Value Betting

Value betting is a very important concept in no limit Hold’em. When it comes down to a tough situation at the end of the hand, you have to know when to make a bet so you can extract the most chips from your opponent. Often times tight players will check down great hands on the river just because there’s the potential of a better hand out there. This is the wrong play, and I’m going to show you why.

Let’s look at an example. Say you have two pair at the end of the hand, but there is a straight possibility on the board. Most players would be content to check down here and hope their two pair is good. However, I’d make a value bet here, unless I was absolutely positive my opponent had the straight.

If you make the value bet, and he calls with a lower two pair, or just top pair, you pick up more then if you had just checked. Also, if you bet and the other player has the straight, he’ll raise you and you can fold easily. However, if you check and the other player has the straight, he’s going to make a value bet that you’ll have to call.

If you think about it, you lose the same amount of money by value betting and getting raised as if you check then call his value bet. However, when he doesn’t have the straight then you pick up the extra money on the end by making the value bet as opposed to checking. That is why you should always value bet your tough situations on the river.