Titel Poker Strategy IX - Stud Poker: Buying the Free Card Autor/Erfasser/Quelle Richard Honegger System powered by HELP.ch Headline You may have heard about players buying a free card. I know that I didn't understand what this meant for quite a while. But it is not an advanced move, and it's used almost routinely in many games. Here's how it works. Let's say that on Fourth Street you have an exposed 2-Flush (8c-Jc)7cKc. Your opponent with (x-x) As9d bets $10 in this $10/20 game. Naturally, with a little less than a 50% chance of hitting your flush and almost surely ...

You may have heard about players buying a free card. I know that I didn't understand what this 
meant for quite a while. But it is not an advanced move, and it's used almost routinely in many 
games. Here's how it works. 

Let's say that on Fourth Street you have an exposed 2-Flush (8c-Jc)7cKc. Your opponent with (x-x)
As9d bets $10 in this $10/20 game. Naturally, with a little less than a 50% chance of hitting your 
flush and almost surely winning the hand, you're going to the River with it unless your opponent 
catches something extremely scary. So you might normally call. 

Instead, you can sometimes raise with that 4-Flush. You've given yourself a few new ways to win, 
enlarging a pot for yourself if you do catch the Flush, and also won yourself a free card on Fifth 
Street if you don't hit your suited card. 

What's likely to happen is that your opponent will call your raise on Fourth - although if he was 
betting with only the Ace high then he might fold to your raise. But, in any event, unless he hits 
another Ace or makes trips or something strong he's likely to check to you on Fifth Street. This 
allows you to either continue to push your hand or, more likely, to check behind him if you 
haven't caught your third suited up card for the Flush. Since the bets double on Fifth Street you 
are actually buying a free Fifth Street card for the half price of a raise on Fourth Street. 

Now, lest you go crazy with this move, realize that some players are sophisticated enough to 
recognize what you're doing. And they will re-raise you on Fourth to make your draw more expensive 
by two small bets rather than one. They will also lead out with a bet on Fifth if you don't hit 
another suited card - figuring that you were on a flush draw. This denies you the advantage of a 
free card, defeating the entire reason for the move in the first place. So be selective. Done 
sporadically or against unsophisticated opponents it is an excellent move that you should add to 
your arsenal. 

Free cards, as they're called, can be "bought" on any street but the River - though they are most 
common on Fourth and Fifth Street. Just keep in mind that you can sometimes raise with the 
intention of freezing your opponents normal inclination to lead bet on the next round. Keep in 
mind that this only works if he is likely to have the highest board on the next round of betting. 
Your move doesn't succeed if you are first to go on the next round - as your checking will show 
weakness and invite your opponent to bet. 

There is some additional collateral advantage to using this move from time to time - and it comes 
at the expense of your best opponents. If you actually do hit a monster on Fourth - perhaps when 
you started with a hidden pair and hit trips with your second up card - they will remember that 
you make this move to buy a free card on Fifth when you have a Flush draw. And they won't give you 
credit for really having a hand. You'll be able to raise with (QhQd)KsQs for example and get your 
knowledgeable opponent to call or even re-raise you, thinking that you're just pushing your 
drawing hand with a raise. This can pay enormous dividends - especially if you get another pair 
and he still assumes you're on a drawing hand.