Post-flop: How to Play on the River

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The river is the final street in Hold'em. There are no further cards. This is where the last value raises are made and busted draws get their last chance to bluff.

To make the right decisions on this street, you often have to consider the action on previous streets and decide which hands your opponent can have after the flop and turn.

You have more information than on previous streets, which is very important. Hand reading skills are now required for you to decide whether you should value bet or try to make your opponent bluff. Let's start by asking what the purpose of a bet on the river is.

What is the purpose of a river bet?

Of course, a river bet can have purposes other than getting value. Take a look at the following example.

You are in the small blind, facing one opponent. You are on the river.
The board is A J T 9 4

Suppose you could see your opponent's cards, but your opponent couldn't see yours. Should you bet or check in the following situations?

Situation	Your cards	Opponent's cards
A	K , Q	3 , 2
B	3 , 2	5 , 2
C	5 , 2	3 , 2
D	K , Q	9 , 8

• Situation A: You should check. You may hold the nuts, but you can't expect your opponent to call. Thus, a bet has no value. If, on the other hand, you check, then your opponent may decide to bluff, allowing you to win an extra bet.

• Situation B: You should bet. Your opponent may have a very bad hand, but it still beats yours. Your opponent will have to fold if you bet, since he can't see any value in calling with 5 high (which, of course, is true).

• Situation C: You should check for the same reasons as in Situation A. You may not be holding the nuts, but you have a better hand than your opponent.

• Situation D: You should bet. Your opponent obviously won't fold here. Therefore, you get value by betting. You may even get raised, in which case you can 3-bet. You could also consider slow playing with check/raise, as your opponent is very likely to bet. You will find reasons for not check/raising in such a situation later on in this article.

Looking at the example, we see that there are exactly two reasons for betting on the river:

• You can make a worse hand call (Situation D).
• You can make a better hand fold (Situation B).

You should only bet on the river when one of these possibilities is likely.

Therefore, you have to ask yourself the following question when considering a river bet:

• Which worse hands will call?
• Which better hands will fold?

7 Rules for River play

Now that you have a rough idea of when you should bet the river, we can start talking about real river play. Below is a list of seven rules that you can use as guidelines to give yourself a feel for play on the river.

• Don't fold what could be the best hand in a big pot
  You feel that you are behind most of the time and consider folding. However, in big pots you often get such good odds, that the few cases in which you are ahead are enough to justify a call.

• Do fold when you're certain you're beat
  If analyzing the situation makes it clear that you have the worst hand, fold.

• Bet strong hands for value
  If a weaker hand will call often enough, then you should bet to get value from your strong hand on the final street.

• Only bet with made hands if you want to get called
  If you think your opponent will call with too many better hands and too few weaker hands, just check.

• Induce bluffs
  If you think you will only get called by better hands, but that worse hands will bluff if you check, then you shouldn't bet. This way you induce bluffs.

• Make the occasional bluff when you're certain you have the worst hand
  You feel that you usually have the worst hand and automatically opt for a fold. However, there are situations in which better hands will fold to a bet. In this case, you should attempt a bluff to try to take the pot down.

• Avoid check/raises on the river
  You have a strong hand, but fear that your opponent will either fold or flat-call if you bet, and will not raise. Despite this, you should still bet directly instead of trying a tricky check/raise.

Don't fold what could be the best hand in a big pot

Fixed Limit Hold'em isn't a game in which you should often fold to a single bet in a big pot. In the basic section, you learned not to play too loosely. You should be able to realize that you are behind as quickly as possible and then continue according to the odds and outs. Pot odds, and therefore pot sizes, are especially important on the final street of the game. If you hold a strong hand and have already invested a lot on the flop and turn, then you shouldn't just fold to one Big Bet, even if you think you are often behind. The pot is simply too large and your odds too good.

Therefore, it is important to evaluate precisely how often you are ahead. Due to the pot size, you have to consider all possibilities, even the ones that would usually seem very unlikely. For example, if you are getting pot odds of 19:1 and your opponent bluffs 5% of the time, this is still enough to justify a call. You just have to win the hand more often than every twentieth time. Psychologically, the odds against winning will make you feel bad about calling. This is because the cases in which the call will have a negative result hugely outnumber the cases in which the result will be positive. However, you must remember that calls on the river can often be profitable even if you lose the hand much more often than you win.

