THE TURN
The turn card was another 3, giving a board of 9 
8 
3 3 
. Now we get a surprise. The first three players checked.
Until now it was pretty safe to assume that someone had an 8 or a 9, and that our pocket 4s were not the best hand, but with everyone checking it starts to look as if everyone has some kind of a draw.
Maybe flush draws, straight draws, or overcards. With the 9 and 8 on the board, a lot of players would call a bet on the flop with a hand like K J and then check on the turne. If that’s the case, it’s important to bet.
Betting requires a major shift in thinking at this point. Until now we were playing passively, assuming we didn’t have the best hand and would have to passively play catch-up in order to end up with the best hand.
Now it looks like we might actually have the best hand.
It even looks as if no one else has much of a draw, but a lot of cards can still beat us. The other players just don’t realize it.
A bet may very likely cause players who have nothing except cards larger than a 4 to fold; they won’t realize that they are getting the right pot odds to beat our measly pair of 4s.
Our hero bet. This bet was probably a key play in this hand a couple of the players folded,a couple of them called.
THE RIVER
The last card was a Queen, and it didn’t make the poker flush. The final board was 9 8 3 3 Q .
Everyone checked. Our hero showed his pocket 4s; everyone folded. The 4s were enough to win it.
Without knowing more about the players, checking was really the only reasonable option our hero had.
If we knew more about the other players though, there are times when it would be right to bet in this situation. There are players who don’t call often enough on the river and would fold an 8.
There are also players who call way too much and might call with an Ace for high. If two remaining poker players have those kind of habits, a bet might be considered.
Under normal circumstances though, checking is pretty automatic.
