Blocking bets (general)

[Ghazban]

I've seen a few posts lately that don't seem to understand the concept of the blocking bet so here's my take on the blocking bet:

A blocking bet is a bet you make when you are out of position holding a hand with reasonably good showdown value that you are not sure is the best hand. You make the blocking bet to set your own price for showdown as, if you check, the opponent might bet more than you are comfortable calling (putting you to a difficult decision).

If your blocking bet is raised, SOP is to fold. If your hand was good enough to bet and call (or reraise) a raise, your river bet would be a value bet, not a blocking bet.

Blocking bets need to be of similar size to river value bets, otherwise it will be very obvious when you are making them. This doesn't mean all river bets in all hands should be exactly the same size but it does mean that your blocking bet cannot be obvious as a blocking bet. I've seen posts here where people are considering making a 1/5 pot blocking bet on the river. This is ridiculous! Would you EVER value bet or bluff for 1/5 pot? I certainly hope not. In many circumstances, the blocking bet size can be adequately described as the amount you would be comfortable calling should you check and face a bet from your opponent.

When deciding to make a blocking bet or not, stack sizes are very relevant. If you make a blocking bet for 2/3 of your stack, you will be getting such phenomenal odds to call a raise that you must be very very certain your hand is beat to fold. As a rule of thumb, a blocking bet should not be more than half your (or your opponents') remaining stack. If you get to the river with a big pot relative to stack sizes, don't even bother with the blocking bet; either bluff, bet for value, check/fold, or check to induce a bluff. Making a bet unprepared to call with great pot odds is very rarely correct.

Feel free to add to this thread if I've missed anything.

[bigt439]

Great post. You implied this but didn't explicitly say it: The blocking bet should be bigger than any bet on previous streets. You can't blocking bet for $20 if you bet $35 on the turn. It would have to be around $45 or $50. This is kind of covered when you say it should look like a value bet, but I just wanted to explicitly point it out.

[kurto]

[ QUOTE ]
The blocking bet should be bigger than any bet on previous streets. You can't blocking bet for $20 if you bet $35 on the turn. It would have to be around $45 or $50. This is kind of covered when you say it should look like a value bet, but I just wanted to explicitly point it out.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would like to respectfully challenge this. I have made blocking bets equal to my turn bet with decent results. Even when I've been beaten, they have often called my bet rathar then reraise me. This works especially well if there are possible draws on the board. Even though they think you're beaten, I think they are confused that you are still betting into them. (note, if you play like a total fish and show down a lot of losers, this isn't going to ever do anything.)

ex.
1) on the flop there is $4 in the pot. You bet $3 into the pot. You are called on the button. (let's say you have middle pair and a flush draw. You are semibluffing)
2) Turn - $10 in the pot. You bet $6 into the pot. Button Calls.
3) River - $22 in the pot. You missed your flush but think there's a chance your mid pair might still be good. You bet $6 again. Villain CALLS with Top Pair.

I think the reason this works is sometimes I do the same kinds of bets for value. For example- If I'm certain that the opponent is calling on a draw and will not call a large bet on the river... I make another bet the same size I made on the turn.

I believe I have made a lot of value from bets of this sort when I feel strongly they will fold to a bet of 2/3 or pot sized.