Value Betting in Tough Mid Stakes
Games
Article Courtesy of
BetSportsDaily.com, where you can get
free sports picks and OnlinePokerSiteReviews.org,
the best
poker site reviews.
Value betting
is perhaps the most important weapon in any mid stakes
player’s arsenal. As the mid stakes games have gotten
tougher, value betting has become more and more
important. A lot of money can be won or lost based on
how effective your value bets are. On the outside, a $12
bet is not a whole lot different than a $14 bet, but in
reality, it can be the difference between winning and
losing. $2 is nothing, but 100x $2 is $200. Value
betting is about consistency. Smart value bettors don’t
occasionally squeeze an extra dime out of their
opponents, they get that extra dollar almost every
single time. Many players have the fundamentals down in
these games, and most have pre flop play mastered. Value
betting, however, is still a weak spot for a large
portion of mid stakes players. The key to value betting
is not systematic, but instead situational. In certain
spots it makes more sense to bet half pot than it does
to bet three quarters pot. Half pot is a smaller bet,
but are you getting any value if your opponent folds? Of
course not, extracting value is more important than
attempting to get value out of your hand.
Situational Betting
Value betting
is not a defined system. If you make three huge bets
with a full house in one hand, it might be better to
make three small bets the next time you have that same
hand. But why? The answer is obvious to some, but a
complete unknown to others. Your value bets must
coordinate with multiple variables: who you are playing,
your hand, their hand, and history. Now, there are even
more variables than these, but this is a great starting
point. If you know whether your opponent is loose or
tight, you can adjust your bets accordingly. Have a big
hand against a loose player? Bet it hard. Have a big
hand against a tight player? Make conservative bets.
Your hand should be obvious, and it is simply an
indicator of how much pressure you can withstand, or put
on your opponents. Your opponent’s hand is an educated
guess, but gives you an idea of what types of bets your
opponent is going to most likely call. Your history with
a player should make identifying all of these variables
that much easier. In small stakes or micro stakes games,
value betting is easy to do. Players can make big bets
with big hands and make money, but in mid stakes games,
intense consideration needs to be given to each and
every value bet. This is the problem for most players,
the inability to adjust. When you move up in limits, the
play inevitably gets better. It is always a good idea to
carry over certain skills as you move up, but sometimes
areas of your game need to be tweaked. If you can
improve your value betting, it is going to be much
easier to profit in mid stakes games. With solid value
betting, losing players can turn into breakeven players,
and breakeven players can evolve into winners. This is
how important value betting is. Step back and consider
all of these variables the next time you are in a
position to value bet.
|
