In most cases, yes. As always however in poker, it depends. Check out our board texture here on the turn. 9h-4s-7d-3h Our villian, after checking a 4-way limped flop, calls a pot sized bet. In most cases, this is considered a sign of strength online as there is alot of slowplaying and predictable, straight forward play in lower limit MTTs.
Knowing that, not only is the slowplayed 56 straight in his range here, but also most flush and straight combo draws, ranging from 8T-Ah2h. The only hand I can get real value from betting the river is from a calling station who has/rivers two pair, and I think the amount of times you will see the drawing hands shown up will outnumber the times you will see a hand that is made, that you beat, and can call a bet on the river without suspecting that YOU hit the draw.
Online, unless you are up against a real fish, even the most average of players have a hand here that most of the time can continue to the river, which then is the worst card in the deck for our hand, the Jh, which also completes the T8 straight. If we bet here, and our villian check-raises, unless he is completing one of the most creative bluff-lines I have seen in a 5 dollar tourney, he's got bottom set beat.
With other combined factors such as this is a limped pot (which widens the ranges of the types of hands you will see at showdown), and we now have more hands in that range that beat us now on that river card, the play here is just check and try to win a showdown. |
(a straight, Three to Seven)
