What a difference position makes to poker tactics when you’re heads-up on the river!
Your poker tactics for acting last on the river are vastly different.
In Part One of this mini-series, I talked about the importance of figuring out whether you are ahead or behind.
In Part Two, I discussed the implications of acting first and the problems that causes to your decision making.
We’re in a much better spot. Last to act, heads-up on the river. We’ll talk about poker tactics for three types of situation: when you have the nuts, when you hold a busted hand and in-between hands.
1) You have the nuts
Glorious! You are last to act, which is a huge advantage in itself, and know for sure that you cannot lose. Your only consideration is how to get more money in the pot. Checking is clearly not an option. If the pot is checked to you, you must bet.
Sometimes an oversize bet, which seems like a poker tactic only donkeys would opt for, works in your favour. It looks like a steal bet. An opponent with a middling-strong hand like top pair, top kicker or two pairs will most likely call, expecting to win.
If your opponent has bet, you must decide how much to raise. In limit holdem, obviously there’s no choice, but in no limit, the texture of his bet is vital. What do I mean by the texture of a bet? Simply, if it seems aggressive, given the situation and size of the pot, the chances are he will call an all-in raise.
Sometimes of course, an aggressive bet is simply a strong stab at stealing the pot, and he will fold to your raise.
When the texture of the bet is weaker, you are challenged more. You must decide how much to raise. Remember that every dollar you extract here is guaranteed profit. You have the nuts, so there’s nothing to worry about.
2) You have nothing at all
Shame that you missed, but what a difference position affords you here! Again, knowing your opponent is imperative to deciding what poker tactics to employ.
If he bets at you, you must decide whether to raise or fold. Calling cannot be an option. Again, there really is no substitute for knowing your opponent. A timid enemy might be unlikely to bluff here, while a wild, loose cannon could be capable of anything.
At least you have the luxury of waiting to see what he does before you make up your mind. Perhaps here, of all situations, acting last is the greatest advantage.
3) You are somewhere in-between
Now you can see how great it is to be last to act. You don’t have to risk losing bets by checking a strong hand; you don’t have to call a bet you believe is losing; you can check behind your opponent with hands you believe have a decent chance; you can value-bet on the end if you feel confident.
By examining the specific flops mentioned in Part Two, we can see how our poker tactics change because we are last to act.
Remember, you have AK and the board looks like this:
Even though we think our top pair, top kicker AK is beaten here, can
you see how much easier the decisions are? If your opponent
checks, you can certainly check behind him. A bet will probably still
scare you off (it’s hard to raise here on a bluff, because there’s so
many ways to be losing). Betting to him is probably not a wise move, as
he might be check-raising.
Again, we’ll adjust the river card to a much less hostile one and see what this does for our poker tactics. You still have AK:
Once more, his action dictates your poker tactics. If he checks, you
must weigh up the chances he’s planning to raise you, before you decide
to value bet your hand. If he bets, can you beat his hand, or make him
throw it away with a raise?
He can only bet or check and you will know which he decides to do before you act. It’s the best possible position to be in.
If you have comments or questions about this mini-series, please feedback to Letters, Pray! using the link below. Thanks for reading.
Sharon Charon
The Skeletal Boatbabe of the Styx
