Proper Value Betting

Value betting is a topic that poker players have discussed for what seems like an eternity. At the surface it would seem like value betting is an extremely easy to understand concept, but the truth is that there are many dynamics involved in proper value betting. You can value bet hands too much, you can undersell your valuable hands, and you can value bet in spots where it should be obvious that you don’t even have the best hand. These are some of the common mistakes that poker players make when trying to properly value bet.

You can’t value bet your hand according to its relative strength, instead you should be value betting according to how much money you can possibly extract from your opponent. This is one of the prime misconceptions of value betting, that you should be betting bigger when your hand is stronger. It is true that you will often be value betting a larger amount when you have a stronger hand, but it is not a rule that should be strictly followed. Value betting is a tool that players have to learn to adjust. A value bet against one player might be completely different against a different player in the same exact situation.

Picking Your Opponents Apart When Value Betting

Your opponents are who you should be value betting, not your hand. Say that you have made a full house on the river against a very loose player. You had been betting each street relatively hard, but now that the river is dealt there is no way that you are behind. You know that the other player had snap called the bets that you made on the flop and turn, but how much are they going to be willing to call on the river? The key word that was used to describe your opponent was “loose.” You should be exploiting the weakness of any particular player that you come up against, in this case it is the player’s inability to fold. Since you know that they hate to fold you will be able to bet a lot more money than you would be able to against a tight or even relatively tight player.

Pretend that the pot is $72 on the river and that you are playing .50/1. You are the first to act with your full house and you have around $75 left in your stack. Your loose opponent also has around $75 in their stack. In this spot you would be making it blatantly obvious that you have either a huge hand or absolutely nothing if you decided to just go all in on the river. Instead of making this move you could simply go for a $64 bet. Your opponent’s looseness will often allow them to make the call, no matter how bad it might be. So why not just go all in if they are so loose? Because there is always a chance that they will realize they are being exploited once you decide to go over the top with an all in bet. Sure, your opponent is loose, but you still don’t want to scare them off.

SUMMARY: Value Betting and the Proper Way of Betting for Value

Value betting is more than simply identifying how strong your hand is and then betting accordingly. Proper value betting requires a bit of critical thinking that will involve a complete breakdown of your opponent’s playing style.