Need More Knowledge About Top Pair on the River - Learn the Tips
Top Pair On the River
What to do when you’re holding top pair against one or two opponents on the river. All the cards are out. Now you have to decide whether to check or bet, or if your opponent acts first, whether to call, fold or raise.
If you’re observant, you will have noticed that some opponents will almost always bet top pair on the river, unless there is a strong threat of a flush or straight. Others seldom bet one pair for value, even when the board is not threatening. Most, however, fall somewhere in between, and treat this situation as a judgment call.
Suppose you hold A-K, raised before the flop, and had two callers. You bet the flop and the turn. Now the board shows A-Q-4-7-9 of mixed suits. All the cards are out and it’s your turn to act. Do you bet or check? How should you assess this situation?
You’ll beat any pair, but lose to any two pair. Unless one of your callers held a pocket pair of nines, and made a set on the river, you can probably dismiss the notion that there is a set out against you. If one of your opponents either flopped or turned a set, he would have raised on the turn — when the betting limits doubled.
Your real concern, of course, is whether one of your opponents holds two pair. If an opponent held A-Q he probably would have raised before the flop, called on the flop and raised your bet on the turn. An opponent holding A-7, A-4, Q-4 or Q-7 would probably have raised on the turn. You have two concerns: How will your opponents will play when they are not sure whether they hold the best hand, and if you bet, will your hand be the best one if it is called?
If your opponents are the type who would raise with any two pair and call with lesser hands, like A-8 or Q-J, you’ll want to bet. If they had made two pair on the turn, that’s when they would have raised. Except for the chance that they are holding A-9, Q-9, 9-7 or 9-4, your bet on the river will elicit a call, and you’ll win.
Example:
Your hand A-K
Your opponent’s hand: A-Q
the board: A-Q-4-7-9
You hold top pair with top kicker.
Your opponent holds top 2 pair.
Now imagine the same scenario, but this time your opponent is first to act. If he bets should you fold, call or raise, and if he checks, should you bet?
If your opponent is very aggressive and tends to overplay weak hands, you can raise if you suspect he is betting a hand which is weaker than yours. If he is a tight player, just call his bet. If he is a real rock who seldom, if ever, bluffs, then throw away top pair with anything less than a very big kicker whenever he bets on the river.
The key, of course, is knowing your opponents and their tendencies. Top pair on the river is a very common situation, and it is critically important that you learn to play it well.
Another commonly encountered situation occurs when you hold top pair with a marginal kicker. Suppose you called the flop in late position with A -8 . By the river, the board looks like this: A-9-7-4-3 . You flopped top pair with backdoor flush possibilities. You called the flop along with a player behind you, and picked up the nut flush draw on the turn. The river card was a total blank. Your opponent — the one who has been betting all the way — bets again. What should you do?
Example:
Your hand: A-8
Your opponent’s hand: A-10
the board A-9-7-4-3
Your best 5 card poker hand is A-A-9-8-7
Your opponent’s best 5 card hand is A-A-10-9-7
Should you call automatically with top pair? Do you give the bettor credit for an ace, and assume he’s got a bigger kicker? What about the player behind you? He, too, has been calling all the way. What could he have, you wonder, an ace with a bad kicker, a busted straight or flush draw, or perhaps two small pair? There’s a reason he’s been calling. If he had a big set or top two pair, you can be fairly certain he would have raised on the turn — trapping the bettor and you for two bets.
But he didn’t. He’s been quietly calling. So he probably doesn’t have a great hand, but he may have a good one.
A raise would probably prevent the last player from overcalling with a hand like A-10. If that’s the case, you’ll win if the original bettor was either bluffing, or betting a hand like A-5 or 9-8.
Are you better off throwing it away, assuming that the bettor’s kicker is superior to yours and your opponent in last position may have two small pair that he’d call with — but not bet? The answer lies in knowing the tendencies of your opponent, but you also have to take the size of the pot into account.
You are highly recommended to read about 7 hand poker, Texas Hold Em poker online game and poker ranking of hands.
Filed under Hobbies and Games