Value betting

Value betting makes a big difference

When we have the nuts or any other big poker hand, the only difficult decision we face is how to extract the most money from our opponent(s).

However when we don't have a monster, but we have a reasonably good poker hand then we are faced with an often delicate decision making process, that if played correctly can make a significant difference to a cash game player's winrate or a player's progression to the latter stages of a poker tournament. If played poorly the consequences however can be disastrous.

Weighing up the considerations

To master the art of value betting like everything else in the game of poker is a matter of practice, however practice alone does not always make perfect.

You need to be asking yourself questions about what poker hand your opponent is holding given the board, the action and the player's tendencies. It's also important for poker players to pay attention to what's occurring on their poker table when considering whether or not to make a value bet.

Important considerations to ask yourself when you are deciding about value betting, are what type of opponents are you considering value betting against? What is your table image? Is your actual poker hand in the current situation (your opponents, your table position and the way the hand has played out so far) a good candidate for a value bet? Would your poker hand be better played by just checking, either with the intention of folding or calling a bluff?

We're going to examine more closely some scenarios of when is a good time to value bet and when it is not.

Scenario 1

6 Handed $1-$2 NL cash game

You have KK on the button with a stack of $200, you raise 4 big blinds, the small blind, who you know to be a loose passive player calls, his stack has yours covered, the big blind folds. Pot is $18. Flop comes Js 9c 5h. Small blind checks, you bet $13, small blind calls. Pot is now $44. Turn is 2d. Small blind checks again.

At this stage it's hard to put your opponent on a hand, but you've got a good hand that's well ahead of a loose passive player's calling range on the flop. The 2 on the turn isn't a scary card for you and doesn't change anything, so go ahead and bet about 2/3rds the pot again. You bet $28, small blind calls. Pot is now $100. River is Qs. Small Blind checks to you again.

Now a lot of players would freeze up at this point, thinking that there is a chance that their Kings have been cracked, but it's far more likely, that this loose player caught a piece of the board on the flop, perhaps a straight draw, top or second pair, or a pocket pair like Tens. If he had a set or top pair, you'd haveexpected to see a raise by now. It's also not likely that he has a hand such as a straight, the fact that you have KK makes that even less likely.

Aces also are highly unlikely, it would be very unusual not to have seen a re-raise preflop from Aces. So overall it's a highly favorable situation. If you can't value bet in these situations, you are giving up a lot of value in the long run and it will be difficult for you to profit from the game. So go ahead and bet around half the pot and hope to get a crying call from a 1-pair hand. You bet $50, loose player calls you with Qh Th.

The loose passive player got fully punished for his loose preflop call. He caught a piece of the board but was in worse shape than he even realized all along as you had blockers. River turned out to be the dream card for you, as it gave him top pair, thus ensuring you won an extra $50.

Scenario 2

$1/$2 NL hold em full ring cash game

Say you are in late position with Kh Jh. You have one player who you don't know much about who has limped in early position and you elect to call instead of raising with your reasonable holding of suited high cards. Small blind folds, so it's just you, the limper and the big blind in the hand. Flop comes Qs Jd 2h. It's checked back to you, you bet $5 into the $7 pot, the big blind calls and the limper folds.

Pot is $17. Turn brings 4c. Big blind checks again. Now as you have merely a good hand but not a great one, you decide to play safe and keep the pot under control by checking back. River is 7h, big blind checks again. Do you value bet?

The answer is almost certainly yes. In this situation, a poor cautious player might be scared to bet this marginal holding. However let's examine what has occurred in the hand a bit more closely.

If the big blind had top pair or better he may have indeed elected to check the turn, either because he is a tight player that is afraid his hand might be behind, or he may have been intending to check raise with a hand he considered to be good, or less likely he was intending to check raise with a bluff or semi-bluff. However once your opponent has checked the river, it is unlikely that he will have a hand that is as good as top pair, therefore it is highly probable that second-highest pair with good kicker is the best hand. The way the hand played out suggests your opponent might also have second pair, or maybe a middle pocket pair like 77-99 that he wasn't ready to drop to one bet on the flop, or perhaps he was on a straight draw.

If you bet on the river, the busted straight draw won't call you obviously, but you’re hoping that the player also has second pair in which case you will have him almost certainly outkicked. Some players might even call a bet with a pocket pair with 2 overcards on board, unlikely but it does happen. Now you got to figure out just how much to bet. You don't want to bet so much that your opponent folds, but you don't want to bet so little that you don't get full value for your cards. Therefore somewhere in the region of 40-55% is generally about the right range to be betting here.

