Value Betting the River in No-Limit Hold’em
Carl Sampson | November 22, 2011
There are many instances where you need to value bet the river in no-limit play, even with marginal holdings. This is especially true against sophisticated opponents who have a good understanding of your ranges at all stages of the hand. Let’s say you only ever bet the river with very strong hands and bluffs, checking the rest for pot control. This strategy is incredibly unbalanced. If you bet the river, making it $75 into a $100 pot, your astute opponent can call you with anything that beats a bluff.
For example, if they have 7 of Any Color7 of Any Color on an Ace of Any ColorKing of Any ColorQueen of Any Color4 of Any Color4 of Any Color board and know you will check hands like Ace of Any Color3 of Any Color and King of Any ColorJack of Any Color, they can pressure you with a big river bet. They know that if you make a $70 bet on the river in a $170 pot, their $70 investment stands to make $170 if you have no hand. The call becomes easy for them.
The hand can be simplified into three possible types: strong and powerful hands, mediocre hands, and weak hands with fresh air. Your hand is weak, but your opponent will bet with all his fresh air type hands on the river. If your opponent only bets the river in these instances, you can call very widely.
This is why better players value bet the river; they understand polarized hand ranges. For example, if they have Ace of Any Color2 of Any Color, they will bet again on the river. Weaker players might not call down with worse hands, but better players would. They understand that stronger opponents will barrel more often, so they need to call down wider. In this instance, if a player knows he is likely to be called down by weaker hands because the opponent suspects a bluff, he may barrel again on the river with weaker hands than usual.
Carl “The Dean” Sampson
Carl “The Dean” Sampson is an online poker pro, coach and poker writer with many years experience in the poker and gambling industry. Carl has three published books and has written for many leading poker magazines like the WPT and Poker Pro Europe.
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