The Big Payoff

We've all been there. Ring game, you raise preflop and hit TPTK. You bet each card, and your opponent flat calls. Then, on the river he makes a huge bet. (greater than pot)

Barring any reads, is this always an easy fold?

On the other side of the coin, you're sitting there with the nuts, and your opponent is betting into you. At the end, do you fire off a reasonable bet that will almost surely get called, or do you go for the big payoff and bet his stack?

I usually go for the smaller bet that will probably get called, but I have seen a lot of crazy bets being called on the river, so I think I might be missing out on some big pots.

Remaining stacks and pot size are everything in your 1st question. Can't answer intelligently without those.

I like the crazy over the top raise on the end because he doesn't have to call very often for it to be more profitable than the little suck bet. But again this also will depend on stack sizes and the amount already in the pot (and of course any knowledge we have of our opponent).

Yeah, I'm thinking that the big payoff bet also has another benefit. When you don't get called, your opponent doesn't get to see your hand, and it puts a seed of doubt into his mind that you might be bluffing. Couple hands like that could payoff down the road.

If you have the nutz and your opponent is betting into you, you smooth call to the river. At you last opportunity to act, get all your chips in.

The way you phrased your 2nd question suggest that you are playing the hand out of position. The case for a check-raise all in, is very strong here.

When an opponent is playing into your (nutz) hand, you never take his steam away by betting into him. Players who have bet into you twice will typically do it a 3rd time. It is worth the risk of a check-behind to go for his entire stack. Let him put it in on his own, and if he doesnt, ask him to with your last possible action.

This is so simple, but it's something that I had really gotten away from recently. I got so paranoid about getting drawn out on, I would pull the trigger on trips or flushes early, missing out on a lot of $$$.

So, I re-adopted that strategy and made $30 profit on the NL($10) tables in a few hours. Could be the hole in my game that I've been looking for.

The 'Let them dig thier own grave' play is always an option when you have the nutz. When you don't, a decision needs to be made on every street.

The play is not usually the best one unless you have you are not sweating a draw.

I don't want to give you bad advice. When your hand is beatable, this play gives players the chance to make thier draw, or even pick up a redraw on the turn and hit it on the river.

(Is "redraw" the correct terminology around here??)


The worst move would be (unless you have the nutz) deciding to slowplay on the flop and not reviewing the decision on the turn.

The fact that your opponent is betting into you suggests he flopped a made hand, but not very reliably. Most players semi-bluff thier draws and this could be the case.

Intimate knowledge of your opponents allows you to fully maximize your profit when you flop the best of it. Without this knowledge (or the nutz), you need to minimize your risk, and take what profit comes along.