As a proviso, If you do get check raised on the river in a spot like this it would be an unusual spot for a player to check raise, in general it signals the player has been slowplaying a hand, and slowplaying rather badly all along, or else the river has hit his hand hard, certain players will even make strange bluffs, especially if they get the correct notion that you are making a value bet and they might get you off the hand. This would be a difficult spot for you and would be player dependent, by and large you have to fold here, but there might be exceptions, depending on meta-game factors and player type.

You bet $8, the Big Blind deliberates but eventually calls with Jc, 9d. You take down the $35 pot, thus winning an extra $8 that you wouldn't have won had you just checked. Obviously you will lose $8 sometimes, but don't get hung up about that, as long as your win/loss ratio in those situations is greater than 50/50 you will be making money in the long run.

Scenario 3

6 Handed $3/$6 NL Cash Game

You raise $18 under the gun with 9s9c. A tricky loose player flat calls you on cutoff, blinds fold. Pot is $45. Flop is 7h7s6d. It's a mixed bag sort of a hand for you. You have an overpair to the board which is good, but you know also this tricky player could also be playing a hand like 76 suited or 75 suited and have you drawing thin. Less likely is that he has a better pair than you. Overall though you figure to be ahead of his range. You bet $28, tricky LAG smooth calls. $111.

Turn is 2h. Now given the action on the flop you might be feeling a bit worried about building up a pot out of position. Check calling is certainly a possible line to take but you decide on balance to keep the initiative and bet, realizing you might have to fold if raised in this spot. So you bet $60. Pot is now $231. River is 10h.

You might value bet thin here against a more regular opponent, but at this stage, the board has got quite scary for you, if you bet and get raised, given the size of the pot you might have to give a crying call and end up losing most of your stack. Also this opponent you know is very likely to pounce on weakness so where he might fold the worse hand on the river, he might bet a scary looking board once you check it to him, therefore check calling in this scenario is the better play than value betting. You check. Your opponent bets $115, you call and he shows 6h5h to hit a back door flush.

A bit of a sucker punch for you as you were ahead on every street until the river, but at least by value checking the river you did a damage limitation exercise and lost the minimum from the hand. This scenario really highlights also the importance of position in online poker. You had a good starting hand, but from the flop onwards, your decisions were a lot more difficult than they would have been had you had position. Not much you could do about the hand in the end, next hand!

Differences for tournaments

Largely you will value bet just the same in poker tournaments as you would in cash games. There are differences however, in cash games you can value bet thin, as long as you think the chances are greater than 50% of the time when you are called your hand is ahead. However you can be in situations in tournaments where value betting that thin is not such a good idea, such as, if losing it, will leave you short-stacked or possibly knocked out of the tournament.

This is especially true if you are lucky enough to be seated at one of the softer tables, where you can afford to pass up small edges, for possible bigger edges in the upcoming hands. You might value bet the river thin in position on occasion in a cash game, with something like 2nd pair poor kicker, so as to really try to extract every last drop of value from the hand, this is very marginal and is player and situational dependent, in a tournament it would be usually wiser to just check such marginal holdings and see a showdown.

Experience, theorize, practice and win!

The scenarios described above, are just a microcosm of the different situations facing a player, when he needs to decide whether to make a value bet or not. The longer you play poker, the more experience you will have in recognising what the correct decision should be. You need to be very focused on what's happening in the game, so you don't go into automatic mode and miss EV+ value bets, or for that matter make EV- value bets.

One final note, value betting correctly is worth a lot of money to you in its own right, but value betting thin has other benefits to you too, it makes you much more difficult to play against and is absolutely great for your meta-game. A great value bettor is often the mark of a great poker player. Strive to become that great value bettor and reap the dividends!

Away from the table is also just as important, smart poker players put a lot of effort into their game by consulting hands with their peers, browsing and posing questions on poker forums such as 2+2. Develop your game both through theory and practice and you too can be a canny value bettor and thus a winning player.

Vanessa Rousso is such a smart poker player.

With million of dollars of profits, she certainly knows how to value bet.

If you sign up at pokerstars, you can observe Vanessa Rousso playing poker there. Her username is 'LadyMaverick'. And you may even play against her one day.