{"id":2179681,"date":"2022-06-20T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/?p=2179681"},"modified":"2025-12-29T14:10:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T14:10:03","slug":"facing-a-river-lead-in-a-cash-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/facing-a-river-lead-in-a-cash-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing A River Lead In A Cash Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ace-king offsuit can be a very strong hand<\/a>, but being overly ambitious with it can sometimes lead to you punting your stack. Depending on your stack size in a tournament, sometimes it makes sense to rip it in with ace-king off, but what strategies should you implement when you have the same hand in a cash game?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scenario: You are seven-handed in a $25-$50 cash game with a stack of $18,400. The UTG player folds and you look down at A\u2666<\/mark>-K\u2663 next to act. You make it $150 to go and get called by the hijack, small blind, and big blind. The flop comes A\u2663-6\u2666<\/mark>-2\u2665<\/mark>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing Top Pair On The Flop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Top<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Holding Top Pair-Top Kicker On The Flop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you pick up a physical tell suggesting that one of your opponents generally likes their hand (meaning they have an ace), you should consider betting on the large side, like $600. However, with no reads, betting $200 or $350 is ideal in order to extract value from the many weaker hands your opponents likely have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Checking has no merit because it allows the hijack to check behind, resulting in all your opponents seeing a free card that could easily beat you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action: You bet $350 and only the small blind calls. The turn is the 9\u2665<\/mark><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Pair On The Turn In A Cash Game<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pot:<\/strong> $1,300
The Board:<\/strong> A\u2663<\/strong>-6\u2666<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark>-2\u2665<\/mark><\/mark><\/mark>-9\u2665<\/mark><\/mark><\/mark>
Effective Stack:<\/strong> 358 Big Blinds Effective<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betting The Turn For Value<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While you could be crushed by a better made hand, you should definitely continue betting for value, likely with the intention of folding if your opponent check-raises (unless they are known to use a maniacal strategy.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By calling your flop bet, your opponent has announced that they have something decent, likely a paired ace, six, or deuce. If they have a pair of sixes or twos, they will likely fold to a large turn bet, making it imperative that you select the right turn bet sizing. A medium bet size is ideal in this spot in order to extract value from the numerous worse made hands in your opponent\u2019s range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action: You bet $800 and your opponent calls. The river is the 4\u2666<\/mark> and your opponent leads for $1,500 (52% pot).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"When<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Are your opponents scared of your raises? Take the test that tells you<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facing A River Lead In A Cash Game<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pot:<\/strong> $4,400
The Board:<\/strong> A\u2663<\/strong>-6\u2666<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark>-2\u2665<\/mark><\/mark><\/mark>-9\u2665<\/mark><\/mark><\/mark>-4\u2666<\/mark><\/strong><\/mark>
Effective Stack:<\/strong> 342 Big Blinds Effective<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding To The Lead Bet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your opponent check-raised the turn, you would likely get out of the way. While this river lead may seem similarly strong, it likely is not. A river bet does demonstrate some strength, but if your opponent is splashy (like the one in this scenario) you should be less concerned because they could certainly be making a blocker bet with a worse made hand trying to \u201cset their price\u201d on the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By making a call, you will lose sometimes. But with the excellent pot odds being offered, you only need to win 25% of the time, which will likely be the case with A\u2666<\/mark><\/strong>-K\u2663<\/strong> except against the most weak, tight, blatantly straightforward opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth noting, if your opponent checked the river, you should again make a medium-sized value bet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Result: You call and your opponent reveals A\u2665<\/mark>-7\u2660 for top pair, no kicker. While their river lead may have made you nervous, your resolve and patience rewarded you with a nice pot.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ace-king offsuit can be a very strong hand, but being overly ambitious with it can sometimes lead to you punting your stack. Depending on your stack size in a tournament, sometimes it makes sense to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":2517712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,877,16],"tags":[899],"class_list":["post-2179681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cash-games","category-poker-basics","category-poker-strategy","tag-hand"],"acf":{"peak_live_date":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t