Texas Hold'em for Beginners - Playing the River

When the river is dealt, you should have a pretty good idea of what your opponent might have. The board will often tell you if they might have made a draw. If you are sure you still have the best hand, bet/raise. You are more likely to be called when the action has been heavy and the pot is big. Also, bet against players that call too much, they are likely to call with very poor hands. Don't bet or raise when there is an obvious straight or flush on the board unless you have it or have it beat. Don't get carried away with your straight or flush when there is a pair on the board for fear of a full house or quads. If someone made a set, any board pair fills them up. You want to get all the extra bets you can with your best hands, but you only want to get into a raising war when you have the nuts.

Also, whenever you bet on the river, you are most likely to be called only when you are beat (when your opponent thinks they have you beat). And, by checking you avoid being raised or check raised by a player who made their hand on the river. It makes a bad beat even worse when you lose an extra big bet on the river to some jackass who made a terrible play and got lucky. Do not give a bad player any extra profit for their bad play. You've done your job and played it aggressively to try to force your opponents out of the pot. If they pay to the river, they have seen all their cards and now you will often just want to show them your hand and take your money.

If they made something on the river, and get tricky and try for a check raise, you will be the one laughing when you check right behind them and save two big bets. They were unlikely to call you anyway if they missed. If you are out of position in this case, you will only save one bet (again the importance of position). Even out of position it is still often better to check on the river. Your bet is still unlikely to be called unless you are beat, and you may induce a bluff by checking.

If you are not sure if you have the best hand, check and call. The odds you are usually getting are good enough for a call even with a mediocre hand. If there is 10 times the amount you have to call in the pot, you only have to win one in ten times to break even. If you know you are beat, check and fold (like if you miss your draw and end up with nothing). If you have been bluffing the whole time, and have only one opponent that has been cold calling you the whole way, it might be worth one more bet here if you think your opponent was drawing and failed to draw out. Most of the time, you will be called and lose, but you are most likely getting good odds to bluff in this situation. You only have to win a small percentage of the time for this bet to be profitable.

Acknowledgments:

I would like to thank Abdul Jalib for what I believe to be the best most concise preflop strategy that I have ever come across. The preflop strategy and some aspects of chasing presented here were especially influenced by Abdul. David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, Mike Caro, and Doyle Brunson have also contributed significantly to my ideas about hold'em, but that is not to say they would agree with my playing recommendations. I would also like to thank Dewey Barich for his much-appreciated help with editing.

- Jeff "Ace of Spades"

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