River Play - Basic Concepts
by Unam
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Introduction
In this article
This article discusses the particularities of river play and what specifics one should pay attention to. The next article then contains various examples of different spots and opponents that are analysed with special attention given to position.
Which problems do you face on the river?
As mentioned earlier, all the streets have their own problematic aspects, but the river is often underestimated in its importance. It's kind of like a real river - if you aren't careful you might get caught in the current.
Getting a proper feel for playing the river can be difficult. The human brain remembers standard situations and will try to fit everything into certain patterns. As a poker player, you know how extremely dangerous that can be. Consequently, you should analyze your hands on an individual basis instead of trying to categorize your play through past experiences and "standard" plays. At the end of the day, you can be satisfied if you come to the conclusion that your playing style garnered a positive expected value.
This type of learning is obviously very important, but you will only really benefit if you think all your decisions through in this manner and apply what you learn from one hand to a similar situation later on. As you start to develop and improve this thought process, you will find yourself making correct decisions much more often. A lot of experience and practice is needed in order to perfect this.
When you look at all the different streets, you will, of course, see most of the decisions you make in poker take place before the flop. As a result, your pre-flop abilities and strategies against different opponents are already very strong, and over time you have begun to make fewer mistakes.
Only at the very end do we get to the river. It's only logical that the last street is played relatively rarely compared to the three before it. When you look at your VPIP and "went to showdown" values, you will immediately see that you rarely have to make decisions on the river (in fact, you only do so roughly once every 25 hands). In other words, you gain comparatively little river experience.
This is very much a shame when you consider that the most expensive decisions are made on the river. By the river, the pot has normally become very large and, as bets in No-Limit Hold'em are always in proportion to the pot, so are your investments.
Moreover, there's a large difference between the river and all the other streets: The hands are complete and no more cards will be dealt. There are two opposing hands, of which one is better than the other and has the right to claim the pot. However, whether the best hand will actually take down the pot has yet to be decided.
You often regard the hand on the river as finished, where the only thing left is to reach the showdown. If you put your opponent on a draw, then he either got there and you will have to be careful, or he missed and you are very likely ahead. In that case, you should already have made the decision on the turn whether you want to induce a bluff on the river or value bet. However, by the end of the hand, people sadly often lose their last bit of focus and concentration.
Naturally, the odds also change. On the first street, you generally regard odds in the sense of, "what is the probability that one of my outs hits on the following streets?" You mostly assume you are behind, but mathematically you can relatively precisely calculate the probability of the next card giving you the best hand. So, with pot odds, implied odds, and a lot of experience you can determine whether a call with, for instance, a draw on the flop has a long-run positive expected value.On the river, you also get odds when an opponent bets; however, you can't rely on strict mathematics to guide you.
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em 11$ Tourney, Big Blind is t40 (10 handed)
Stacks & Reads
UTG (t2000)
UTG+1 (t2000)
UTG+2 (t2000)
MP1 (t2000)
MP2 (t2000)
MP3 (t2000)
CO (t2000)
Hero (t2000)
SB (t2000)
BB (t2000)
Preflop:
Hero is Button with A
, K
UTG calls 40, 2 folds, Hero raises to 200, 2 folds, UTG calls 160
Flop: (460) K, 3
, 4 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets 300, UTG calls 300
Turn: (1060) 5 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks
(2 players)UTG bets 500, Hero ???
This is a standard hand up until the turn, when you decided to check behind to induce a bluff. You could also play bet/call on the turn, since you are in a raised pot, but let's take a look at all your options first.
In this case, the opponent bets into you. You have to pay 500 in order to have a chance of winning 1560. That gives you odds of approximately 3 to 1, which means you have to be ahead one in four times for this to be a profitable call.
To use these odds can be difficult. Are you ahead one in four times? At first glance, you will see that a quick mathematical estimation isn't possible. It's exactly these types of situations that require experience, and it's obvious that you have to be careful, as the decisions in these spots are expensive.You can't simply use the Equilator, give your opponent a range and then see if you are ahead most of the time; you shouldn't fall into a certain pattern of thinking and end up always using the same lines. The size of the opponent's bet or raise can drastically change the odds and quickly turn the positive expected value of a call into a negative one.
The above example is clear: You have checked behind on the turn to induce a bluff, and because of the small size of the bet and the likelihood that the villain is bluffing, this is a must call with top pair/top kicker.
