Two Questions

[Lil Ribbit]

Hi! Thanks to all who have commented on my hands!

There are just two questions I have been wondering about since becoming a poster.

1. I hear the term "value bet" placed around. What is one and were do they apply?

2. How do you adjust your pre-flop stradegy for a mini blind game? ($4-8 with 1-2 blinds)

Thanks!

KPJ

[Joe Tall]

Check out the replies to my 'learning disorder' hand. I understand 'value betting' as that you have a drawing hand on the flop that is most likely the best hand and you bet/raise for value, plus, it allows you to take control of the hand. The experienced ones here can give you an official definition. Welcome to the forum, I'm amazed on how this is helped...and I have one suggestion, that was hard for me, but has helped me the most was to drop my pride and post a hand that I played terribly on...such as my recent 'the hand that's driving me nuts' post. Good luck! /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[eMarkM]

Value bet. Definition from Dan's Poker Dictionary (seriouspoker.com) - Value means the return you get on your investment; the expected increase in your equity in the pot (your return), as compared to the size of your bet or raise (your investment). Typically this means either that you believe you will receive action from inferior hands, or that the the chance you will win the hand makes the bet worthwhile.

You have top pair and bet every street anticipating a player with a smaller kicker, second pair or smaller pocket pair calls you down. That's an obvious one.

You can bet, say, a nut flush draw for value if you think you'll get enough callers (or getting all to fold) to justify the bet vs your odds of hitting before the river, i.e., you're getting a positive return on your investment even though in this case you likely don't have the best hand presently.

Less obvious are the ones where you have top pair, but a 3 flush appears on the turn or river, or an overcard to your pair and you're not sure if you have a value bet (ie, will be called by a worse hand). Most of the debate here as to whether you should make a value bet revolve around these kinds of hands.

[JTG51]

eMark gave a good definition of a value bet, I'll boil it down a little more though. SImply put, a value bet is a bet that you want to get called. A bluff is a bet that you don't want to get called.

Any game with smaller than usual blinds allows you to see more flops, especially from late position where the chances of a raise have gone way down. This is because you are paying only a small fraction of the future bets to see the flop. It will cost you very little if you miss the flop, but you can make many times your initial investment if you hit.

[Bob T.]

A value bet is one where you expect that by betting, you will make more money. There are two common situations. One, When you think that you have the best hand often enough that a bet will pay dividends. Two, where you think that you have a draw, that will make the best hand on later streets often enough that you can make money by betting. The most common example is that you flop the nut flush draw, in a multiway pot. You expect to make the flush by the river 1 out of 3 times, so on the flop, you will put make bets, that you expect to be called by three or more players, because you are then getting 3 to 1 or better odds, on a 2 to 1 underdog.

In the mini blind situation, there are two schools of thought. 1 - Play tight, because your cost per round is so small, that you can afford to wait longer to get premium hands. 2 - Play loose, because you are getting better implied odds on you preflop investment. The second approach is a lot more fun, so that is how most people adjust.