You also have to take your opponents and their number into account. You are obviously less likely to win the showdown against several opponents than against a single opponent.

Pre-flop: Hero is CO with Q Q
5 folds , MP3 raises , Hero 3-bets ,1 fold , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 caps , Hero calls, SB calls, BB calls

You hold pocket queens in the CO and 3-bet MP3. The blinds cold call and MP3 signals a premium hand by capping. Four players see the flop.

Flop: (16 SB) J , Q , 2 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP3 bets , Hero raises , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 3-bets , Hero caps , SB calls, BB calls

You flop the nuts on a draw heavy board. Your primary aim is to protect your hand, so you bet and raise.

Turn: (16 BB) 8 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP3 bets , Hero raises , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 calls.

You were not able to reduce the number of opponents in the hand, but you did make the passive players pay the maximum. MP3 bets again. There is now a straight possibility with T9, but MP3 is unlikely to have T9 after the action before and on the flop. You raise again for the same reason as on the flop. You want to reduce the number of opponents in the hand. You may not get any folds, but due to the fact that nobody 3-bets, you can be fairly sure that you have the best hand.

River: (24 BB) 9 (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets , MP3 calls, Hero ?

Unfortunately, the worst possible card is dealt. The flush has arrived and any ten makes a straight. Not only that, but the passive Big Blind decides to donk bet all of a sudden and MP3 calls. Raising is out of the question. With three players involved, you would have to be ahead in more than one third of cases. Considering the board and the action, this can't be the case. So the question is whether you are ahead often enough to call.

You are getting 26:1 pot odds, so you only have to be ahead in 4% of the time (100/(26+1)) for a call to be profitable. You will often be ahead against the Small Blind. This player was passive the whole time and will therefore often have a marginal made hand or a busted draw. MP3 was very active up to the turn and then became passive. Most of the time MP3 will have a strong made hand but will understandably feel that you are ahead.

The interesting point is the Big Blind's bet. You are obviously beat when the Big Blind bets into three players. However, you don't know this player, and opponents sometimes make completely crazy moves. On average, you will win the hand more than 4% of the time, and in addition to this, you could sustain psychological damage (tilt) if you folded the best hand in this monster pot. Therefore, you must call.

Fold when you are beat

The first rule implies that it is often profitable to call even when you feel you are behind. However, this doesn't imply that you should never fold a hand that was strong on the turn. In some situations, the pot can't be large enough to make a call profitable.

Pre-flop: Hero is CO with Q Q
5 folds , MP3 raises , Hero 3-bets ,1 fold , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 caps , Hero calls, SB calls, BB calls

Flop: (16 SB) J , Q , 2 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP3 bets , Hero raises , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 3-bets , Hero caps , SB calls, BB calls.

Turn: (16 BB) 8 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP3 bets , Hero raises , SB calls, BB calls MP3 calls

River: (24 BB) 9 (4 players)
SB bets , BB raises , MP3 folds, Hero ?

You flop top set. The hand takes a similar course to the hand in the example in the previous section until it reaches the river. Things then suddenly change. The passive Small Blind wakes up and bets. The passive Big Blind tops if off with a raise. Your pot odds have now nearly been halved, changing from 26:1 to 13.5:1.

While you are only behind against the Big Blind in the previous example, the Small Blind is now also a factor. You are in a tight spot, as you may even face a 3-bet and cap if you call. In this worst case scenario (SB 3-bets, BB caps) you would only be getting 32:4, or 8:1 pot odds.

In this case the board is also significantly more dangerous than in the previous example, as you now lose to any . What's more, you get completely different pot odds for a call and have to win at least twice as often to make calling profitable. This time you have to fold despite the large size of the pot.

Pre-flop: Hero is CO with A T
5 folds , MP3 calls, Hero raises ,1 fold , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 calls

Flop: (10 SB) T , 3 , 2 (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP3 checks , Hero bets , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 calls.

You hit top pair top kicker and, of course, bet out. All your opponents call.

Turn: (7 BB) J (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP3 checks, Hero bets , SB calls, BB calls, MP3 calls.

On the turn an overcard appears and all players check. A jack could be out there, but you decide to bet again and protect on the draw heavy board.

River: (11 BB) Q (4 players)
SB bets , BB calls, MP3 calls, Hero ?

