Betting on Fourth Street vs Fifth Street

Playing poker for money is not all about winning the big pots, despite what you might have learned from watching poker TV or Hollywood movies. While taking down the monsters is a great way to build your chip stack or bankroll, it is holding on to your chips that makes your wins mean something; if you take down one $100 pot for every ten pots you play, and you invest $15 per pot, you are down $50. Take that same ratio but only invest an average of $5 per pot through careful and attentive betting (and not betting) then you are up $50. One of the best ways to manage your wins and losses is by making the right bets at the right time, and one of the best ways to do that is to manage your Fourth and Fifth street bets in Holdem.

This might sound like a very simple idea, but it is amazing how many poker players ignore it - don't bet on Fifth Street if you can't win. Now, that does not exclude bluffing, but you have to know if your bluff can win or not on the River by paying attention to the betting pattern of your opponents in the hand. If you are facing strong calls, pot openers, and raises, and especially if your opponent is a tight player, or not very creative at poker, then you are not going to take down the pot without a superior hand. If you believe your hand is the best, then by all means, bet for value; otherwise, check it down and take your medicine.

Betting is not only a way to get money from your opponent, but a way to get information as well. Use betting to get information on Fourth Street, either with a continuation bet or a value bet, but once the River card hits, you should know whether or not you have a hand. If you bet on Fifth street, consider this: betting too little gives your opponent pot odds to call you, and betting too much means your opponent will only call you if you are beat, at which point you are just throwing your money away.