River Betting
In this article:
- What is unique about the river?
- River betting when you're heads up.
- River betting in a multi-player hand.
- River betting when you're heads up.
- River betting in a multi-player hand.
What is unique about the river?
The river card is the last card to come and this creates a few unique situations. There are no more cards that can improve your hand, so you are betting only on the cards you have. A semi-bluff is impossible. At the same time, your opponents can't improve their hands either, so any players who were drawing have either made their hand or missed it. What this means is that on the river, all bets are going to be either value bets to build up the pot or pure bluffs. With this in mind, there is no strategy to consistently use on the river. What you should do depends solely on the individual hand you're involved in and several factors included in that such as how strong your hand is and how many players are remaining in the hand.
River betting when you're heads up.
When you find yourself heads up at the river with only one other player in the hand, there are usually only two scenarios in which you got there. Either you made a strong hand early and were the aggressor throughout the hand, or you were drawing the whole time and calling bets made by your opponent. Each situation is unique and requires you think about several factors.
Lets start with a heads up river in which you started with a strong hand and had been the aggressor throughout the hand. If you started with a top pair or two pair, you were probably winning the hand and your opponent was likely drawing for most of the hand. So what should you do on the river? It depends on where you're sitting and whether or not your opponent made their hand.
If you have position and your opponent checks to you, it's usually wise to just make a call and not raise. If your opponent was drawing and missed their draw, they may be bluffing in a last ditch effort to win the pot and will not call a re-raise anyway. If they did make their hand and have you beat, then you will get called or more likely re-raised. So, lets look at the two situations from a mathematical point of view. If you have the winning hand and you call you win one bet and if you raise, your opponent will fold and you still win one bet. On the other hand, if your opponent made their draw and you call, you lose one bet, but if you raise, you lose at the minimum 2 bets. So calling can win you one bet and lose you one bet while raising can win you one bet and lose you at least two bets. Either move you make, you will only win one bet, but raising can cause you to lose more. The same situation applies if your opponent checks to you. The opponent will fold to your bet if they missed their draw and raise if they made it, so betting is still a no win scenario. Now, this is not a 100% true scenario. Every situation is different so you have to use your own judgement. If there are many second best hands that your opponent will probably make a call with, then you should bet or raise. If there is only one hand that you opponent could possibly be calling with and it beats you, then don't bet or raise.
If you're out of position, the situation is a little different. When you have to move first you don't have the advantage of seeing what your opponent is planning to do, so you have to make your decision without that information. In this situation, you usually want to lead out with a bet because whether or not he has a strong hand, he is most likely going to bet if you check. And, even if he has a somewhat strong hand, he is probably not going to raise you because by leading out first you show strength in your hand. If he does raise, then you have to use your judgement and decide whether or not you think he has you beat. Regardless of whether he has you beat and raises, you are only going to lose one bet here. There are some situation where you might want to check first, for example, if you're holding a top two pair, and a 3rd or 4th suited card hits on the river and you're quite sure your opponent hit the flush. The key point to remember here is that you should be more willing to lead out with a bet when you're out of position.
Lets start with a heads up river in which you started with a strong hand and had been the aggressor throughout the hand. If you started with a top pair or two pair, you were probably winning the hand and your opponent was likely drawing for most of the hand. So what should you do on the river? It depends on where you're sitting and whether or not your opponent made their hand.
If you have position and your opponent checks to you, it's usually wise to just make a call and not raise. If your opponent was drawing and missed their draw, they may be bluffing in a last ditch effort to win the pot and will not call a re-raise anyway. If they did make their hand and have you beat, then you will get called or more likely re-raised. So, lets look at the two situations from a mathematical point of view. If you have the winning hand and you call you win one bet and if you raise, your opponent will fold and you still win one bet. On the other hand, if your opponent made their draw and you call, you lose one bet, but if you raise, you lose at the minimum 2 bets. So calling can win you one bet and lose you one bet while raising can win you one bet and lose you at least two bets. Either move you make, you will only win one bet, but raising can cause you to lose more. The same situation applies if your opponent checks to you. The opponent will fold to your bet if they missed their draw and raise if they made it, so betting is still a no win scenario. Now, this is not a 100% true scenario. Every situation is different so you have to use your own judgement. If there are many second best hands that your opponent will probably make a call with, then you should bet or raise. If there is only one hand that you opponent could possibly be calling with and it beats you, then don't bet or raise.