Unfortunately, all opponents call your turn bet. The river card is an overcard that completes the most likely flush draw and some straight draws. The Small Blind donks and the others call.

You can't really think you're ahead very often here. Not only does the small Blind's bet represent huge strength considering the action on previous streets, but two players call this bet. The Small Blind can easily have a flush or a backdoor straight draw that completed on the river. He could also be betting with a queen. You are almost always behind against the SB.

The BB has been passive throughout the hand. You don't have much information on him. If he is a somewhat reasonable player, then you can put him on a worse ten, jack or queen. Better and worse hands than that are unlikely. The same applies to MP3.

You basically have to see yourself behind against each opponent. 14:1 pot odds don't change anything; you have to fold.

Bet for value with good hands

You've already learned the point of a bet on the river at the beginning of this article. We will now take a closer look at these reasons. Let's take a look at the first purpose: getting paid off by worse hands. In other words, a value bet.

The deciding questions you need to ask when considering a value bet are:

• Do I have the best hand?
• Will a worse hand pay me off in more than 50% of cases?

The strength of your hand is affected by …

• … the number of opponents in the hand: Your hand has to be even stronger for each additional opponent in the hand.
• … the board texture: Which possible draws could have hit on the river?
• … the board development: Could anyone have had a draw on the flop, or are backdoor draws the only kind possible?

The more opponents you are faced with on the river, the more likely it is that someone has a better hand than you. As a rule of thumb, you should remember: You can often bet for value with top pair and a good kicker, even against as many as three opponents. With a top pair and weak kicker, or middle pair and good kicker, you can usually value bet against up to two opponents.

To make a good decision in these situations, you must take the board texture into consideration. If a lot of draws have completed, then raises by better hands become more likely. Furthermore, it becomes more likely that players will check behind with better hands, as they will themselves be scared of getting raised by a completed draw. You must also consider on which streets the draws that completed were possible.

You hold A Q in MP3. The board is (7,5 BB) 8 , 5 , 7 , 9 , Q (3 players).

MP2 checks, Hero...? There is one player left to act behind you. Take a look at these three possible constellations.

Situation	Flop	Turn	River
A	8 , 5 , 7	Q	9
B	Q , 9 , 7	8	5
C	Q , 9 , 5	7	8

• Situation A: You should check. The river brings a nightmare card. Straight and flush draws that were possible on the flop have now completed. You don't want to see a raise.

• Situation B: You should bet. The river is a blank. Straights and flushes are unlikely, since no one raised on the turn. You will often have the best hand when you get called.

• Situation C: You bet. Hardly any draws were possible on the flop. Opponents will rarely call with straight draws, but will often call with made hands weaker than yours. It is unlikely that the 8 has completed a draw. This would also have been a backdoor flush, meaning it is not likely that an opponent was chasing it.

You hold T T in MP3. You have an opponent in the big blind who has behaved passively on every street. Take a look at these three different board configurations.

Situation	Flop	Turn	River
A	8 , 3 , 7	J	K
B	8 , J , 7	3	K
C	K , J , 7	3	8

The Big Blind checks to you. Do you bet or check?

• Situation A: You bet.
• Situation B: You bet.
• Situation C: You check.

Your opponent needs a reason to stay in the hand on the flop, unless of course he is a complete fish.

In situation A, the reasons are usually straight draws or weak pairs that hit on the flop. This makes Kx unlikely. The jack could help straight draws, but if it had helped, then your opponent probably would have bet earlier instead of waiting to check/raise the river.

Situation B is similar, but the decision isn't quite so easy. Your opponent could have hit the J on the flop and be playing way ahead / way behind. However, you are usually facing a weaker hand, probably the 7 or the 8.

Things are completely different in Situation C. The opponent will usually have a higher pair or a straight draw after calling the flop. You can't expect to beat any hand that calls a bet on the river.

Just to clarify the meaning of the question, since it is often misunderstood: You can answer this question with 'yes' if and only if: Your opponent will have a weaker hand more than 50% of the time when he calls.

Example: You bet the river ten times. Your opponent calls you 6 times and has a weaker hand 4 times. Looking at the cases in which he did call, we see that he had a weaker hand in 4 of 6 cases, which is clearly more than 50%.

