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If you have an apparent four-card hand but have paired up and your opponent looks like he has a four-card hand you should rarely try to bluff in this situation. If you are first you should check and fold if he bets and if he is first and bets you should usually fold.
The situation where you have an apparent five-card hand, in other words, three good cards showing against an opponent who has only two good cards showing is a fairly automatic betting situation.
However, if your hand includes an 8 or 9 showing you may want to check if he has an apparent bike or six draw, especially if he is a player who knows that a bike draw is favored over a rough nine.
If there is, however, some chance that he has a pair you should almost always bet, even if you are afraid he will raise if he has not paired.
The one time where I would recommend a check in this situation is where you have two hidden pair and you are quite sure that he won’t fold. It is usually more profitable to try to get a free card in this spot and hope that sixth street comes good to you and bad to him, where you might now try to steal.
However, if you have only one pair, it is usually critical to bet even if your four-card actual hand is somewhat worse than his four-card hand. Suppose, for instance, you have 8-7-5 showing and he has:
Even if you have a pair and thus have a four-card eight-seven to his likely four-card smooth eight, it is mandatory that you bet. This is true even if you know that he has not paired and will certainly call you.
The reason for this, as originally explained in my book The Theory of Poker, is that it is important to make him fear that you have an eight-seven made already.
Now, if you catch a small card on sixth street and he catches another bad card he will probably fold fearing that he is drawing deal in that you may have a made a seven low whereas, in fact, you either made two pair or an eight-seven low.
In either case, hand he known this he would have called and would have been correct to do so. So your bet on fifth street has caused a possible mistake given that it comes good to you and bad to him on sixth street.
This is another example of creating situations that may result in your opponent making a mistake. It comes up all the time in razz.
One can generalize the rule to be that if you are first with what appears to be the stronger hand, and your hand would be good enough to call a bet, it is better to bet yourself and add the deception that may be used to your advantage on a later street poker.
The only time you should check a one pair but apparently made hand into an obvious four-card hand is if you are up against a very strong four-card hand that may raise if you bet. Thus, if you pair 7s, you can check.
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especially if you sometimes check a made eight-seven-five into a K-A-2. In fact, if you do check your eight-seven-five into his K-A-2 and you do have a pair of 7s, it is a bad call on your part if he bets and you know that he will only bet a smooth four-card hand.
So far most of these fifth street situations are fairly automatic and do not lend themselves to imaginative play. The main situation that does have a lot of play in it is where both you and your opponent have three good card showing.
The general rule to follow in this situation is The Theory of Poker rules that the better and more perceptive your opponent is the more you gain by tricking him.
The weaker he is the more reason to play your hand straightforwardly. However, very strong opponents may be best tricked by playing your hand straightforwardly since they won’t expect it from you. Suppose for instance, you have
and they have a