Nonetheless, it would be wrong to use the check behind turn/call any river line without also looking at the odds. A pot-sized bet in the same situation would warrant a bit more thinking and you certainly shouldn't blindly call a push.
What do you want to achieve on the river?
Roughly speaking, you have four different ways to play the river. Your options are:
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You bluff
You don't think you are ahead on the river but you want to try to push your opponent off of a better hand. Besides remembering the action and how the board developed, you also need some basic knowledge of the opponent and you have to keep your own table image in mind. Obviously, you can only pure bluff since all the cards have been dealt.
Your goal: To get a better hand to fold.
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You want to see a cheap showdown
If you have the opportunity, you would like to see the showdown for as little as possible. You estimate that your hand has some showdown value, but you don't think that you are very far ahead and therefore don't want to invest more than necessary.
Your goal: A favourable showdown.
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You want value
You see yourself as far ahead, regardless of whether the river helped you, or if your hand was already strong before the river. All your attention is focused on how best to extract as much money as possible from your opponent.
Your goal: To get maximum value for your strong hand.
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You give up
You see yourself as far behind and want to give up, as it is unlikely that your opponent will fold a better hand. For instance, you have missed your draw and don't consider bluffing an option - you can now give the hand up.
Your goal: You give the hand up and don't invest any more money.
The strength of your hand is, of course, a deciding factor. You can always place your hand in one of these rough categories:
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Weak Hand
You hand is weak and doesn't hold any showdown value. You may have a busted draw, unimproved overcards or maybe you called with a middle pair on the flop which later shrunk once further overcards were dealt on the turn and river.
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You have a made hand that is quite good and has showdown value, but it isn't necessarily the best hand. You may have overpairs or top pair/top kicker. Just as likely are hands which could have been outdrawn; for example, a set where a straight hit, or two pair on a suited board.
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Strong Made Hand
On the river you have a very strong hand. You see yourself ahead so often that you want to be paid off. You have the so-called nuts, or something very close, and it's very unlikely that the opponent has a better hand.
As you can see, you should bluff with a weak hand, try to get to the showdown with a made hand, play for value with a strong made hand. Only consider folding when you have a very weak hand.
Don't make the hand too expensive with a raise when you have a made hand and always value bet with a strong made hand.
The bluff induce doesn't fulfil its purpose until the later streets. Often, you use this move on the turn where you are in a position to check behind to induce a bluff bet on the river.
It can also be used for the same purpose when you are out of position on the river. A lot of the time, when you have showdown value, you will try to induce a bluff with a check to get higher expected value from an opponent whose range includes hands he is likely to bluff with.
You are in position
Now an important question presents itself: What is the best way to reach the goal of each of these options? In this section, we will look at how to play in position and how best to arrive at your objective depending on what type of opponent you are facing.
No matter what situation you find yourself in, it is almost always best to act in position when playing No-Limit Hold'em. This is also true on the river. You get substantially more information on the strength of your opponent's hand and can thus make better informed decisions.
When you are in position, you only have to face two possible scenarios: Either your opponent checks the river to you or he bets. In each case, you have three possible ways to react. You should choose from these based on the above-mentioned thoughts weighed carefully against the above-mentioned criteria.
On the river it's important that you determine where you stand with your hand. If you think you are behind, then you can bluff or give up. On the other hand, if you think you are in a way ahead/way behind situation with a medium strength made hand, you want reach the showdown as favourably as possible, either calling a bet or checking behind. Lastly, when you think you are clearly ahead, you want value for you hand.
You have an easy decision if he checks to you. Make a standard check behind with a hand good enough for a showdown - you will be ahead sometimes and don't really expect your opponent to call if he has a weaker hand. Bet when you think you are clearly ahead and bluff when you have a weak hand, but think you can make your opponent fold.
You'll have to do more thinking if he bets. As mentioned earlier, you now have the advantage of position and his bet gives you information on his hand.
You can call when you want to see the showdown. The question is simply whether it is +EV. Unfortunately, that can't be answered with a standard response without taking into consideration the bet size, the river card and the previous action. The same is true for a bluff.
The only way to win with a bluff is to raise (or even shove in a raised pot). This obviously has to work often to be successful over time; your opponent is indicating a very strong hand. Good reads are a big advantage when you are deciding if he can fold his hand regularly enough for the play to work. Don't risk your stack on slick moves against unknown opponents.
