When a player overbets the river, it usually means one of two things: He’s bluffing because he missed his hand — a busted flush or straight draw, say — or he has a strong hand and is trying to make it look like he’s bluffing.
“You put a lot of pressure on your opponent,” said young, aggressive pro Ryan Young, who won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2007. “They want to call you because they want to win that big pot. They think it’s 50-50 that I’m bluffing, so when they see the overbet and the big pot, they want to take a shot.”
Having an aggressive image and a loose or frustrated opponent can make this a profitable play, as Young showed during the World Poker Tour’s $15,000 buy-in Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas’ Bellagio in 2008.
With blinds at $50-$100, Young drew K-Q of clubs in the big blind. A player in early position raised to $300, another player called, as did Young. The flop came Q-10-2, two clubs, giving Young top pair and the second-nut flush draw.
“I wanted to disguise my hand a little bit,” Young said, “so, I checked the flop.”
The original raiser made it $625. The next player called, as did Young.
“If I raised there and someone has A-Q or two pair and moves all in, then I’d be kind of committed to call and now I’d have to play this big pot with just a pair and flush draw. I chose to play it a little bit safe, but also disguise my hand.”
The turn came the 3 of clubs, completing Young’s flush.
“I checked,” Young said. “The original raiser checked and I could tell he was done with the pot. The guy after him checked. I wasn’t sure about his hand.”
The river came the 4 of spades. Young led out with an overbet of $4,000 into a pot worth a little more than $2,900.
“I put the guy on my left on a weak hand once the flush hit,” Young said. “Earlier, he bet and got two callers, so once the flush card hit, I figured he was done because I didn’t think the flush card helped him, and he had to worry about two guys. So, I didn’t worry about him.”
Indeed, the original raiser folded.
“The other guy, I had taken a lot of his stack earlier,” Young said, “so, based on my table image, I felt that if he had anything, he would call. I thought, if he had top pair or any good hand, he would call.”
In fact, he called with pocket deuces for a losing set.
“The way I played the hand, I check-called, so it looked like I was drawing,” Young said, taking advantage of a situation to get maximum value.
Ryan Young
KING OF CLUBS, QUEEN OF CLUBS
The flop
QUEEN OF SPADES, 10 OF CLUBS, 2 OF CLUBS
The turn
3 OF CLUBS
The river
4 OF SPADES
– – –
Table talk
Second-nut flush draw: Holding the second-highest card of a suit that would complete a flush.
