Lets say for instance, in a 6-handed game you have KJ in the BB, the pot is unraised with only 1 caller and the flop was KQ8 you bet, are raised, smooth call.

Turn comes a blank, you check/call.

River comes another blank..

Should you throw out a bet? If so what size?

If you check, opponent could smell weakness even with a weaker hand, and bet you off of it.

If you bet a lot, you could be up against a better hand and lose a very substantial part of your stack.

I think best bet is to throw a bet out roughly 1/3 - 1/2 pot size (or even less) that says "I might have a monster and am wanting a reraise" and scare hands such as AK or Q8 into smooth calling.

If you are reraised, depending on your read on the player it will be much easier to get away from. Its basically a defensive bet.

Is this the correct strategy? Opinions?

Six handed KJ is a decent enough starting hand especially unraised with one caller. You flop top pair decent kicker, bet out and are raised. I hate to say this but it all depends on the player to give a very difinitive answer but is your opponent capable of re-raising a river to steal a pot away from you?

I've seen many player limp with hands like KQ and such but most players raise with these hands six handed. Also playing six handed most starting hand requirements go down so Kx suited and such are likely hands. At best he has two pair.



Is this a limit game because if it is that changes things quite durastically. Did your opponent bet the pot 1/2 the pot a small feeler? Just a little bit more information is needed. Anyway, we check, he bets, we call.



If you think you have the best hand I would definitly value bet this river, if you think your opponent has you I would check this river. If your talking about throwing out a bet to scare your opponent off a better hand, I'll tell you right now that's not the way to play poker. I would say if you were going to bet the size of the pot is a good bet on the river or a little less than the pot only because your trying to lower represent a good value bet and 2:1 is good enough to call for most players, so they may think your trying to maximize your value bet.



Again do you think your opponent is tricky enough to pull a play like that with a pretty desent pot on the river? That's why posting the limits you play and such is a good add to your posts members can answer more accurately.



This is why we bet about the size of the pot or a small about less to represent a value bet. If you're up against a better hand your getting called no matter how much you bet. Matt Matros said in his recent cardplayer collumn, "Don't bet the river, unless you improve, in an unraised pot." Makes sense to me.



This isn't a bad strategy to use against loose players that will bet every street on second pair or top pair weak kicker.



Agreed.



Against the right opponents this strategy is golden. You should post some hand histories so we can pick those appart and anylize a little further. Good post btw.

The Bwaves,
2 4

At times I found myself doing this to much and it got me into trouble so I made sure that I used it but the situation must be right. For one thing the major deterrant is the player your playing, if your playing against a wild or overly aggressive player than betting out could be a good move because a lot of time they will back off and not attempt to bluff you. but also if you have a solid read on this player than a check could be profitable, d/t inducing bluffs. This obviously depends mostly on your image, if you have a solid image this play may be extremely useful.

If you are playing against a cautious player that would not re-raise with the AK in that spot than this is the perfect timing imo for this play probably allowing you to lose a minimal amount. In general this is a good play but should be limited as a smart and aggressive player will pick up on this as a sign of weakness and you will be prone to a bluff re-raise.

The posted hand was purely a hypothetical situation where you have a marginal hand against a good, aggressive player. I just started employing this strategy recently and it has saved me some chips on things such as betting into a higher straight with a 3 flush on board, or two pair with TPTK.

Thanks for the input.

start folding top pair x kicker and you will really save money (when you are told you are behind that is).

calling down cause you think you are behind, or afraid you are being bluffed, to just bet weak on the river isn't the best thing to do repeatedly...

it will you turn into a calling station who 'gay bets' rivers, eventually good opponents will pick up on this and tear you apart.

- Jordan

I don't really have a problem folding TPTK when its obvious I'm behind, I just think a defensive bet OOP is a good way to draw out information / save yourself some chips when you are behind while still extracting value when you are ahead.

Obviously, like any other play in poker, this is very situational and read based, and will not work EVERY time because good opponents will pick up on your tendencies.

What exactly is a gaybet? lol

A gay bet for example...

you c/c a flop, then lead a turn...a lot of the times on a blank.

or you lead, are raised and call...then you lead the turn again..

or, you c/c flop/turn, then lead the river...

but the first two are usually what ppl refer to as a "gay bet"

- Jordan