Value Bets

Value bets are particularly poignant when playing poker and many players make their money from value bets. This should be a vital part of any player’s strategy when they choose to play poker.

A value bet is when you put your opponent on a hand and the hand you have is better. You then have to evaluate what you think your opponent is willing to pay on the worse holding they have and then bet.

It takes a lot of practice to become good at putting your opponent on hands and you have to be pretty sure of what they are holding before making that bet. The skill and ability to do this is what separates the finest players from the rest.

To help explain what this means, imagine you are playing a $5 No limit game of Texas Hold Em. 2 players play before you and you call. You are holding an Ace of Hearts and a 10 of clubs. The cards are then dealt and there is a 2 of clubs, 10 of hearts and 5 of Spades. The other players check and you decide to bet on the pair of 10’s by betting $20. The players fold except one who calls and the next card turned is a 3 of hearts, you both check and the last card turned over is a 3 of diamonds. The player checks again so now it is up to you to bet.

Now thinking about it is highly unlikely that he is holding a queen or else he would have bet on the card when you checked before the last. If he was holding any serious cards he would not have checked at the end as he wouldn’t want you to steal the pot. From this you can safely assume you hold the better cards so you can bet on a higher value.