THE TURN.  On the turn,  if you make your straight,  you will be playing it hard. However,  you really have to lay it down if there are four suited cards  -–  here you are likely up against a flush.  Don’t be a chump and donate money to a made hand.  Yes,  it stinks making your hand and not having it be good,  but would you rather spend a stack on the turn and river bets,  or lay down the hand and save your ammo for the time when you hit the flush against the straight?

If there are three suited cards showing,  or the board is paired,  and you do make your straight,  you cannot play passively.  You have a hand,  so play it hard.  Bet if first to act,  and raise if you have to act after another player has bet. If it is two bets to you on the turn,  re-raise if you have the nut straight but fold if you have the low end of a straight.  This may seem overly aggressive at first,  but a player with a flush or boat will fire back at you again if you raise  -–  by just calling you get no information.  This is why in poker you often want to be the raiser or the folder but not the caller.

If you are still on a draw to the nut straight,  see the hand to the river in most cases.  If there is heavy action on a board with three suited cards or that is paired,  get out of the way as you are probably drawing to the second-best hand. You can call a raise if you already have money in the pot,  but if you are not on a flush draw as well you need to lay the hand down.  Here,  the bets have gone up in a limit game,  so because you only have 8 outs and may be drawing dead, proceeding to the river is not worth the trouble.

THE RIVER.  On the river,  your play should be fairly obvious.  If you have made your straight,  play it hard by betting and raising with it.  Again,  slow down only if you think you are beat  –-  for instance there is no need to raise with four of the same suit or trips showing on the board unless you have a perfect read on a player.

One of the most important things to remember when you hit your straight is to be very careful when you have the low end.  For instance, let's say you have T4 and are the big blind,  and the board is 5-6-7-K-8.  If there was heavy action on the flop or turn you should have been out of the hand.  But if you had a free ride to the river,  just call if there has been a bet;  fold if players fire back at you,  or you face more than one big bet.

Finally,  always call for one bet if you have invested heavily in the pot.  For instance,  suppose you made your straight on the flop,  and banged away only to have two running cards of the same suit on the turn and river.  You think you are beat by a player who hit his flush who bets.  Folding here is a bad play, because you have a lot invested.  You may very well be beat,  but unless you know your opponent very well,  call.  It’s not that big a deal to lose another bet, but to lose a large pot is a disaster.  When it is just one bet to call,  fold a straight on the river only if the pot is very small and you are confident that you do not have the best hand.  When it is two bets or more,  you can be more liberal in laying down your hand,  especially if:  It is not the nut straight,  the board is paired,  or there are four cards of the same suit showing.

Other Keys to Success.  An additional key to the play of straight draws that will help you is to avoid playing inside-straight draws that do not have other outs. The saying  “Never draw to an inside straight”  isn’t exactly true.  You can in some situations  -–  for instance, when you have a draw to the nut-flush,  top pair or middle pair with a big kicker,  or when you have two overcards.  But most of the time,  the odds do not justify staying involved.  Limp to see the turn for a bet only if the pot is very large and you are getting the right pot odds.  You also want to be drawing to the nut straight,  which is another reason why you must avoid middle and low unsuited connectors.  They will just get you into trouble. That means avoiding the temptation to chase draws that look better than they are.  Playing the big cards means you will be drawing to the big end of the straight;  playing middle unsuited connectors can cause you to get sucked into paying off bigger straights.

Another situation you do not want to miss is the  “double gutshot”  straight draw. Situations arise where it looks like you are just on an inside straight draw,  but you may in fact have more outs than it first seems you have.  For instance,  we'll say you hold T9 and were the little blind.  The flop came 8-K-J.  Either a seven or a queen would give you your straight.

You also always want to be watching your opponents to pick up on a tell.  For instance,  when the board paired did they reach for the chips right away?  When the fourth club hit the board did they bet out of turn in excitement?  When the river card came,  making three of the same suit on the board,  did they raise immediately in the online game?  There is more to poker than just your cards  -–  never lose an opportunity to gain information from your opponents.  Watch what they expose on the river when they turn up their cards,  or get hand histories in online games,  and use that information to help you determine what to do when you and your opponent(s) are in the same pot.

Finally,  avoid playing  “lucky”  hands, that you had a big win with at one time,  or saw your favorite pro get lucky with on TV.  You hear this all the time at the poker table:  “That’s my lucky hand,  I just had to play it.”  There is an amount of luck in poker,  but there is also skill.  You can bring a rabbit’s foot,  a four-leaf clover,  or a lucky charm with you to the table,  but that will not overcome the reality of math. Most poker players are superstitious;  I myself am prone to think there is some curse on me when I go a long time without winning,  or  “run bad.”  Such thinking is foolish,  and I know that.  How you come out over the long haul will be determined by when you folded,  called or raised at the right or wrong times.

Unsuited connectors can be tricky to play at first,  and playing them wrong by chasing is a flaw in many people’s games.  Start out with the big cards,  don’t chase for the low end of a straight or an inside-straight draw unless you have other outs,  and always be aware of the grim possibility that you are drawing to the second-best hand so you can get out of the way instead of being dead money for your opponent.