The turn card, or "4th Street" is the sixth of seven cards you will be using to make your Hold em hand. If you have stuck around for the turn, you either like your hand, like your hand's potential to improve, or figure the other poker players' hands are so weak that you have as good a chance to win the pot as anyone.

Price of poker going up
On the turn, the size of the bets double, so it will become twice as expensive to see the river as it was to see the cards up until this point. For this reason it is critical that you have some idea of the strength of your hand relative to what your opponents are holding. You can make this determination based on their prior betting actions, both in this hand, and in prior hands.

If you thought you had the best hand on the flop, and you continue to think you have the best hand on the turn, you should bet. Aggressive play is rewarded in Texas Hold'em, and the more pressure you can put on your opponents, the better chance you will have to win. Trouble comes when a turn card comes that can weaken your hand. Let's look at a few examples:

Problems with the ladies
You have Q, Q, raise before the flop and are called by three players. The flop is 4, 9, J with two clubs and you bet and are called by two players. Now the turn card is an A. This is a fairly bad card for you. It might be correct to check here, as many players will call before the flop with any Ace, and would call your bet on the flop with a hand like A, 9. If someone had A, J they would probably have re-raised on the flop, but they may be slow playing. This is where it is important to have developed a feel for your opponents' betting patterns. When you check now, you will almost certainly face a bet from one of the remaining two players. Is the player who bet someone who always bets when he is checked to, or does he only bet when he has a hand? Is this a player who routinely plays any Ace? Does he overvalue his hand, in other words, would he be likely to put in a bet here with just a Jack or a Nine? All things being equal, you should usually be prepared to call a bet here and on the river. It is certainly possible that your Queens are still good, and at this point there will be enough money in the pot that the amount you win when your Queens are good or when you hit another Queen on the river will probably be enough to cover the times when the Queens don't hold up. If one player bets and the other one raises, however, it's a good time to release the hand, as someone almost certainly has you beat.

Reading your opponents
Let's say instead that a three of clubs comes on the turn. Now you need to call on your memory of how these players play flush draws. Are these players likely to have called your pre-flop raise with any suited cards? Would they have called your flop bet with a flush draw? It certainly would have been correct to call on the flop, as the money they will win when their flush hits far outweighs the amount they will lose when they miss. If these are players who are not likely to play just any suited cards, you should bet here, or check and call. If they do like suited cards, it's okay to check and fold to a bet here. Be careful though, if players perceive you as someone who will fold to a bet every time a scare card comes, they will take a lot of pots away from you. Have faith in your reads and play aggressively and confidently, but don't be afraid to fold your hand when you are beat.

In a Limit game, you will make your money by getting away from hands as soon as possible when you are beat, and making opponents pay when you have the best of it. It is often correct to call a turn bet when the amount of money in the pot is very large, because even if you win infrequently you can win enough when you do win to cover many times when you lose in that same situation. While playing the flop, you should already be thinking about what you will do on the turn depending on what comes. Thinking ahead can also save or earn you bets.

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