If you're out of position, the situation is a little different. When you have to move first you don't have the advantage of seeing what your opponent is planning to do, so you have to make your decision without that information. In this situation, you usually want to lead out with a bet because whether or not he has a strong hand, he is most likely going to bet if you check. And, even if he has a somewhat strong hand, he is probably not going to raise you because by leading out first you show strength in your hand. If he does raise, then you have to use your judgement and decide whether or not you think he has you beat. Regardless of whether he has you beat and raises, you are only going to lose one bet here. There are some situation where you might want to check first, for example, if you're holding a top two pair, and a 3rd or 4th suited card hits on the river and you're quite sure your opponent hit the flush. The key point to remember here is that you should be more willing to lead out with a bet when you're out of position.
River betting in a multi-player hand.
When you're at the river with more than one other player in the pot things can get a little trickier. What you should do here depends on your position and the strength of your hand.
Some situations are quite obvious. For example, if you have the nuts, you're last to act, and the other two players check before you, of course you're going bet. There is no scenario in which betting here can hurt you because the other players have already checked and there is no possibility that they have you beat. On the other hand, if you have the nuts in early position, whether or not you should bet depends a lot on the other players still involved in the hand. If there is a high chance that one of the other players will bluff at the pot, then check and raise them when they bet. If you doubt they'll bluff at it, but may call a small bet then lead out yourself. Sometimes you can get really lucky and someone will re-raise you thinking you're bluffing. Other times you may lead out and watch every other player fold, or check and watch everyone else check behind you. That is going to happen and it's frustrating. But, it's not always going to be the case. Just make sure to take some time to analyze every hand and consider the chances of the other players calling or bluffing at the pot.
When you're at the river with a strong hand that can still be beat, this can be a more difficult situation. Let's say for example that you have trips, but there is a possible straight on the board. You're in middle position and the first player to act leads out with a bet. Of course you're not going to fold your trips. But should you call or raise? Lets look at the different possible scenarios. First lets say that you do have the winning hand. If the other players cannot beat your trips they are not going to call a raise, so you're going to win 1 bet with a raise. If you just call, lets imagine there is a 50% chance the player after you will make a call just based on the pot odds. So calling will win you 1.5 bets (the original bet, plus the call half of the time).
Now lets imagine that the original better has you beat. If you call, you lose only 1 bet, and if you raise, you'll most likely be re-raised and lost at least 2 bets, possibly 3 if you call the re-raise. So calling will only lose you 1 bet while raising will lose you at least two bets. So if we look at both scenarios, when you're winning and when you're beat, calling wins you the most bets and loses you the least.
This is just an example of one possible scenario, but hopefully it gives you an idea about what kinds of things you should be considering when you're betting on the river. You're not always going to be right, but as you can see very clearly here, in the long run, in certain situations, there is always a smart move to make that will win you the most when you have the best hand and lose you the least when you don't.
Some situations are quite obvious. For example, if you have the nuts, you're last to act, and the other two players check before you, of course you're going bet. There is no scenario in which betting here can hurt you because the other players have already checked and there is no possibility that they have you beat. On the other hand, if you have the nuts in early position, whether or not you should bet depends a lot on the other players still involved in the hand. If there is a high chance that one of the other players will bluff at the pot, then check and raise them when they bet. If you doubt they'll bluff at it, but may call a small bet then lead out yourself. Sometimes you can get really lucky and someone will re-raise you thinking you're bluffing. Other times you may lead out and watch every other player fold, or check and watch everyone else check behind you. That is going to happen and it's frustrating. But, it's not always going to be the case. Just make sure to take some time to analyze every hand and consider the chances of the other players calling or bluffing at the pot.
When you're at the river with a strong hand that can still be beat, this can be a more difficult situation. Let's say for example that you have trips, but there is a possible straight on the board. You're in middle position and the first player to act leads out with a bet. Of course you're not going to fold your trips. But should you call or raise? Lets look at the different possible scenarios. First lets say that you do have the winning hand. If the other players cannot beat your trips they are not going to call a raise, so you're going to win 1 bet with a raise. If you just call, lets imagine there is a 50% chance the player after you will make a call just based on the pot odds. So calling will win you 1.5 bets (the original bet, plus the call half of the time).
Now lets imagine that the original better has you beat. If you call, you lose only 1 bet, and if you raise, you'll most likely be re-raised and lost at least 2 bets, possibly 3 if you call the re-raise. So calling will only lose you 1 bet while raising will lose you at least two bets. So if we look at both scenarios, when you're winning and when you're beat, calling wins you the most bets and loses you the least.
This is just an example of one possible scenario, but hopefully it gives you an idea about what kinds of things you should be considering when you're betting on the river. You're not always going to be right, but as you can see very clearly here, in the long run, in certain situations, there is always a smart move to make that will win you the most when you have the best hand and lose you the least when you don't.
