Practical Poker Math

Before the Last Card
After the Turn card has hit the board you have only 1 more
card to come and only one more chance to improve your
hand. But as we’ve said before: hand improvement is not the
only way to win the pot.
With 1 card to come there are still 2 rounds of betting to
come. In most limit games those rounds are at a higher stake
than the first two.
With the higher cost to continue and the hand mostly made,
players should have a precise strategy in order to remain
involved.
At this juncture there are 3 ways you can win the pot:
1. Have the best hand and show it down on the River
2. Improve to the best hand on the last card and show
it down on the River
3. Make a Bet,Raise or Check-Raise now and/or on
the River that causes your opponent(s) to fold.
Knowing the likelihood that you can manipulate your opponent(s)
into giving up the hand is a very important part of
knowing your Total Odds of winning the pot. This makes
knowing your opponents and their behavior an essential element
to combine with the basic mathematical odds of
improvement.
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Before the Last Card