What Is a Value Bet in Poker? Meaning & Strategy
One of the most important reasons for betting in poker is to place a value bet in poker when we have a strong hand and want our opponent to call with worse holdings. Note that to make a value bet poker strategy profitable, we must expect to have the best hand most of the time when called, not just occasionally. More information in the strategy application.
Example of Value Bet used in a sentence -> We had top set on the river and so put out a sizeable value bet.
How to Use Value Bets in Poker – Strategy & Sizing
In slightly more technical terms we should usually consider making a value bet when the following condition is met:
Value bet – We can bet for value if we expect to have over 50% equity vs our opponent’s calling range.
Although this is a decent rule of thumb, what is a value bet in poker can vary based on different scenarios. For example, if our opponent is raising with a high frequency (and we are forced to fold) the rule breaks down somewhat. Just because we are good those times our opponent calls does not make up for the fact that we are being forced to discard our hand when facing a high frequency of raises.
Value bet poker strategy also depends on correct bet sizing. On a very basic level strong made hands will use to make large bet sizings while weaker or mid-strength made hands will typically use smaller sizings. In scenarios where a mid-strength hand attempts to bet large, it runs the risk of only being called by hands that have it beat (the weaker hands all fold against the large sizing). This is typically referred to as “isolating against better”.
See Also
Bluff, Semi Bluff, Sizing, Action, Range
