As mentioned before No limit and limit texas hold em are two totally different games and should be approached as such. Below we give some advice on the strategy to be employed at the turn and the river stages of play for both games.

ON THE TURN

Limit Hold Em

Bets are doubled on the turn. It is therefore crucial that you have played your hand correctly so far. The stakes have gone up and the pot odds will have changed. You will also have some further information on the hands of your opponents and will thus be in a position to re-evaluate your hand. If you think that you have the best hand, do not be afraid to bet/raise in order to protect your hand. You will have a greater possibility of raising out draws on the turn since the bets are doubled. However do not enter into a raising war if your hand is not that good. Only draw if you have the correct pot odds to do so.

No Limit Hold Em

As a general rule you still want to hold the initiative and build the pot. If you were betting on potential rather than what you actually have, then re-evaluate after the flop and decide if you want to raise again. It is important not to call big bets if you only have a moderate hand. Bluffing is an overestimated part of poker and good players play percentages and don’t bluff that often. If you have some kind of draw and think that your opponent is semi-bluffing a small raise will be in order. They will then normally fold rather than pay to see the next card.

ON THE RIVER

Limit Hold Em

At the end of the hand if you do not make your draw now is the time to fold regardless of the pot size. One of the few times to try and bluff your opponents is when there is a large pot and a scare card appears. One of the differences between good and bad players is that the better players are prepared to fold a good hand if a flush and/or straight card hits and your opponents begin to raise. How many times have you lost a stack of money betting your pair of aces when if you were logical you could see that one of your opponents is more than likely to have a flush.

No Limit Hold Em

The rule is only bet if you are quite sure to win a showdown. As stated before bluffing in poker should only be done in specific instances and is not a good idea as a general rule. It can be hard but try and work out what cards your opponents could have, and how much you thing that they would bet on those cards. Also now is maybe the time to consider the check raise play, this is if you are sure that you definitely have the best hand. You’ll often see the pro’s betting small when they have the best hand, in these cases they are confident that nobody else has a good hand and if they made a large raise everybody would just fold, so a small raise will often be called resulting in a slightly larger pot for them to win.