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- What is a Block Bet?
- What is the Block Bet Strategy?
- What are the Benefits of a Block Bet?
- Are there any Risks Associated with Block Betting?
- When and How to Use a Block Bet?
- #1: Medium Hand vs. Passive Raiser
- #2: Raiser Checks Turn
- #3: Uncertain Card on the River
- When is Block Betting a Good Idea?
- How to Choose a Block Bet Size
- HisHands — a Poker Assistant for All Occasions
- Conclusion
A blocking bet or block bet is a small bet (about 20-33% of the pot) designed to prevent your opponent from making a big bet when you are out of position. The idea is to create doubts in your opponent’s mind about the strength of your hand and make him simply call instead of raising. In this article, we will consider this important aspect of online poker.
What is a Block Bet?
By definition, a block bet is a bet made to prevent your opponent from betting a large amount when you have a hand that you think is mostly good, but not 100% of the time. Blocking bets mostly used on the river, although they can be justified on the turn in some situations.
To make such a bet, you have to be out of position (last to act), and then you bet a small amount relative to the pot (around 20-33% of it). The logic behind a blocking bet is that opponents, even if they have the best hand, will be less likely to raise you. However, they can often call your bet with weaker hands assuming that you might be bluffing cheaply.
The main goal, of course, is to not start with a check that would cause your opponent to probably make a large bet that you would have a hard time calling with your medium-strength hand.
Blocking bets work great against recreational players. These guys do not think much about the bet size or your range. On the other hand, if you block bet with medium hands against experienced players, you will find yourself in a difficult situation, since attentive opponents can make large bluff raises, which will make it pretty much impossible for you to call.
What is the Block Bet Strategy?
The main goal of a blocking bet is to control the size of the pot. In many situations, you generally want to keep the pot small to minimize risk.
This approach highlights the difficulties of playing out of position.
In a game of incomplete information, it is always better to have as much info as possible to make good decisions. However, sometimes you do not know enough to predict what your opponent will do in the future.
A blocking bet is a great tool for making a cautious play. If you check out of position, your opponent is going to choose the size of the bet that goes in, whether it is a value bet or a bluff or semi-bluff. Often, such a bet, combined with your positional disadvantage, can force you to fold. However, if you make a small blocking bet, it will usually be enough to scare them away from raising unless they have a strong hand.
What are the Benefits of a Block Bet?
There are a few situations where using a blocking bet can help you save chips and improve your winrate. These include:
- When you have weak hands. These hands prefer a small pot for obvious reasons. Block bets are ideal for thin value bets and keeping your opponent’s aggression down.
- When you hold a draw. It’s best to keep the pot small until you hit one of your outs, unless you’re confident you can get your opponent to fold.
- Avoiding a costly call with a mediocre hand. If your opponent raises your blocking bet, you can usually be sure that you are behind. Unless it is a skilled player trying to exploit you.
Are there any Risks Associated with Block Betting?
As players’ skill levels increase, it becomes more likely that your opponents will figure out what you’re trying to achieve with a small bet. Playing transparently runs the risk of getting exploited, and if your opponents notice that you frequently use blocking bets, they may start to exploit it by raising you with a bluff almost every time.
That’s why it’s important to have a balanced strategy: when you block bet, include strong hands in your range. Inexperienced players may think that they are missing out on value by betting small with strong hands, but in reality, often your opponent will not have a hand that can call a big bet.
At the lowest stakes, most players will never raise with a bluff. Once you have mastered balanced block bets, you can start taking advantage of situations where you have a nutted hand and a villain raises, giving you the opportunity to gain more value.
When and How to Use a Block Bet?
There are several scenarios where a block bet can be a smart move to get the results you want. Below we will look at block betting examples in poker related to later streets, which are quite specific but common in poker. Applying the concept of block betting in these situations can make the game easier and increase your profit significantly.
#1: Medium Hand vs. Passive Raiser
One common scenario where a block bet can be very effective is when you have a weak top pair or second pair with a good kicker.