Raising is also viable when you have a very strong hand. You wouldn't be wrong to question the actual strength of your hand one more time in this situation. Is your hand really that strong (close to the nuts)? Are there enough hands in this range that he plays bet/call with on the river? If that is, indeed, the case, then a raise is probably good idea. You can also just call when in doubt - he is indicating a very strong hand, after all.
Needless to say, the way the river is played isn't only of importance to you, but also to your opponent, and you will both face the same problems.
It is important to assess what type of opponent you are up against so as to better understand how he plays.
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The standard type
A standard player normally plays a hand with downwards-sloping aggression and doesn't keep going full throttle once he has reached the river. Hence, he will often bet a lot on the previous streets but go into check/call mode on the river. Generally, these types are good players such as TAGs or alternatively LAGs with hands that want to see the showdown. When facing a standard type, you have to consider whether a bluff makes sense and whether the possible fold equity is enough to warrant it. You should, of course, value bet with a very strong hand.
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The weak-tight type
The weak-tight type mostly gets cold feet on the river because of the large pots. Even if he shows flashes of aggression on the flop and turn, he won't keep going on the river. At this point, he will often also go into check/call mode, which other weak-tight players have already done on the earlier streets. Normally the weak-tight is either a calling station or a rock. Here it is again important to consider if you really have fold equity, should you choose to bluff. This type of player will generally hold stronger hands on the river, and even if he has a monster, he may just check. A bet by this player should be taken very honestly and indicates that he has a hand, so you should ask yourself whether paying for a showdown with a marginal hand is really +EV.
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The aggressive type
The opponent that causes the most problems is the aggressive type. Not only because you generally have to make more expensive decisions when playing against him, but also because it can be difficult to assess what his aggression means (does he have a hand or not?). Having a higher river AF than turn AF is a distinguishing feature of this type of player.
This river aggression can stem from two things: Either it's because the player wants to exploit your possible weakness on the river and get you out of the hand. A bluffer.
Or maybe the villain often wants to induce a bluff on the turn, but then had to value bet the river after you checked behind. A slowplayer.
The issue should be clear. In the first case you are facing a bluff, which you are ahead of with most hands. On the other hand, if he is slow playing, you are usually running into a monster that didn't start betting until now. It can be difficult to spot which of the two you are up against, and you will have to use all the information you have gathered about your opponent to see if you can make a distinction.
Maniacs with a high VPIP that also have a high PFR often attempt to push you off your hand since their relative hand strength is far behind your range. Because the aggression among almost all players decreases on the river, it is a convenient spot to make really weird bluffs. A low "Went to Showdown" value is another indicator of this kind of player.
Maniacs that have a high VPIP but a low PFR frequently tend to be calling stations. A higher "Went to Showdown" value completes the picture of someone whose aggression you can assume to be much more unfounded than, say, if you were against the type that slow plays monsters.
You are out of position
By now, you should know that being out of position is a huge disadvantage and that you should therefore try to act in position as often as possible. Nevertheless, it's a situation that can't always be avoided, and you should still play good hands aggressively from earlier positions.
Regardless of how the hand developed up until this point, you will face a difficult decision if you are out of position on the river. Other than asking ourselves whether we can make meaningful bluffs, we will now also look at how to get maximum value out of your strong hands.
Your two standard options are: Either you check or you bet. However, there is also a third less conventional option. Other than your normal value bet of about 2/3 pot size (which you can vary in size on the river since protection is unnecessary), you can use a so-called block bet.
The block bet can have multiple purposes. By block betting, you attempt to even out your the positional disadvantage while also buying some valuable information for a favorable price (block bets are normally smaller than a normal bet). For this to work, though, you have to be sure the villain won't bluff raise.
You should add the block bet to your repertoire, which should already consist of a normal-sized bet and checking, and carefully consider when you can profitably use it.
You assume you don't have any showdown value and that you are behind on the river. Furthermore, you don't see much chance of getting the villain to fold by betting. Remember that a bluff doesn't make any sense if you don't have enough fold equity. You simply give the hand up.
When you check/call you move into a situation similar to way ahead/way behind. You don't want to pay off strong hands, however, when possible, you would like to see a cheap and favourable showdown. This situation is quite rare on the river, as opposed to on the flop and turn where check/calling is common.
First off, you have to estimate the value of your hand and assess if you have any showdown value. Even with showdown value, there is no longer any need to protect, as all cards have been dealt. Contrary to the turn, the villain will bluff often enough for a call to frequently be +EV when you have showdown value.
