[SoBeDude]

I remember that hand they like to show in the ads for the WPT on the travel channel.

Turn goes check-check, then I think Laak checks the river on a scary board, Philips bets like 400K(?) on the river.

Laak folds his pocket 5s, Philips shows the bluff (J7 or J8 I think for total air). Laak dances around.

So giving your opponent a chance to bluff is not as valuable when he's capable of bluffing a bet big enough you can't call. (In this particular situation, I believe the pot was siginificant already)

Personally, I'd rather lead out and give myself the chance to win the existing pot, than checking, and reducing the chance I can win an even bigger pot.

Oh and like everything else in poker, this type of bet is situation-dependent. For example, if there is only a small pot and you have second pair on a straight board against an aggressive opponent, checking and calling a bet is often the best play.

But I think there are situations where the board gets scary, and you have a hand but it is weak, that a blocking bet can be useful.

When you're against a big stack, you're much shorter, and he can make a bet that if you call and lose can cripple you, but he can make that bet and lose that doesn't cripple him, and the board is somewhat scary. Then I think a blocking bet here can be useful. Here you can make a bet that looks like a value bet, but will most of the time only get raised if you're beaten.

Additionally, a blocking bet can save you money when you feel strongly that your opponent will bet the river and you want to call, but he will bet more than you want to call.

Your opponent has been the aggressor this hand. He has position. He raised PF and bet the flop and turn and you're still in. You think your opponent will bet ~4000 on the river. If you bet out 2750 or 3000, unless he is very strong he will simply call. So you can bet out and save chips. If your initial plan was to call his river bet (that you think will be 4000), you can bet out the 2750 or 3000 and save chips. If he just calls you got to showdown more cheaply (which was your goal). If he raises you you're probably beaten and can lay down, also saving you the difference between your bet and what he would have bet.

-Scott