If the opponent were to call you 8 times and only have a worse hand 3 times, then he would be calling you with a worse hand in less than 50% of cases (3 of 8). What matters here is not a single case or ten cases, but the average that would be attained if the situation were repeated infinitely.

Comment: If you are out of position, there are exceptions in which you should bet despite getting called by a worse hand in less than 50% of cases. The theory behind this is more complex and is dealt with in the gold section.

Pre-flop: Hero is BB with A K
6 folds , CO calls, SB completes, Hero raises , CO calls, SB calls

Flop: (6 SB) A , 9 , 5 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets , CO raises , SB folds , Hero 3-bets , CO calls

You flop top pair top kicker and have the initiative. The Small Blind has already checked. You decide to bet. The player behind you raises and the Small Blind folds. The flop is very dry, with the only possible draws being gutshots. And there is only one face card. This means that the CO will rarely be semi-bluffing with a draw here. He will usually have a made hand or be bluffing. If he has a made hand, it's probably weaker than yours. The only hands that beat you are sets and two pairs, which are very unlikely (especially a set of aces). You will almost always have the best hand and decide to show aggression and raise.

Turn: (6 BB) Q (2 players)
Hero bets , CO calls

River: (8 BB) 3 (2 players)
Hero ?

Your opponent called your raise on the flop and bet on the turn. Since he has shown a lot of strength and there aren't draws possible, it is very unlikely that he is bluffing. It is also unlikely that he has a better made hand, since he didn't cap on the flop or raise on the turn. You can therefore assume that he has a weaker made hand and wants to see a cheap showdown.

If you check, he will check behind. If you bet, he will call. When you do get called, you will have the best hand (unless CO is playing a strong hand far too passively). You can expect to have the best hand far more than 50% of the time and bet for value

If your opponent raises your bet, you will be getting 11:1 pot odds. To call profitably, your opponent must be raising with a weaker hand in more than 1 of 12 cases. You should call if he does raise, since you have no reason to believe he would be bluffing.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with K J
7 folds , BU calls, Hero raises , 1 fold , BU calls

Flop: (5 SB) J , 8 , 6 (2 players)
Hero bets , BU calls

You isolate the button and flop top pair with second best kicker. The board is very draw heavy and you bet for value and protection.

Turn: (3,5 BB) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets, BU calls

The button calls your flop bet. At this point you don't know much about your opponent's hand. The BU could call on the flop with a lot of different draws and made hands with the intention of making a decision on the turn. The five completes a couple of straight draws, but you still bet for value and protection against other draws. You would definitely call a raise and go to the showdown.

River: (5,5 BB) 2 (2 players)
Hero ?

The BU calls your turn bet too. He is either playing a draw passively or medium/marginal made hand (and sees himself behind). The river brings a blank. He could be on a busted draw, but there are a number of weaker made hands that he could have and call with. You therefore decide to value bet.

If the BU raises, you should call. No draws completed on the river. He either has a strange way of playing a strong hand, or he is trying to bluff. You don't know much about this opponent, so you call.

What happens if T appears on the river instead of 2?

River: (5,5 BB) T (2 players)
Hero ?

This river card is decidedly worse. Some straight draws have completed, as has the flush draw. Nevertheless, your opponent will still call with weaker hands more often than better hands, so you should still value bet.

Checking is bad in this spot for several reasons. There's no real point in trying to induce bluffs, as nearly all draws have completed. Opponents will call with a lot of worse hands, but will not bet these hands if checked to. A check on this type of river often means that the checker wants to get to the showdown without getting raised by a better hand. This also means that your opponent will rarely bluff with hands that he would otherwise have folded.

If the BU raises, you should call. The river is dangerous, and you will often be faced by a better hand when raised, but your opponent may be aware of these facts too and try to bluff you off your hand. You have top pair, after all. There are a lot of weaker hands that could try to bluff you.

Let's take a look at another possible river card, the queen of spades.

River: (5,5 BB) Q (2 players)
Hero ?

This river brings an overcard to your top pair. The OESD with T9 has completed, but all others have missed. Your opponent could have called with a straight draw and a queen overcard and now hold top pair.

Nevertheless, it is again the case that most hands that have improved will raise if you bet. Busted draws will usually be folded and sometimes raised. If your opponent calls, then you will nearly always have the best hand, except, possibly, for a queen. You should make a value bet in this situation.

