PLAYING THE RIVER

PLAYING THE RIVER

The River Card. Showdown. It’s time to see who is taking down the chips, and who is drowning in the river. River play is fairly simple. If you have the best hand either by strength of good cards early, or luck of the draw on the river, now is your final chance to get a few more chips from your opponents.

Some “classy” players will check here, even though they know they have the top hand, and thus save their opponents a few dollars to put back in their wallet. Unless it’s a long time friend, I would advise taking his wallet, emptying it of its contents and then stuffing the wallet down his throat. There are winners and there are losers in poker. If you are looking for “courtesy play”, then play with family.

The world of poker is like Jack London's icy wastelands where only the strong survive.

The only real advice we can give on river play is to almost never fold. If you have been playing good cards up to this point in the hand, then you at least have a shot at holding the winning cards. By now the pot is large enough that it also makes good money sense to stay in.

Unless you did not complete a pure draw hand, call any bets. Don't get the reputation as someone who can be bluffed off the river. If this happens, you'll just face more and more bluff bets on the river. On the other hand, if you get the reputation as someone who can't be bluffed, then no one in their right mind will attempt it.

The only other times you should consider folding is when an extremely conservative player who never bluffs has been calling towards a draw hand the entire hand and now it looks like he has hit his card. Or when there are two or more players who start betting and raising on the river, you can be sure that at least one of them holds the goods. You can make a case for folding here.

Pot odds dictate that you bet or call on the river, unless you are practically positive you are beat.