The Free Card Play
The free card play only applies to Limit games. It is a bet or raise on the flop made in order to see the river card for free. Let’s say you’ve got a flush draw on the flop, a player in front of you bets, and you raise with the intention of checking through the turn if you don’t hit. You don’t need to be on a draw to do it; you can make one with a marginal made hand as well. The reason the free card play makes sense is that a bet on the turn is double the size of a bet on the flop. Instead of paying one and a half small bets (calling a bet on the flop and on the turn), you get to see the turn and river for one small bet (the bet and raise on the flop, no action on the turn). A free card play can only be made in limit poker, on the flop, with position.
There are some drawbacks to the free card play when playing online poker. The biggest danger is getting reraised on the flop. If you are reraised, it will cost you 2.5 small bets to see the final two cards. You’re risking a full extra small bet when you make the free card play, and you only save half a bet when it’s you successful. This means that you should be much less inclined to make the play against aggressive opponents, especially if you’ve seen them three-bet flops with regularity. (This is a very good reason to routinely three-bet the flop when out of position, your opponents may well be making a free card play). There is another danger when you make the play with a made hand rather than a draw: if your opponent was bluffing, they won’t bluff off another bet on the turn (and possibly a third on the river). You should be much more inclined to make the free card play with a draw rather than a made hand.
The best time to go for a free card is when you’re playing against a loose-passive opponent (not only heads up, if multiple opponents are loose-passive). Aggressive opponents are bad because they three-bet often, and tight opponents are bad because they might fold to a bet on the turn. Against tight players, you shouldn’t take the free card, you should just bet again, as a semi-bluff. The free card play is an important part of any good poker strategy, but you need to be careful about the situations you use it in.
