Checking to allow him to make a mistake at the river

Hi everyone,

I often hear and read this in videos and strategy articles.
What does it mean exactly?

If we get to the river and I have top pair top kicker say, and the other guy has position, has check-called all the streets, how does checking allow him to make a mistake?

I'm not sure I have the best hand with my top pair and he hasnt given up.

If I check and he bets...im not sure I have the best hand so if I bet, maybe i'm giving extra money away. Aren't I?

So where exactly does his mistake come in? Does it mean check your monster hands to get extra value out of him? Does this saying apply to medium strenght hands?

Thanks everyone.

I think you what to check to him if you really believe you have the best hand and are sure he will bluff, otherwise you want to value bet him. That way you get fold equity also. Just a fishes thought. GL

to use your eg you got tptk and they have been calling every street. if you bet the river your most likely only to be called by a better hand. all hands that you got beat likely fold. but say he has a busted draw if you check often they will bet out when the would of folded to a bet. check/calling the river can be scary but if you got a pretty good read it can make you lots of extra bets. another good reason to do this is for pot control. say you got a pretty strong hand but the river make a flush possible. if you bet and get raised you might be in a tricky spot. and may end up folding the best hand. but if you check/call yes you lose when they have a flush but make more on the second best hands that bet the river.

Thanks cardplayer52, you helped clarify the idea for me :-)

I check-call too many rivers apparently .

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Some players will always bet the river if he is last to act and you check, that comes down to knowing your opponent a little. Obviously one of the best situations in poker is when you know you hold the best hand and your opponent thinks he has the best hand, so if you've been playing the hand like you'v been on a draw, and then comes a blank on the riv, sometimes a check will look like you missed your draw, so they bet, especially if the pot is big, and you jam. Piece of cake.

one thing to note though, if you don't hold the nutz, you will only be called by someone who has you beat, to reiterate what cardplayer said. So don't make bets where you will only be called down by someone who has you beat.

Thanks for your feedback guys!

LOL, you should look at my big fat F for being to aggressive on the river.... Also a C on the turn, for the same thing, i guess all i can do is LMAO....
I don't know what to make of it. lol
OP, you see being over aggressive, does not get you much.

If you think the check will induce the call, then by all means check. I still like the value bet and not risk his check.

Nice report card aliengenius. If check calling is you only big leak no need to be

Like most things in poker, there's no one answer, but here are things to consider:

- If you bet, what worse hands can call and how much
- If you get raised, what are the possibilities that a worse hand is raising
- Is your opponent aggressive enough that he will bluff the river if you check
- Is your hand worth calling with given your opponent's range, the board texture, and the bet size

There are others, of course, but those should get you started.

AG - your report card is better than mine! I took that test a year or so ago and got a B- avg.

I like Sysvr's answers for this question, these are questions you should be asking yourself when you are in the hand.

I use the blocker bet.

If I was in this kind of position and I knew what type of opponent I was facing I would almost always bet the river, checking allows the opponent to feel that they really do have the best hand and they bet big. Weak hands might think they can bluff and steal the pot and bet as well, I don't want my opponents betting, even less than I want them to call when I'm unsure. If I put a bet on the river of a decent size, I'll get a way better idea where I stand in the hand for much cheaper. If I'm raised there's a very good chance I don't have the best hand even with tptk, if an opponent who would have bet on the river calls me, I've saved chips even if I lost as I may have called their big bet on the river with tptk because I'm unsure if they're just trying to steal the pot. If my opponent has a busted draw and I'm betting the river, they're most likely going to fold, and will not raise me trying to steal on their busted draw.

Betting the river even when being called on all other streets just makes sense to me, if I'm called and I am the loser, I probably lose less. If I'm called and I win, well it's just like value betting the pot on the river, I've increased the size of the pot and sweetened the win with some extra chips.