Part 5: The River. By now, your heart must be pumping with adrenaline. Why is your opponent still in the game, what can he have? Will you win? If you have gotten this far it's most likely that at least two players have good cards. So, how will YOU act?

At the river you have to have the best hand. If you are sure you have, and I do mean really sure, make sure you get as much as you can in the pot.

If you have nothing at all, like if you missed a Draw, never continue to bet at this point, and never call anything either. Sure, you can try to bluff, but then you have to be absolutely sure your opponents will fold. It's a great chance that your opponents have good cards if they have followed you this far, so the best thing is to fold at this point. Saved money is worth just as much as earned money - never forget that!

If the river is a dangerous card though, and no one else is betting in this round, you can scare away your opponents by throwing a big bet into the pot (because it seems like you have anything good, of course!). If you're lucky, that is. If you're unlucky, it has given your opponents something good, and you're beaten. This is why you should mostly play in late position, so you can see what your opponents do before you.

Normally, you should only bet if you have a very good chance of having the best hand of all at the table. If you have the top pair and an okey kicker, you should bet as long as the cards on the table can't seem to give anyone a monster hand. A lot of players think it's better to play against many opponents at this stage, but that's wrong. The more opponents, the bigger is the risk of anyone catching anything good.

In a round with low stakes, play as straight forward as possible. Don't bluff at all, it will only kick your own ass in the long run.
It's pretty simple, really. Bet when you have the best hand, fold when you don't. The trick is to see if you have the best hand. It takes a lot of practice, that's for sure.

The key with the river is to know how your opponents play. Against an aggressive player that always bets, even though he's got bad cards, you can easily raise if you think your hand really is the best. If you are playing someone who normally is tight, think long and hard why he's gioing for gold this time. Then you should only play very, very good hands.

Always take a look at the table to know how the best hand would look like. Do you have it?

Some final words of wisdom along your way to victory:

• A straight forward game, without any bluffs, will win you money in Limit-games in the long run
• Only play good hands from start.
• Play few hands, about 10-15%, especially at early position.
• Fold if you're defeated, no one will laugh at you because you're a coward (okey, sometimes they do, but not that often). Although, a good fold can also be respected.
• Bet with really good hands, never check.
• Only call with a Draw if you haven't got the pot odds against you.
• Mix your strategy by bluffing once in a while, at good opportunities.
• Play a lot, get the experience. It's worth gold.

That's all I had to say about poker. I hope this guide will give you a lot of good poker moments in the future. Please feel free to give us credit or complaints, you will find our e-mail in "Contact".

Also, as I said on some other page, please click on our sponsors when you start playing. If you liked the guide, that's the least you can do, right? We also have a poker room guide under "Poker Rooms" to the left.

Good luck, you schmuck!

/The Poker Monkey