River - raising or over-calling

[el_grande]

What are your thoughts on overcalling or raising on the river? What criteria do you use?

I was in this situation last night and lost a BB... On a gutshot straight draw which I hit on the river. No flush possible so I am sure my hand is good. I'm in between two loose but not bad players. First player bets into me and I raise figuring he will call me down and if I'm lucky I might get a coldcall if the player behind me has two pair. I raise and they both fold. The player after me said he would have called if I hadn't raised. This is a friendly guy in a B&M game who I know, so he was telling the truth. I was very surprised that the bettor folded.

How often do you smooth call when you think you have the best hand?

[Louie Landale]

Nit-Pick: did you say you drew to a non-nut gut-shot? Don't say "yes".

Going for the over-call makes a LOT more sense if there is some reasonable chance the bettor has you beat. In this situation you do NOT want the river to get 3 or 4 bet: routinely go for the over-call.

With the nuts its tougher. Calling can yield a reasonable max of 1 but CAN net 5 if the last player will raise but not reraise. Raising, like you said, CAN yield a reasonable max of 3 but can yield 6-7 of the bettor will 3-bet. Over-all you've got to have a high chance he's bluffing AND the caller won't call 2 before you should flat call, hehehe.

- Louie

[CrackerZack]

This is a tough question to just answer. Is the chance teh better is bluffing good? is the guy behind you a uber-calling station? Will he call with top pair even on the river like this. Did an obvious draw get there (gut shot, it seems very unlikely)? Anyway, I generally raise here almost all the time if the chance the bettor is bluffing is small. He will nearly always call you and there is always a chance the guy behind you will overcoldcall. (odd word) In a 3-way pot its frequently you'll get 1 more bet, its just a matter of from whom. If there were 3 to act behind you, calling and going for overcalls is often a better move depending on the people behind you. Most opponents have no idea about needing a better hand to overcall so its good to take advantage of.

[el_grande]

[ QUOTE ]
Nit-Pick: did you say you drew to a non-nut gut-shot? Don't say "yes".


[/ QUOTE ]

No, I had AK and my gutshot was a T on the river.

Thanks for the replies.

[CrackerZack]

That actually changes things a bit too as your pre-flop and post-flop action might indicate that AK is a very likely hand and QJT is a scary board for many hands. That said, I'd still raise vs a better and one potential overcaller.