Many players look at money earned at the table as good profit, but true pros understand that a large amount of the revenue they make comes through value betting.
Value bets refer to a situation where you have a high level of confidence that your hand is stronger than your opponent’s and you are trying to figure out the bet amount they would call. When done correctly, a value bet increases the number of chips you can win. It is one of the best ways of building a bigger bankroll.
Get Better At Reading Your Opponents Hands
Before you can make a successful value bet, you need to be adept at reading your opponents and putting them on hands. If you lack this skill you will never know how strong the other player’s hand is, which makes a value bet practically useless.
A good value bet will succeed against any type of player; experienced veterans will call the bet if they feel their hand is fairly strong, while newer players will also call a value bet if the price is right and they do not have to risk too many chips to either see the next card or the showdown.
How Much Should A Value Bet Be?
The amount of your value bet depends on the strength of the hand you put your opponent on. Someone with top pair will probably call most standard-sized bets on every street, but a massive bet will raise a red flag and allow them to easily fold.
Conversely, if you are convinced your opponent has an extremely strong, but beaten hand, you can make a sizeable bet that will net you lots of chips. Because the word “value” is used it does not mean the bet has to be small.
Entice Don’t Intimidate
You will never master value bets immediately, it will take practice against a wide variety of opponents. As a rule of thumb, a value bet will normally be half, to the full total of the pot. If you suspect your opponent has a marginal hand, go for a half pot or lower bet.
Against a strong hand, try at least a half pot bet, but remember, this could be seen as a under bet by someone with a very good hand, which could result in you getting raised. A good value bet should test your opponent, but not scare them away.
Key Points
• Develop and improve your ability to read players and put them on hands.
• Adjust your bet amount in accordance with what you expect the strength of your opponent’s hand to be.
• Make a bet that will entice a call from your opponent, rather than intimidate them.
Chris
- Chris Laquinta is a magazine editor, content specialist and poker fanatic with 10+ years writing experience and over 1,500 published articles. Chris is a naitive of Southern California, where he spent his entire life learning gaming concepts and theories from relatives that had been former professional gamblers. He currently resides in Torrance, CA where he works as a professional content writer and part-time SNG professional.
