Playing Rivers

TAKE TIME WITH DECISIONS
-consider all factors leading to the river
-what does our range look like?
-what does our opponent's range look like?
-consider stacksizes and pot size always

BETTING FOR VALUE
-how thin can we go?
*learn to bet/fold river for MAX VALUE*
"Can I beat 50% of his calling range?"- if yes then BET FOR VALUE

CONSIDER:
1) Board interactions/ runouts
Dry runout
-can bet wider for value
eg. AT on [52T][7][3] -easy triple barrel
Many draws and overcards complete
-value range narrows
-checking very often: including some strong hands
eg. TT oop 3way on [JT3][2][A]sss-> we check river as KQ completes and flush comes in

2) Number of opponents
-HU we can widen our value range
-multiway we tighten up

3) Opponents' tendencies
-start with assumption they'll call too wide
-vs tilted players we can go wide and big
-vs loose passives/aggros/maniacs- we go wide and big for value
-vs tight passive: narrower range
-vs regs: depends on their range + tendencies

4) Opponent's line/action
WEAK LINE (bet thinner for value)
a) check/call flop, check/call turn especially on wet boards
*they usually check/raise flop or turn with strong value*
b) check/call flop, check turn and check river
-we can go wider for value here
c) bet flop OOP, check turn and check river
-if he has a strong hand, he'll lead turn or river
d) bet flop IP, check brick turn

STRONG LINE (cannot go thin for value)
a) bet flop, bet turn and check dangerous river
eg. [JT4][3][7]sss -> he usually will check/call his strong hands
b) bet flop, bet turn and check brick river when draws missed
-villain could be trying to induce bluffs

5) Our Range
-mainly focus on our perceived range
-what is our image?
-tight? cannot go as thin
-aggro? can go thinner
-what actions did we take?
-when our range is very strong, we cannot go as thin for value
-when our range is very weak, we can go thinner for value as they'll often make herocalls vs us

CHECKING TO INDUCE
-after betting twice with good value...
vs weak/fish we want to keep betting on good rivers for value
vs aggros we can check to induce traps
-we check when lots of draws missed and we don't block their draws
-we block their value range
eg. JT on [J5T][6][3] vs aggro player
-on river, the flush missed so we check to induce bluffs

BETTING AS BLUFF
-estimate our value range and pick best bluffs-> more value in our range = more bluffs we can include
MAIN FACTORS:
1) Do we need to bluff?
-does our hand have enough showdown value?
2) Opponent's tendencies/types
-we only bluff people who knows how to fold: good regs, semi regs and tight players
3) Number of opponents
-vs many opponents, we're very selective with our bluffs
4) Previous action and board runouts
-we see villain's lines and play accordingly
-does the run out give us value? If yes: we can widen our bluffs and put pressure on dangerous run outs eg. T9s on [784][K][8]sss- we can bet river to represent the flush
5) Our range (perceived and actual)
-always adjust vs stations we only have value hands
6) Hand type
-hands that block their value and not their missed draws
-we use pairs and backdoor draws to bluff
WE ONLY BLUFF IF HE IS CAPABLE OF FOLDING PAIRS
eg. QJs [AK2][7][4] with BDFD
-we can triple barrel bluff as we block AQ, AJ
-we use hands at the bottom of our range to bluff

SIZINGS
-try to go AS BIG AS POSSIBLE with our value hands
vs weaker ranges: smaller sizings + wider value
vs stronger ranges: larger sizings + narrower value
eg. 77 on [K7Q][3][5] vs tight passive after he called flop + turn
-he'll often have KQ and AK therefore we can overbet on river for value

MORE BLUFFS IN OUR RANGE = BIGGER SIZINGS WITH OUR VALUES/BLUFFS

OUR RANGE: BALANCED
eg. we bet 30 combos full pot on river
-villain gets 2 to 1 therefore need to beat 33% of our range
-here, balanced range means we have 10 combos of bluffs and 20 combos of value
if opponent thinks we bluff alot
-skew our range to value and use big sizings
if opponent think we never bluff
-we size down with value and include more bluffs
if they think our line is weak
-skew to value and big sizings

ALWAYS THINK ABOUT WHAT OUR RANGE LOOKS LIKE TO OUR OPPONENT AND ADJUST

CONSIDER BLUFFING
1) Estimate of his range strength
2) Our perceived range strength
3) His calling tendencies- how often he'll call

SOMETIMES WE DO NOT BLUFF AT ALL
eg. if we think our opponent will call our pot sized bet 60-70% of the time, no point in bluffing!
eg. if we think opponent will fold to 1/2 pot bet 50% of the time, we can bluff our entire range

FACING BET ON THE RIVER
*ALWAYS TRY TO ESTIMATE OPPONENT'S RANGE
-start from preflop, flop and turn actions
-include random hands for weak players
-we want to block value range and unblock draws
eg. QT on [KT3][6][9]ss bet/check/bet
-we block QJ and KQ T9, KT and don't block any draws therefore its a good call
-HOW WIDE ARE THEY GOING FOR VALUE/BLUFFS?
-consider player types, board runout, number of players and position

IS OPPONENT CAPABLE OF BLUFFING OFTEN?
-many players will bet flop and give up
-many will double barrel but not many will triple barrel bluff
-we should have a tight call down range vs strong line especially vs randoms
-with more players they'll bluff even less

WHERE ARE WE IN OUR RANGE?
-do we have many better hands to call?
eg. opponent bet full pot we can fold 50% of our range
-however vs tight players we can fold our entire range

HERO FOLD > HERO CALL
-if we're in the gray zone, just make the fold and move on!

CONSIDER RAISING RIVER
-we need to be beating 50% of his calling range
-lots of money to be made for thin river raises
Estimate opponents' range strength
-tendencies
-actions
-board runouts
-number of players
-our range

BLUFF RAISING RIVER
-very selective range and target ONLY PLAYERS WHO CAN FOLD
-effective vs good/competent players
-only do it when we don't block any of his bluffing range (draws)
-want to be blocking his value range
eg. AsJc on 3 spades board- we can bluff with A of spades
eg. K9s on [KJ3][8][7]
-here we block [KK], [T9] therefore we can make a bluff raise on the river