A raise on this river would be ugly. Nevertheless, you would be getting 8.5:1 pot odds, so you should still call if you have no specific reads. You can consider folding if you think your opponent is a straightforward TAG. That kind of opponent hardly ever bluffs the river. If you get raised, you will of course be behind much more often than ahead. You only need to win 11% of the time, though, so you should only fold if you think your opponent isn't capable of bluffing in this spot.

Remember: Even if you really don't want to get raised, this shouldn't prevent you from making value bets. Getting raised may be bad in this spot, but it won't happen often, so having to call when raised won't hurt as much in the long run as missing value bets out of fear. If you only have one opponent, you shouldn't be too worried about draws, as these are far less likely with one opponent than with two or more.

This example shows you that you can still bet with a middle pair with a good kicker against one opponent, even when draws complete on the river.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with K J
6 folds , CO calls, BU calls, Hero raises , BB calls, CO calls, Button calls.

Flop: (8 SB) J , T , 5 (4 players)
Hero bets , BB calls, CO folds , BU calls

You raise KJs from SB against two limpers and four players see the flop. You hit top pair with a good kicker and bet for value.

Turn: (5,5 BB) 2 (3 players)
Hero bets , BB calls, BU calls.

A blank appears on the turn, so you have an easy value bet.

River: (8,5 BB) 6 (3 players)

Both opponents call your bet. There is a possible flush on the river. Nevertheless, you value bet again, as there are still many worse hands that will call.

The same applies as in the previous hand if you get raised. Without specific information on your opponent you should call; you should only fold if you don't think your opponent is capable of bluffing. Your line should again be bet/call.

Only bet with made hands when you want a call

In the section on the ''Bet strong hands for value'' rule, you learned that a value bet is profitable if worse hands will call more often than better hands. In this section you will learn about borderline cases in which you can't be sure whether worse hands will call 50% of the time.

These cases often occur when the board is very dangerous. Draws could have completed, you aren't sure what to do if raised, and there are quite a few better hands that could flat call your bet. We'll get straight examples, since these are borderline decisions.

Pre-flop: Hero is MP3 with J , J
Hero raises, CO folds, BU 3-bets, SB folds, BB caps, Hero calls, BU calls.

Flop: (12.50 SB) 9 , 2 , 5 (3 players)
BB bets, Hero raises, BU folds, BB 3-bets, Hero calls

You raise from middle position with pocket jacks. The pot gets capped and three players see the flop. The Big Blind bets and you choose to raise for value and protection. Then he 3-bets. If you estimate that BB's range is 99+ after capping pre-flop and bet/3-betting the flop, you should quickly realize that you are not ahead against his range. You want to see the showdown due to the large pot, but you should stay passive for the rest of the hand.

Turn: (9.75 BB) 4 (2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls

The turn doesn't change the situation, so you should just call.

River: (11.75 BB) A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero ?

The river brings an ace and the Big Blind checks. The check means that you can pretty much exclude pocket aces and nines from his range. You also should assume that your opponent will not fold to a bet. TT is the only high pocket pair you have beat. If you bet, you will get called by a worse hand in less than 50% of cases, which makes betting unprofitable.

In addition to this, you are not ahead often enough to call if you get check/raised, so you would have to make an unpleasant fold, not knowing what your opponent had. You should check and take the free showdown.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with K A
6 folds , CO calls, BU calls, Hero raises , BB calls, CO calls, BU calls

Flop: (8 SB) K , 8 , 5 (4 players)
Hero bets , BB calls, CO calls, BU calls

You raise with AK from the SB after two players limp; four players see the flop. You flop top pair top kicker and all opponents call your value bet.

Turn: (6 BB) J (4 players)
Hero bets , BB calls, CO calls, BU calls

On the turn you still have the best hand more often than not and bet for value. Once again, all three opponents call.

River: (10 BB) Q (4 players)
Hero ?

The river now completes flush and straight draws after three opponents called the flop and turn. You can't be sure how often your opponents will call with weaker made hands. Stronger hands could easily flat call for fear of even stronger hands, or to profit from over-calls. You will rarely make better hands fold with a bet, as you would be giving 11:1 pot odds.

Therefore, betting again on the river would be bad. You should check and call any bet. As you can see: Check/call with top pair top kicker is not a mistake when the river card completes a number of draws in a multiway pot.

