Playing the river

	There are too many players who simply bet with what they think is the best hand and check with what they believe to be the worst

In the modern poker world, no limit hold’em tournaments dominate. With the exception of the big buy-in events at the World Series of Poker and other major competitions around the world, most of these tournaments provide short-starting stacks and have fast blind levels, which are designed to end the tournament before a predetermined time. As a result, many of the hands that are played involve an all-in confrontation on or before the flop.

If you’re used to playing online sit&go tournaments, or small multi-table affairs at your local casino, you probably won’t have very much experience in making decisions on the river. Consequently, you’ll have difficulty adjusting to the deep-stacked play, which is typical of cash games and big buy-in tournaments, in which you will frequently find yourself with a tough decision to make with no cards to come. In this article, I’m going to try to introduce some of the concepts that apply to river play in hold’em.

The goals of river play

What are your ultimate objectives on the river? You want to lose as little as possible when you have the worst hand, and win as much as possible when you have the best. This may seem obvious, but there are a great deal of players who simply bet when they think they have the best hand, and check when they think they have the worst. When we make a bet on the river, we want one of two possible things to happen:
 – Our opponent to fold the best hand
 – Our opponent to call with the worst hand.

Whenever we make a bet on the river that can only result in a different outcome, we have made a mistake. Let’s take an extreme example to illustrate this point: you are holding K♠-Q♠ and your opponent is holding the A♠-4♠. The flop came 6♠-4♦-2♠ giving you a flush draw with two overcards. Your opponent, who acted first, has been betting all the way with his pair and better flush draw. On the river, the board is 6♠-4♦-2♠-9♣-J♥ and both our draws have missed. He checks to you. If you make a bet here, your opponent will likely fold, thinking that his pair of 4s can’t possibly be the winner. You will have forced him to fold the best hand, which is a fantastic result for you.

Let’s reverse the hands so that you have the A♠-4♠ in the same position. Now betting after our opponent checks is a big mistake. If you bet, your opponent will usually fold any worse hand, like a busted flush draw, a pair of deuces and so on. Occasionally, he will raise with these hands as a bluff, and you’ll end up folding the best hand. However, if your opponent has a better hand, like two pair, a set, or even a measly pair of Jacks, you will probably be called or, in some cases, even raised.

By betting with the A♠-4♠, you have caused your opponent to play perfectly. He will fold or bluff you out of the pot when he holds the worst hand, but when he has the best hand, he will call or raise. This is the exact opposite of what you want to happen.

When to bet or raise

You should usually bet or raise the river when

You think your opponent will fold to a bet, but your hand isn’t strong enough to call one yourself. For example, you think your opponent has missed a draw, but you did as well.

You think your opponent will call a bet, but won’t bet himself and you believe you have the best hand (or your opponent will make a small bet if checked to, but call a big bet).

You think your opponent has a huge hand, but yours is even better. For example, when you think your opponent has made a flush, but you have a full house. In this case you’re hoping for a raise so you can win a huge pot.

As you can see, the criteria for making a bet on the river is quite precise. But it is common to see people make river bets that can only be called by a better hand.

When to check

You should usually check on the river when

You have a ‘bluff catcher’ – in other words, a hand that is good enough to beat a bluff, but not good enough to bet for value. For example, you have middle pair, and you think your opponent has missed a draw. If your opponent bets after you check, you can call.

You have a great hand and want to check-raise. You’ll usually do this partly to mix up your play, and partly to extract more money from your opponent if you think their hand is good – but still not good enough to raise if you bet yourself.

You have a bad hand, and you are pretty sure your opponent will call a bet.

Three example hands

Example 1

This is a hand I played several years ago in the late stages of a small student competition. I was on the big blind with 6♦-5♠, and the small blind limped in after it was folded round to him. I checked. By the river, the final board was 6♥-7♥-8♠-8♥-4♥. My opponent checked. I checked behind him, before announcing my straight. I was widely criticised by the table for checking, but it was clearly the right play. With 4 to a straight, and 4 to a flush on the board, plus a possible full house, no sensible opponent is going to call with anything less than your straight. Making a bet on the end can only lose money as a better hand will call or raise and a worse hand will fold. You force your opponent to play perfectly.

Example 2

This time, the final board is 5♥-6♥-7♥-8♥– 9♥You have the A♥-K♥. Your opponent checks. Should you bet? No, of course not. Even though it’s extremely unlikely that your opponent has a hand that beats the board, a bet still loses money in the long run. A typical opponent will call or raise you 100% of the time with a final board like this. Most of the time, you will split the pot, but sometimes your opponent will have the 10 for a bigger straight flush and you’ll lose the entire pot. A bet is absolutely terrible. However, if the board contained the stone-cold nuts (like a Royal Flush), you would bet every time and hope that your opponent was silly enough to throw his hand away.

Example 3

Based on the action throughout the hand, you think your opponent was drawing to a flush, and the final board is J♠-10♠-6♦-5♦-2♥. You have J♦-J♣ and act first. Should you bet or check? You should probably check. The key here is that you read your opponent to have been on a draw (if you thought he had a made hand like a pair or two pair, you would usually bet). If your opponent has a draw, he has certainly missed with the 2♥ on the river. The only hope you have to earn some more money is to allow him to bluff at the pot. Most players would bet the river here, thinking they have a great hand and should therefore bet – but that doesn’t matter. In this situation, your opponent’s cards are more important than your own. Probably the only way you can extract any more money out of your good hand is to check.