Betting The River For Value?

[Brandon J. Fuchs]

When you know your kicker is low, and the guy has been calling you all along, is it a good idea to bet or check the river? In limit 2-4.

[mistrpug]

Depends on the situation, but I'd say if it looked like he was drawing to a straight or flush, bet unless it looks like he might have hit it. If there's no draw or it looks like he missed, bet. He could be worried about his kicker too or could have (I assume you were talking about having top pair) middle pair with an overcard or something.

[pudley4]

[ QUOTE ]
When you know your kicker is low, and the guy has been calling you all along, is it a good idea to bet or check the river? In limit 2-4.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bet. Most players won't bluff their missed draw, so you won't get a bet out of them anyway. Many players won't raise a better hand, because they're scared of an even better one. Most players will call with a worse hand because they like to call.

[Louie Landale]

Loose players can and do make LOTS of "calling" hands that don't feature top pair good kicker, especially if you have top pair, and even if they are passive. When-in-doubt bet-it-out applies very well to loose players.

Tight passive folks present another problem: they don't play many hands that CAN make 2nd or 3rd pair and they tend not to play those hands on the turn. That generally leaves top-pair and a kicker they don't like enough to raise. Generally check against these folks.

Tight aggressive folks tend to RAISE with the hands you fear, and so are much less likely to have it. On the other hand, they are less likely to pay you off and are more likely to have had a draw. These folks like to bluff, so checking in first position is fairly routine. Bet in last position, unless it looks like the draw got there.

I'm sure that lots of potential money is lost on the river by failing to bet the best hand.

- Louie