If we don’t improve, we check the flop and the raiser decides to check back. The turn is also checked through. By betting the river, instead of giving your opponent a chance to make a big bet, you force him to just call with medium-strength hands that are better than yours, thus saving yourself from losing more money against a bigger bet.
In addition, he will most likely call your small bet with weak hands, which will give you some extra chips in a situation where the game would normally go check-check.
#2: Raiser Checks Turn
Another very common case is when the preflop raiser makes a continuation bet on the flop but decides to check on the turn. In this case, if we have a hand like second pair or middle pair, we can choose to block on the river to take control of the hand and make it difficult for our opponent.
It would be tough for our opponent to raise with a top pair, cause he can’t really expect to get called by a weaker holding. On the other hand, a bluff blocking bet could also work quite well.
#3: Uncertain Card on the River
Sometimes poker can surprise us in a nasty way. For example, you hit a great hand like a set, but the river card completes an obvious flush or straight draw. However, people don’t always hit the river card even if it looks like it, they could just have a top pair they want to get to showdown with or a busted draw of a different kind.
Blocking the river can trick your opponent into thinking you have a flush or something else that is strong too. If the villain doesn’t have a flush himself, he may fold a busted draw or call you with one pair – exactly the kind of a result you want.
If you check, experienced players will know that this is the perfect time to bluff since your hand is obvious. Betting in this case will save you from having to think about whether to bluff catch and will even provide you with extra value with hands like top pair or two pair if the blocking bet works out as intended.
When is Block Betting a Good Idea?
Now that we’ve looked at a few situations where a block bet can be useful, it’s important to consider some other factors. First and foremost, you’ll need to consider who you’re playing against and how aggressive the table is overall.
In live games, it’s not that hard to figure out exactly how your opponents will react to your actions, while online it can be a little more difficult. In either case, you will need to assess how aggressive the player you are blocking against is and how likely he is to raise and make you fold.
If you’re playing against a particularly aggressive opponent, you can mix up your play by occasionally making small block bets with strong hands to balance out your range and ensure you have a hand that you can call their raise with.
How to Choose a Block Bet Size
The final factor you’ll need to consider when deciding whether to block bet or not is how much to bet to get the result you want. If you are playing against less attentive opponents, we recommend making very small bets with weaker hands and increasing them a little when your hand has a better chance of being the best.
For example, you might bet 20% of the pot with 66 on a KK942 board, but 30% on the same board if you have A9. The logic is that your opponent’s folding range will stay the same against both bets, but you might still get a call from hands like 66, 77, 88 or even 9x. In this case, you will lose less with 66 and make more with A9.
Of course, these are just some nuances, and any bet up to 30% of the pot will be good for a block bet if you choose the right moment and opponent to use it against.
HisHands — a Poker Assistant for All Occasions
Now that we have considered all the features of block betting, it is high time to mention the existence of auxiliary software for improving your poker results. Among the interesting new products on the market is HisHands, thanks to which players can get data on the hands their opponents have played before. Data is collected 24/7, which means that you will receive the most up-to-date hand history databases.
Obviously, such hand analysis and statistics from HisHands will help you accurately determine when to use a block bet. Among the available rooms, you will find such sites as:
All you have to do is contact the support team to find out the price and purchase a ready-made package. It is also convenient that the site has a trial pack, which is available in just one click. This way you can get acquainted with the HisHands service and see its benefits for yourself.
Conclusion
Playing poker is about many things, among which is knowing when and how much to bet in different situations. Some bets are designed to force opponents to fold, while others are designed to extract value from your hand. Block bets are all about timing and picking the right opponent. If you use them correctly, they can be a great tool in your arsenal, but if you don’t time them correctly, they can get you into a lot of trouble. In general, block betting works well against passive players who don’t have a deep understanding of the game and are unlikely to run big bluffs. Block bets are especially useful when you are out of position and want to prevent your opponent from putting you in a tough spot with a big bet. By using a block bet strategically, you can gain valuable information, induce calls from weak hands, and minimize losses when your hand is not strong enough to withstand pressure.
