Value betting thin on the river

One of the hardest things in cash games for me is deciding when to go for a thin value bet on the river. Sometimes it feels like I’m just building the pot for my opponent’s stronger hands. How do you determine when a thin value bet is the right move?

Building the pot is a term, which is used for the flop and turn, because more streets of betting are still to come. On the river we can not build the pot, but we can value own ourselfes, if we bet for value and are not good more than 50% of the time when called. If the opponent is a calling station, you should go for thinner value, than you would against a nit.

Very learnfull already i an new on this site. From the netherlands i play at gg Poker.

Look at the player type of your opponent, if you think they will call light, go with thin value bets more often. In my opinion light value bets work pretty well in micro stakes cash games.

babyrosejr said:

One of the hardest things in cash games for me is deciding when to go for a thin value bet on the river. Sometimes it feels like I’m just building the pot for my opponent’s stronger hands. How do you determine when a thin value bet is the right move?

Click to expand...

For a thin value bet to be correct, your hand will need at least 51% equity against your opponent’s calling range. Hopefully you’ll have a good idea of villains range from previous streets, consider when they capped there range and when they showed aggression, and as a result you can determine wether your specific HAND is good enough to for value against villains river RANGE.

I don't like thin value bets on the river. There are too many people who like to sit back and wait for someone else to bet before showing "their true value'. When they do, then you are forced to make a decision that you probably didn't want to have to make.

For me, thin value betting on the river mostly comes down to understanding how the ranges interact by that point in the hand. I like to think of ranges like a funnel — wide on the flop and narrowing down with each street as both players continue. By the river, both ranges are much tighter, and that helps me estimate how many worse hands can realistically call versus how many better hands will show up.

When I feel like my opponent’s range still contains enough worse hands that might call, even if it’s close, I tend to go for the thin value bet. But if the funnel has narrowed too much — meaning most of their remaining hands beat me — I’ll usually check back instead. It’s definitely one of those spots where having a clear idea of how the ranges shrink through the streets makes a big difference.

Hey there,
a hand that completed a draw, like a flush or straight, but is not the nuts can be a good candidate for a thin value bet. Your opponent may think you were on the draw and call with a weaker made hand, especially if the flush draw misses and they assume you are bluffing.