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For the readers, let me provide street by street details. A player in early position (UTG) raised and was smooth called by Robin. It was folded around and it was Heads-up to the flops. Flops were K-10-3 (rainbow), UTG bets and Robin calls. Turn comes a 2 and was checked by UTG, Robin makes a half size pot bet and was called by the opponent. River paired the 3 and UTG bets out almost half size the pot. Robin raises him with a pot size bet and after tanking for a while UTG calls. Robin flips over K-8 for top pair and 8 kicker to take down the pot.

After analyzing the hand, many players would say Robin made an attempt to steal the pot however his response was surprisingly strange. He calmly confirmed it was more of a value bet. A value bet with a top pair and a middle kicker when there has been strong bets and calls on every street??

I was so confused, I asked him why he considered it a value bet. He gave me the following 3 reasons:

• I knew the play of my opponent.
• Why not make a value bet if you think you have the best hand.
• Deal me out the next hand….

Oh wait….There were only 2 reasons he gave me, After listening to his reasons I questioned myself how many occasions there must have been when I was convinced I had the best hand but did’nt value bet because I was afraid of a Raise. Well…to be honest: A LOT!

Robin is no stranger to high stakes games and the regular tournaments in Goa and has been winning regularly. I began to think maybe his good statistics at both Cash and Tournaments might be hugely credited to this factor alone: Not missing a value bet.

Like Matt Daemon said in the movie rounders ‘See, I learned how to win a little at a time. But finally, I've learned this...If you're too careful, your whole life can become a f****' grind.’ , I realized being too careful can help you save a lot of chips but at the same time it can help you win only a few.

Since then I have been trying out this concept of thin value betting on the river. Like all strategy in Poker, it was not 100% accurate but it definitely help me win crucial chips at late stages of a tournament. I felt the ratio of getting called by a better hand over getting called by a weaker hand was 1:3, making it a lot more profitable to make more thin value bets. However, there is ONE important rule while making this move. You have to be 80% or above sure that you have the better hand. Avoid making this move when you’re not certain about your opponent’s hand strength. Thus making reason no.1 fairly significant too. Whew! Talk about a complex equation.

This thin value bet on the river move has definitely brought good results for me. Try and let me know if it works for you. However, If you’re thinking of the counter question ‘what if your opponent raises you back?’ refer to Mr. Daemon’s speech mentioned above again.

Peace out!


That’s Robin being escorted by 2 lovely assistants to the final table of Indian Poker Pros tournament in Goa. That’s his poker face! No wonder his opponent called him with a marginal hand.