Instroduction
Often we have following situation: We raised preflop and bet the flop and on the turn there is still 1 opponent left who checks to us.
Check or bet?
To find the correct answer we need to ask the correct question. So we need to consider the game situation combined with the board and the tendecy in which way our opponent plays:
Could he fold better hands?
If this is often true then we should bet nearly always.
If this is not true then we need to ask ourselves:
Do we have a double value bet?
This means to bet the turn and hope for a call from worse hands and with the intention to do the same again on the river.
If this is given then we should again bet nearly alwys the turn.
If we want to check the river behind then it may be better sometimes to do this on the turn instead.
Is my hand vulnerable? / Do we need to protect our hand?
If we often hold he best hand on the turn but there are many outs against us then we should tend to bet the turn again. The bigger the pot the more important it is to protect our hand with a bet. In small pots the bluffinduction gets more important.
If we are often behind but there is a good chance that our opponent might fold a better hand to a bluffbet then we should bet.
Do we have an easy decision against a check/raise?
If we have a clear and easy decsion against a check/raise (whether fold or calldown) then we should be inclined to bet again.
If we might have a dificult decsion to a check/raise because our hand is not very strong or the opponent is able to semibluff us then we should be inclined to take the freecard.
The same goes for middelstrong draws like a gutshot with which we can't call a check/raise very easily but don't want fold our outs either.
Is there a high chance to induce a bluff on the river?
If the opponent likes to bluff trash on the river when we showed weakness on the turn but would fold his hand either on the turn or river to a bet then we should be inclined to take a freecard on the turn.
If the opponent never bluffs on the river then we should be inclined to bet the turn.
These questions should be considered every time where we have a decsion on the turn and the best should be chosen.
Sample hands to this topic will follow this time 1 week later because one of it would reveal to much for this weeks vote. 