Some thoughts on the river

The river is said to be the easiest street to play. And in fact, all the cards are already open, and you, in most cases, know whether your hand is strong or not. But nevertheless, there are some situations that a beginner will not notice, but an experienced player uses in order to draw a couple of bets if he has the strongest hand, and vice versa, save them if his hand is losing. And now we will look at some of the techniques that characterize a quality game.

If your move is the first, make your bet more boldly.

The reasons for this are not difficult to understand. First, if your opponent has a hand that is stronger than yours, he will probably raise your bet. However, if you check, he will bet, which means that when you bet, you only lose one additional bet. But when you go second, you have the opportunity to just check for free. And if you make a bet, which is then check-raised, then it will all cost you two bets instead of nothing. Thus, when you move first, the wrong bet will cost you only one bet, but when your last move the same mistake will cost you two.

Secondly, the player, whose move is the first, will force other players to bet, which will not happen if he makes a bet from the last position. When you check first, you are putting yourself in a position where you have to call the bets of the stronger hands without being able to draw bets from the weaker ones (because the weaker hand is likely to check after you too). Example, you have, say, J in your arms-J, on the board are open 9-9-6-T... River brings K... If you are the first to make a move, then you probably need to make a bet (especially if you did this the whole game). It can be answered by the one who has tens, or sevens, or even just a combination with an ace. If you check, then, most likely, only the one who has at least a nine or a king will bet.

Conclusion: if you check, you are just adding money to the pot if you are in the back. Well, if you place a bet, then if you are ahead, in about 40-60% cases your bet will be supported. When you place a bet, you have the opportunity to force weaker hands to fork out. Which won't work if you just check.

If someone bets and you have a good, but not the strongest hand, call if there are still players behind you.

Example: In the big blind you have 6-5... By the river, the following cards are open on the board: K-6-Q-5-9... Note that you have two pair, but these are the weakest pairs possible. If the small blind bets, you better just call (if there are still players behind you). You've got a good hand, but it's far from sweet. Your call gives hands like KJ and AQ the opportunity to call too (which is exactly what you want), because if you raised, they might have folded. By raising the bet, you are practically kicking weaker hands out of the game and running into a potential third bet from the small blind with the strongest hand. It's okay if everyone else folds as there is no guarantee that the small blind with a weaker hand will decide to raise. This also applies when the river brings you top pair (this usually happens when you buy an unfinished ace flush on the flop and an ace comes up on the river) or when you make a straight with a card that also completes a potential flush. In such cases, you are better off overcalling than pushing the first bettor.

Don't forget about check-raises.

An often overlooked move is a check-raise if the river hasn't improved your hand. Many players will definitely check-raise if they make, for example, a flush with the last card. But very few will do that if they've been betting with top pair throughout the game and the river hasn't improved it. Check-raising after the river is a strong game, and it gets even stronger in online games where many players use the automatic betting mode if they just checked. Let's take a look at a few examples of when you might want to consider a check-raise.

Example 1. In middle position, you limp calmly with closed sevens. Two more players call and the button raises. The flop comes 7-3-4... You bet and everyone, except the calling player on the button, folds. Turn opens 4... You bet again and he calls. River brings A.

And at this point, you should think hard about check-raising. The fact that your opponent didn't raise on the flop makes it just plain obvious that he has two overcards, which means that the ace is probably to his liking. Only the most aggressive players will raise with AK at this stage, and therefore you cannot be sure that you will draw three from him with your bet. And if you check, then you get a certain guarantee that he will bet himself, having any combination of an ace in his hands. And check-raising at this point will help you get two bets instead of one.

Example 2. You have K-K and you raised in early position. Four players call. The flop comes T-8-5 of different suits. You bet and two players call. The next five comes on the turn. You bet again, one player supports it. River flips the top three.

Again, consider a check-raise. If your opponent fails to make a combination, your bet will force him to fold. But he may well bet with low pair because your check will look like you are bluffing with AK. Again, you don't seem to be beaten, because if he had a three of fives or a full house made after the turn, he would have shown it. If you are playing with a very passive opponent, then you better bet right away, but if he shows any "liveliness", your check-raise can be quite profitable.