The board plays a very large part. Check/calling with a hand like TPTK is a very good option when you think your opponent is on a busted draw, for example. An aggressive opponent will often interpret your check as weakness and bluff bet with a missed draw and no showdown value.A check/call is also possible when you are holding a very marginal hand, such as top pair with a bad kicker. You want to see the showdown, and you think the opponent is capable of betting with a worse hand but rarely calling with one.
At the same time, check/calling isn't always a standard option, and it heavily depends on the bet and pot size. There are situations where you can easily call a ½ pot size bet, but should fold to a push.
The check/raise is a weapon that you should only use if you have already used it on the flop or turn.
The basic conditions needed for a check/raise are a very strong hand and an aggressive opponent. To do so, you should have reason to believe that your opponent is capable of bluffing on the river AND calling a raise (in most cases an all-in push) with a weaker hand. These types of situations are very rare, and many players have difficulty spotting them (and playing them) correctly.
Bet/folding should be done with caution. You have to be sure of exactly what you are trying to accomplish. A strong bet on the river normally costs a lot, and you have to be willing to give it up if you get raised.
You can make this move when you sure that your opponent has a weak hand that he will not bet with, but will take to the showdown. You also have to accept the fact that you have the 2nd best hand if he raises and refrain from investing any more.
Generally, a play like bet/folding lends itself best to situations against bad loose-passive players and calling stations that won't raise anything but the nuts.
Bet/call is one of the easiest options. If you are holding a very strong hand that you are willing to go broke with, you should bet against almost every opponent instead of attempting to check/raise (which would probably be contradictory to your earlier actions anyways).
Should, for instance, a flush draw have missed, check/call would be a better option. By using it, you can induce a bluff. Remember, it is extremely important that a decision to call is only made after carefully having looked at the pot odds.
However, consider a situation in which a draw may have completed. You have a hand like top pair top kicker, or a weak two pair, but don't see yourself ahead. Check/call is no longer profitable, because it's unlikely you are ahead often enough to call a 2/3 pot-sized bet. Moreover, you are not at all interested in inducing a bluff, since you think you are behind against most hands in your opponent's betting range.
All in all, you don't want to pay off stronger hands; and at the same time, you don't want to give up cheaply. Your choice of action: block bet.
This is based on the fact that your opponent will bluff raise much less often than he will bluff bet. If he has the intention of bluffing with a poor hand on the river, then he is likely to throw it away against a block bet. If he does raise, it's usually a sign that he has a stronger hand and that you should give up yours.Unfortunately, this doesn't work against all players. You will want to do this against bad players, regardless of how you categorize them. The opponent shouldn't be able to understand what you are trying to achieve with the block bet. For example, you might get value from weaker hands against calling stations who are known for taking weak hands to showdown. You will also stop an aggressive player from bluffing.
The block bet is a useful addition to your arsenal. You either get additional value for your hand, or find out where you stand when an opponent raises.
Block bet/calling is an option you have to study closely before you can make any sense of it. At first, it can seem strange since the definition of a block bet says you have to fold to a raise (otherwise it would be a value bet).
Nevertheless, there are two exceptional situations in which it can work:
- There are situations where your block bet is countered by a min-raise. As mentioned, odds still play an important role on the river. If you are being offered good odds against a min raise, since your block bet is normally 1/4-3/4 pot-size, you can still consider a call if you think your opponent is only out to make a move.
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You might also face a reverse block bet when playing against a thinking player. When you know your opponent is familiar with block bets and knows you are capable of one, he may consider bluff raising with nothing. Therefore, it sometimes makes sense to fake block bet with a strong hand to induce a bluff bet that you can profitably call. Before you do this, though, you should have very precise reads on your opponent.
Conclusion
You will face many difficult and expensive decisions on the river. Based on your presumed hand strength, the way the board developed as well as any reads on your opponent, You have to decide what options are appropriate for the situation at hand based on the strength of your hand, the reads and information you have on your opponent, as well as the cards on the board and the action that has already taken place.
Position is also crucial. As we have discussed, being in position brings with many advantages: Among other things, you have the benefit of deciding whether you are happy to see the showdown for the proposed price or if you would prefer value (or even bluff) betting.
Things are tougher out of position; your opponent will get to have the last say. You should keep the above-mentioned options in mind and always ask yourself exactly what you are trying to achieve with a check or a bet.
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