You may have heard the term, “Value bet” in online poker before, but were unsure of what it was. This video will describe the basics of value betting and show a few examples of what factors to use in deciding how much to value bet. But first, a value bet is typically a bet you make when you really, really want your opponent to call you.This is a valuable skill in poker tournaments as well because extracting extra chips out of the few hands you play, really adds up.

Now this could be against more than one player, and usually happens on the river, after all the community cards have been dealt. The idea is that you want more of your opponents money in the pot, as opposed to scaring them away with a fold..

There can be a delicate balance as to how much to bet in these tricky poker tournament situations and that often depends on several factors, including the betting action up to that point, the board chemistry, profiles of the players involved including yourself, and the size of the pot. But the question is how much to value bet? You want to bet enough to get called, but not so much that he folds and you get nothing more. Making the most of these value betting situations is a rather important skill when it comes to keeping your win rate high.

Lets look at betting action. If this is the first time he checked in that hand, he is probably concerned about being behind here. That would mean bet less, maybe no more than a quarter of the pot. On the other hand if the board chemistry is not so threatening, no straight, or flush is possible and he may think his top pair is good. Lets say you hava set here, which is often difficult to figure, so that might lend itself to betting more, maybe half the pot.

What kind of player is your opponent? If he is a tight player, he may be playing with Ace king or maybe even aces up with a hand like AJ. In that case, you might want to bet as much as two thirds the pot, if you can put him on a strong hand too. Most online players will call all-in here most of the time holding two pair. There are many considerations here, but it all comes down to variations of the pot size, be that fractions or multiples of. Even good players will make mathematical based calls when they suspect they are behind, if you make a reasonable bet compared to the size of the pot.

Review, and review even more your value betting skills, as this will make you a formidable poker tournament strategist that can take advantage of the situation.