody else who made the last bet or raise..

Playing on the turn

Now it's not that simple. Please, see the scheme describing the strategy of playing on the turn. Of course, there's no chance to remember it all at once.

But let's start. You will gradually get the necessary experience, which would make you memorize it all.

When someone is acting after you

We've showed you the situations when your opponents are first to act. But you should also take the players that are acting after you into account. You may act according to their moves.

We can give you some hints concerning the quantity of the bets that you may make. If there's nobody to make a bet or a raise, everything is clear and the betting round is over.

But if you made a check and there's one who made a bet behind you, or you've made a bet and there's a raise behind you, then you may go into the big bet. The EXACTLY ONE MORE BET BEHIND YOU section describes it all.

But what if there's a bet or even a raise after you ha Bet if you've raised before the flop, and there are not more than two players against you have checked? Then you should look the MORE THAN ONE BET BEHIND YOU section.

Playing on the river

The most important thing about the river is that you're not going to get your hand any better. The draws are absolutely useless here. If you've bet on the flop and on the turn, and your there's always a call behind you, you're very unlikely to bluff him off on the river.

The strategy on the river is very much dependent on your initiative, and your ability to act after the others have made their move.

• You bet if you've got any made hand.
• If someone made a raise behind you and there's a chance of a better hand with the community cards, you may onlycall the raise. But you may raise if you're quite sure to have the best combintaion.
• If there's a bet before you, you should raise if there's two pairs or stronger, if no better hands are possible. But if not, the only option is a call.
• If there's no made hand, you should check and muck your cards if an opponent bets.

• Bet if there's a top pair on the river. If there's a raise behind or a bet before, you should call. If you're obliged to bet more than once, as there was a bet before and a raise behind, then you should fold.
• If there's a top pair or an overpair on the flop or on the turn, and you called, you may cold call a bet on the river. If there's more than one player acting, you better fold.
• Bet or raise when you've got two pairs or stronger, if thre's no better hand to come. But if not, the only option is a call.
• If there's no made hand, you should check and muck your cards if an opponent bets.