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No Limit Hold'em Cash Game Strategy - Betting On The River
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Author: Marc
 No-Limit Cash Games - Analysis Of A Poor River Bet
February 17 - There are times in poker, particularly no-limit hold'em poker where a bad bet will make you money. There is luck involved in every hand so by all means stack those chips and chuckle (inwardly please) but realize that the play you made was unprofitable in the long run. I'm going to take you through a hand of this nature that was played out earlier today on Poker Stars.
I was at a $3/$6 no-limit table with $240 in front of me. I sat down 30 minutes earlier with $125 so everything was going smoothly enough. For the hand in question I was closest to the button of the three players who saw the flop, so last to act. I made it $12 to go and the small blind and big blind both called. I held 66.
The flop came 6-8-J an almost perfect flop for my hand. The small blind was a weak player but the big blind had $750 in front of him and had played very solid poker for the past half an hour. Small blind checked and the big blind led out with $24 bet. The pot contained $60 and I called the $24 after some hesitation, hoping to induce a call from the small blind. He called as well.
The turn was a 5, with no flush draws on the board. Both players checked to me. The pot contained $108 and I was happy to take it down at this point.
I bet $42. The small blind folded but the big blind called. The river was a 9. The big blind checked to me, and this is when I made my mistake.
A rush of blood to the head caused me to go all-in for my remaining $162. This was a very poor play and hopefully you can see why based on the betting patterns. The good player went into the tank, and when he eventually called I was convinced he had me beaten, either with a 7 or a set of 9s.
My set of sixes held up to take down a very big pot of over $500. The big blind mucked and I did not go into the hand histories to see what he held but I'd guess it was J9 or possibly a badly played overpair to the board, but I'd like to give my opponent more credit than that.
Why was this hand played badly, especially if it won?
This is the mistake most average and poor poker players make: If they win a big pot they rarely stop to analyze what transpired and examine whether their actions were correct. They also often fail to see their own bad play if the outcome was favorable. If you hope to become a good or great (or profitable) player you need to go through these steps and do so objectively.
I should have checked on the river. That would have been the correct play, because there was almost no upside to my bet on the river.
If he was trapping me with a made straight then I had fallen for it cold. If he checked because he thought he was beaten then he would fold to any bet I made, and since I did have a hand there was no point in pushing him to muck. In addition, his betting pattern for the entire hand suggests quite clearly that he had no intention of folding.
This is a very typical situation in poker - you have the betting lead going to the river and it is checked to you. You can either end all betting now and see if your hand holds up, or you can place a bet and open the door to a massive check-raise, a tame fold, or a weak call. If you haven't shaken off your opponent(s) by betting on the flop and/or the turn and you do not have an unbeatable hand my counsel is to step back for a second. Do not let greed cost you everything you have at the table. If someone is willing to check down hands and your own hand is decent but not invulnerable it is frequently an offer worth accepting.
There are many good spots for a bet on the river. The best is when you know you have a winning hand and you want your opponent to bleed a little extra. It is also a good idea if you believe that one more push will knock your opponent off her hand. But if you're uncertain and betting because you are uncertain it is a poor strategy and it will cost you money in the long run.
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> Online Poker Strategy The Absolute Poker Way
> No-Limit Hold Em Cash Game Strategy - Sample Hand Analysis
> The Ghost In The Machine - Reading Poker Hands
> The Key To Winning At Hold'em - Part 1
> Shorthanded Limit Hold'em - The Advantages
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