When should you try to induce a bluff?

Inducing bluffs has already been mentioned in several examples. In this section you will learn more about what this means.

'inducing a bluff' means checking to feign weakness and induce your opponent to bluff with a weaker hand that he would not have called a bet with.

Clearly, you can only induce bluffs when you are out of position. This move can be successful when:

• You can hardly think of any worse hands that would call if you bet.
• You don't think you can make better hands fold.
• You think you will win the showdown often enough to justify investing a bet.

The first point means that you can't value bet. The second point means that bluffing isn't profitable. The third point means that your hand is strong enough to take to the showdown.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with A 5
8 folds , Hero raises , BB calls

Flop: (4 SB) J , 8 , 5 (2 players)
Hero bets , BB calls

You attack the Big Blind with a weak ace and get called. You hit bottom pair top kicker on a draw heavy board. You bet for protection and to find out where you stand.

Turn: (3 BB) K (2 players)
Hero bets , BB calls

Another overcard. You decide to bet again in the battle for the blinds, since the BB hasn't shown any real strength.

River: (5 BB) 3 (2 players)
Hero ?

The BB calls again and now you are on the river. The 3 is a blank, not completing any draws and, of course, not a dangerous overcard. However, hardly any worse hands will call if you now bet. The only worse hands that may call are 5 with a weaker kicker, 44, and 22. Busted draws will fold, and experience suggests that all other pairs will call. Betting is not profitable, since it is very unlikely that a hand like A high will call.

You are left with the choice between check/fold and check/call. As there were a lot of possible draws on this board, it is very likely that your opponent now holds a busted draw. This is where inducing bluffs comes into play. Many opponents interpret a check as a declaration of defeat and try to get their fingers on the pot. You can exploit this with a call.

To make the right choice, you have to pay attention to the pot size. You get 6:1 pot odds if your opponent bets. This means that you only need to win the pot about 15% of the time when you call. This is quite possible, given the board. If you manage to induce a bluff in this spot you have gotten maximum value from busted draws and can be pleased with yourself.

Tip: Don't let anyone convince you that generally passive players aren't capable of making river bluffs. In fact, a lot of calling stations love to bluff in these situations. You should be careful when considering trying to induce bluffs against good players, as these often interpret your check as a trap or bluff induce attempt.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with A K
7 folds , BU raises , Hero 3-bets , BB calls, BU calls

Flop: (9 SB) 7 , 8 , 5 (3 players)
Hero bets , BB folds, BU calls

You 3-bet a button raise with the premium hand AK. On the flop you only have A high, but you make a continuation bet, as you could easily still have the best hand.

Turn: (5,5 BB) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets , BU calls

You bet again on the turn, since only one opponent is still in the hand.

River: (7,5 BB) Q (2 players)
Hero ?

You find yourself on the river with unimproved overcards against an opponent who has passively called on the flop and turn. No better hand will fold against a bet. Furthermore, the Q could have helped the opponent. It is also doubtful that your opponent can call with any weaker hands.

You should again try to induce a bluff here and play check/call. He may even just check behind with the better hand. We said before, one of the most common mistakes players make on the river is not making a value bet.

When can you bluff with trash hands?

The important question is whether better hands will fold to your bet often enough. We will talk about bluffing with trash hands, as these are the best hands to bluff with. Your opponents will very often hold better hands. This means that when you make a hand fold, it will rarely be a weaker hand. Moreover, your opponents will often think that you're insane if your bluff fails and is revealed, which you can use to your advantage by making thinner value bets later on.

You can make made hands and busted draws fold with a bluff bet. When considering a bluff, always ask yourself these two questions:

• How likely is it that: a) your opponent is playing a draw, and b) a draw completed?
• Did a scare card show up?

If your opponent is likely to be on a draw that did not complete, you should bluff (assuming you can't beat his busted draw, in which case you could consider inducing a bluff). Your opponent will correctly fold his busted draw, and you will have successfully bluffed the better hand into folding.

Opponents are more likely to fold marginal made hands like bottom pair to scare cards. However, you need to be aware of what happened on the previous streets, which the first example will illustrate.

Pre-flop: Hero is SB with 7 6
4 folds, Hero raises, BB calls

Flop: (2,5 SB) 5, 5 , 8 (2 players)
Hero bets, BB calls

You raise from SB and BB defends, and you hit an OESD on the flop. You bet, because you think you can make a number of better hands fold.

