A Player Continues to Bet on the Flop and Check on the Turn. What Do You Do?

February 12, 2020

What to Do When a Player Bets the Flop and Checks the Turn?

Many players routinely bet the flop with a good hand. Then, when the turn comes, they check. All the time.

They choose to call because they don't want to be raised by someone on the turn or river (when the bets are doubled).

I find this habit is prevalent in lower limit games. If you play mid-limit games, this flaw is not nearly as common.

In any case, it is worth considering, as some mid-limit and high-limit tables attract more than a few players who keep this behaviour in their game plan.

Make Observations

As a PokerNews reader, I'm sure you know that looking at how your opponents play is of the best poker tips to follow if you intend to go far.

In the following scenario, you are playing no-limit hold'em with a few regulars and a new face (we'll call him Player 'X').

You don't know much about Player 'X' — so you need to keep your eyes open and try to take mental notes on his style of play.

As the game develops, this hand happens:

• Player 'X' has Ax10x and the flop is Ax8x4x.
• Player 'X' bets the flop and two other players call.
• On the turn, a 3x appears on the board.
• Player 'X' checks.
• As soon as one of the other players decides to bet, Player 'X' calls.
• On the river, Player 'X' checks and calls again.
• At the showdown, Player 'X' shows Ax10x.

Taking things out of context, Player 'X' would appear to be a "weak" or "weak-tight" player.

But — is this the correct assumption to make?

What if this was a recurring behaviour? What if more observation would help you recognise a pattern and give you precious insights on your opponent's hands and style of play?

To discover if this an isolated episode, lock on to Player 'X' and watch how he plays the same situation in future hands.

If this behavioural pattern continues, it's time to implement the right poker strategy to exploit his weakness and use all this knowledge to your advantage.

SEE ALSO: I Played a Tournament Without Looking at the Cards. And This Happened

Why Does He Do That?

Keep in mind the motivation for this behaviour.

If he is weak and 'tight'ish', he is not betting the flop and checking the turn simply because he's given up on a bluff or thinks he has been outdrawn on the turn.

He is afraid of being raised on the turn or river when the bets are doubled.

As such, he checks with the intention of calling all the way to the showdown. It's usually that simple.

How to play Against This Sort of Opponent?

Whenever you find yourself at the table with a Player 'X', you should use your observations and findings to implement two important changes into your game plan.

First, you can call with more marginal hands preflop. In fact, you can do that on the flop as well when you are in a late position and he is sitting within two or three seats of your right.

READ ALSO: How to Play Marginal Hands in Poker

Let's look at an example.

If you have 6-7 off-suit in a late position, you should probably not play this hand unless a big multi-way pot is brewing.

However, if it is a medium-size pot and your Player 'X' calls preflop, you may want to call.

If you hit any sort of draw on the flop, there is a good chance that this opponent will give you a free card on the turn.

This is why you can play more drawing hands against this sort of opponent, even if your draw is not stunning.

Need another example?

Let's say that there are five callers (including yourself and this opponent) before the flop and you have 6-7 off-suit.

The flop is K-8-4 and it's checked to this opponent. He bets.

As a result, you must call one small bet to win the six small bets in the pot.

Additionally, one or two other opponents may call behind you on the flop. But let's say you are only getting pot odds of 6-1 on the flop.

Should you call?

The chances of hitting a 5 on the turn or river are approximately 5-1.

However, if you fail to hit the five on the turn, you will probably have to fold, even if you called the flop.

Your odds of hitting a 5 on the river are 10-1 against and you probably won't be getting those sorts of pot odds on the turn.

SEE ALSO: WPT GTO Trainer Hand Review: Three-Betting From the Big Blind

So in reality, you are only calling on the flop to see if you can spike a 5 on the turn, since you won't continue to the river if you miss.

Therefore, the only odds of significance are the odds against hitting a 5 on the turn only.

Since you are approximately 10-1 against hitting a 5 on the turn card, you are not really getting the correct price to call on the flop.

However, if you know that your opponent will bet the flop, then check the turn and give you a free card, you should call the flop by all means.

The odds of hitting a 5 on either the turn or river are approximately 5-1 and since you will be getting a look at both cards for the price of a call on the flop, you can take those 5-1 odds because you are getting 6-1 from the pot, not to mention the large implied odds on offer and the possibility that some other early position opponents will call the flop behind you thereby increasing your pot odds.

This approach comes with three caveats based on the same reasoning.

• If this particular opponent bets again on the turn, you must fold. If it seems that this opponent is unreliable, or becomes unreliable, at automatically "betting the flop then checking the turn" you must abandon this strategy.
• If another player at the table picks up on this opponent's behavioural pattern as you have and starts messing up your plan by putting in fancy check-raises on the flop and betting our of position on the turn, stay away. Wait for the right time. This fancy player may soften up this opponent further, resulting in more free cards in subsequent pots.
• If this opponent is in an early position, this strategy won't be as effective. If he bets the flop and checks the turn, middle and late position players between you and him are probably going to bet the turn more often which disrupts your free card strategy.

Aside from the free card aspect of this sort of opponent, you should also never try to bluff or semi-bluff him on the turn.

SEE ALSO: How to Play Pocket Aces in Poker

In my opinion and experience, I have won much more money from players giving me free cards (when they shouldn't) than I have won by semi-bluffing.

This comes back to the motivation for his behaviour: he has a good hand but checks the turn to avoid being raised when the bets are doubled.

Therefore, he intends to call to the showdown and probably has a good enough hand to do so. Don't bluff a caller.

When to Use This Approach

Finally, you should use this bet the flop and check the turn strategy yourself when you are heads-up against a maniac with a reasonably good hand.

Let's say you have A-Q. The maniac raises, you call and it's heads up.

The flop is A-8-6. If you bet here (which I think you should), he will probably raise. In this case, you should simply check and call the turn and river.

This way you avoid losing big bets when you are genuinely behind and avoid being moved off the winning hand.

_{This article was originally published by Matthew Rochman in July 2005. Last update: February 2020.}