Part: Part Seven - Betting on Fourth and Fifth Street
Respecting a river raise
River
You raised pre with A♥J♥, bet the J♦ 8♠ 4♣ flop and the A♣ turn (making top two pair), and were called twice. River 6♥ - the big blind checks again.
Top two pair, aces and jacks, on the river; he checks. Best?
WhyAces up is well ahead of the range that called you down twice - worse aces, floated jacks, and busted straight draws that now have to pay. He's checked to you again, so take the value while he can still call with second-best.
What happensYou bet 3,500 - and he check-raises all-in to 14,000. The bet was right; now the hand just got a lot louder.
Decision
After you value-bet, he check-raises all-in on the river.
Your value bet got check-raised all-in. With top two pair, best?
WhyAsk what a passive caller check-jams for on the river, because it's almost never a bluff: 7-5 fills the 8 and 4 for a straight, plus sets and better two pair - and every one of them has you drawing dead. The 6♥ is exactly the card that completes 7-5. Two pair is a monster right up until a raise like this, and you have no read that he's capable of turning a hand into a bluff here.
What happensYou fold; he tables 7-5 for the rivered straight. A crying call there is how strong players donate stacks - the discipline is the skill.
You bet top two for value - correct - and then folded to the jam - also correct. The hard part of fifth-street betting isn't firing the value bet; it's laying down a big hand when the raise tells you it just got beaten.
A river check-raise, especially all-in, is one of the most honest bets in poker. Strong-but-not-nut hands should fold to it unless you have a concrete reason to think this player bluffs.