The Defensive Bet

A defensive bet is used to save money with a hand you want to see the showdown with, but that you think is not the favorite. A defensive bet can be made in any big bet game. (A big bet game is any pot limit or no limit game.) A player with a weak hand (that he still wants to get to showdown with) bets a smaller amount than he fears his opponent would bet if checked to.

Let’s take an example to clarify things: you’re playing No Limit Hold’em and you have top pair top kicker. You bet and got called on the flop. On the turn, you checked, your opponent made a small bet and you called. The river is a blank, and you think your opponent either has top pair with a lower kicker than yours, or, more likely, two pair. He’s an aggressive player and will bet if checked to virtually all the time, and his usual river bet is between 75% and 100% of pot. This is when you make a defensive bet of 50% of the pot. He probably won’t raise you, and if he does you’re almost certainly beat and can easily fold. The defensive bet has saved you money, in this case, 25%-50% of what the pot was after the turn betting.

As with the isolation play and free card play, the defensive bet is dangerous in most situations. Certain conditions must be met in order to consider making it. Here are the factors that must be present for a defensive bet to be profitable:

• You must be out of position (otherwise you could just check it through).

• You must have a hand that has some value at showdown, but does not figure to be a favorite.

• Your opponent is very unlikely to check through the river. If you have previously seen him check through the river with a decent hand do not make a defensive bet.

• Your opponent must be unlikely to raise your bet with a worse hand than yours or on a bluff. If your opponent is capable of a river raise bluff, you should not make a defensive bet.

• Your opponent must routinely make large river bets. You should never be betting less than ½ the pot, especially with a hand you’ll fold against a raise, so your opponent must usually bet substantially more than ½ the pot on the river.

• You must make the same play, betting out around ½ the pot on the river (there are some times make a defensive bet on the flop or turn, but the river is more common), with other hands. If you only make this play when you’re making a defensive bet, observant opponents will figure it out and raise you out of the pot.