Facing a Raise on the River

The river marks the last portion of a poker hand and a raise or a re-raise at this point of the game becomes very important. So how do you know when to make a raise and when to call it?

Since the River comes at the end of the hand, you will already have built up a picture about the kind of hand that your opponent players are holding and whether it is safe for you to raise the bet. Mentally figure out what hands can beat you and if it’s possible that one of the players at your table is in possession of it. This will help narrow down the possibilities and give you an idea of whether you should make a raise or call the raise of your opponent.

In making your assumptions you need to use all your concentration and consider objectively all prior moves made during the hand in order to determine whether a raise made is a bluff or whether it’s genuine and if the poker river raise you are facing is backed by a strong hand.

This is an area where many players make mistakes, as they fail to effectively calculate what hands could take them out. Such expertise in decision making while facing a raise on the river comes with experience and learning from past mistakes.

However, there are some difficult situations while facing a raise on the river that will allow you very few options for making a move. For instance, if many players take the river, and you end up with just a marginal hand you will need to be extremely cautious while facing a raise.

If a player goes out to make a raise at this point, it means that he or she is very confident of their hand or they are trying to move you off your hand with a bluff. You can work out what likely hands you opponent may have by looking at the community cards, for example if they show that you opponent cannot make a full house or a straight, then it means that if they have a strong hand then likely it would be a set or similar. If this all makes sense with the way your opponent has acted throughout the hand then you can confidently put him on this hand or a similar strong hand and you will find it very hard to move him off the hand with a bluff – so in this situation you should be looking at getting away from this hand and cutting your losses.

On the other hand, if you are in a rather weak game and you are not up against particularly skilful poker players, then the range of hands your opponent may be making River raises with may be a lot bigger and a lot weaker and you should consider this when deciding whether to call or raise on the river as often even if you only have a marginal hand you may still be ahead.

Another tight spot for players at this stage of the game is when at the River there it is not heads up. This is when more than two players are still involved in the pot and it gives you a lot more to process and consider. If a player makes a raise and then another makes a call then unless you have something strong in your hand, then you have few options but to fold. You have to really understand your opponents and how they play and really be able to interpret their actions in the hand to be able to either call a raise in this situation, or re-raise to try and move them both off the hand.

The overall thought process on the river should always be the same. First you look at the range of hands that could be in play from the community cards on the board and then assess whether any of these hands tie in with the actions of your opponent throughout the hand to try and put your opponent on a hand or range of hands. Once you have narrowed down what you believe your opponent is holding then you can decide what to do on the river, with either call if you believe your hand to be ahead (or raise!) or a raise to try and move your opponent off the hand if you think their hand is marginal enough to be able to do this.

Take this into account when facing a raise on the river and you should reach a logical conclusion.

Related Articles:

• The Free Card Play
• Betting on the River
• Poker Terminology
• Playing A-K after the Flop
• When to be aggressive with a big hand