Value Betting

Everyone has their own definition of what a value bet is and where a value bet occurs. Some people like to value bet their strong starting hand in the flop and make it a pot size or even a little over the pot. Some like it on the turn if there is a rag card. Others do it in the river when they know they got the best hand. Personally when I have the nuts or I know for sure I have the best hand I'll value bet the river about 1/2 to 3/4 the pot wanting to get a call. What do I considering a value bet??? I think its the implied odds on the turn when you've made your hand and your bet on the river that you know your opponent will call. Most people in this case will push all their money in the pot hoping to get a call. I'd say "value betting" here is more profitable. If you played a 1,000 hands with the nuts and expected to get +EV for you money, pushing all your chips in the river (pushing all your chips in when you have more than the pot considering its already huge from recent round of betting.) I think you will lose money in the long run. What's also great about value betting on the river is that your opponents will think you might just be trying to steal the pot with a weak bet so they will counter by pushing all in instead. It's a win-win situation for you IMO. What do you guys think???

On the river any bet you think a worse hand will call is a value bet. To me the size of the bet is based mainly on what I think my opponent has. Discounting any reads, usually if I think they have 2nd pair i'll go under 1/3, TPGK/WK about 1/2 and so on. Even if they have a busted draw or A high a min bet in a big pot usually gets a call.

This is a really important topic and I'd like to know what others think about it. If i could just add 1BB to every pot i've won and saved 1BB on every pot I've lost, my winrate would go through the roof.

Value betting provides two things, the second i have noticed only recently.
1. The obvious, it gets your opp to call with 2nd best and you to make money. A value bet can be $0.1 with quad kings or $50 with the turned straight/two pair etc.
2. When you dont have position, opp is to act after you it gives opp an oppertunity to buy/bluff at the pot. (i once told pingviini(spelt right!?) i'd never do this. If you can put opp on say top pair, and are pretty certain they have no flush draw, but you have a set then weak/value betting the river often induces a bluff. Opps think they sense weakness when you actually have them read like a book and some are dumb/aggressive enough to bluff that sort of pot.

This is actually working out pretty great for me. Last night while playing $50 N/L at UB, I was able to get more value bets called and it added up in the end because I multitabled. At interesting final hand yesterday: My opp bet hard on the flop so I was assuming he had TPTK, two pair or better. I had a flush draw with middle pair so I called. Opp checked on the turn giving me a free card to the river. I made my flush. Now usually if the pot was already big say like $20 I'd make about a 1/2 or 1/3 value bet here to get more money. But since the pot was only $6 on the river, I made like I was trying to steal the pot and pushed all my chips in. My opp couldn't get all off his two pair and I took down a monster pot.

Yes
When u can put opps on something difficult to fold, and have hot better, making a 'bluff' looking bet is clever. Even thinking players can get caaught here.