Turn: (3 BB) A (2 players)
Hero bets , BB calls

The ace is a perfect scare card for another bet.

River: (5 BB) K (2 players)
Hero ?

The BB called your turn bet, which isn't what you wanted. The board offers hardly any possibilities for draws. Your opponent is even less likely to hold a draw, since you have 76. You are probably facing a made hand that wants to see the showdown - there is hardly a better card to fold to than the ace on the turn.

You have hardly any chance of making better hands fold, so you shouldn't bluff on the river. You also have no showdown value, so inducing a bluff is out of the question. Save your last bullet and play check/fold.

Pre-flop: Hero is BB with 6 3
UTG calls, 6 folds , BU calls, 1 fold , Hero checks

Flop: (3,5 SB) 8 , 4 , 5 (3 players)
Hero bets , UTG folds , BU calls

You are given a freeplay, hit a monster draw on the flop, and bet. Not only can you make better hands fold and take the pot down directly, your bet would even be a value bet if both opponents called, as your draw will complete by the river more than every third time. The theoretical principles that govern this are covered in the article on value raises with draws: When can you Raise for Value on the Flop with a Draw?

Turn: (2,75 BB) J (2 players)
Hero bets , BU calls

One player calls and you opt for a second bet in the hopes of getting a better hand to fold.

River: (4,75 BB) K (2 players)
Hero ?

Your draws have missed on this draw heavy board and you are left with 6 high. However, there are a lot of other possible busted draws that have more showdown value than your own hand. The opponent could have called the flop with overcards and/or gutshots and potentially picked up another draw on the turn (T 7, for example). Your opponent definitely won't call a river bet with that kind of hand, so you should bluff to get rid of busted draws with more showdown value.

This bluff needs to work app. 18% of the time (1 / (4,75 + 1) ), which is likely in this situation. Therefore, you bet.

Avoid check/raises on the river

A check/raise is very rarely profitable on the river. While your opponent checking behind on other streets shouldn't really bother you due to the fact that there are other streets to come, this does not apply to the river.

Not only that, but you will only rarely manage to cap. Your check/raise will usually by interpreted correctly: you have a strong hand. This leads your opponent to either call or fold. If, however, you simply bet, then you are not showing as much strength. Players are likely to raise your bet, which let's you 3-bet. This is why people call check/raises 'action killers'.

The question is: What you can expect from a bet vs what you can expect from a check/raise?

You are sitting in the Small Blind with A 2. The board on the river: K J 9 , 3 , 4. Three opponents remain in the hand.

Here are some examples for possible betting sequences:

• Hero bets , call, call, call.
  You get 3 BBs from the other players.
• Hero checks, check, check, bet , Hero raises , fold, fold, call
  You only get 2 BBs from the other players.

In the second case you get one BB less, which definitely wasn't your intention when check/raising.

You need a good reason to assume that the next player will bet after your check and that you can sandwich potential callers. This, however, is rarely the case, which means check/raising is not profitable in the long run. Many players try too many tricks on the river, causing them to miss out on a lot of value in the long run.

Summary

River play is more complicated than one would think at first glance. This article provides you with seven rules that can help you make good decisions in every river situation. The first two rules, "Don't fold what could be the best hand in a big pot" and "Do fold when you're certain you're beat" can be used to decide whether to make a call. You've learned that pot size is an important factor in making these decisions.

Value betting was covered in conjunction with the two rules “Bet strong hands for value” and “Only bet with made hands if you want to get called”. Knowing the correct boundary for value bets is one of the most important basic skills for river play.

If you can't value bet despite having showdown value, your repertoire is not yet exhausted. The “Make use of the option of inducing bluffs” rule results from the fact that you can check to make opponents bluff with hands that would otherwise have been folded.

Even if you don't have any showdown value, you can follow the “Make the occasional bluff when you're certain you have the worst hand” rule according to the corresponding section.

The final rule, “Avoid check/raises on the river”, is a reminder that check/raises on the river are usually not profitable in the long run. Your opponent will check behind too often, and you will not get the opportunity to 3-bet.

If you apply these rules and carefully select your checks, calls and bets, then there is nothing to stop you from finding success on the river, assuming, of course, that you played correctly on the streets leading up to the river.

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