Most experienced players know about the concept of value betting. Even if you don’t know about value betting, you still do it on a regular basis without even realizing it.
Value betting is simply trying to get the maximum value out of a made hand. For instance, let’s say you flop an ace-high flush and have one other person left in the hand with you. Obviously you want to keep this person in the hand because you’ve already got a made hand so betting too high is not an option. However, you also don’t want this person seeing cards for cheap because you’re under-betting. So a value bet is the best move in this situation.
Unfortunately, there is no cut-and-dried answer as to what the perfect value bet is. However, you can make a pretty good assumption based on who your opponent is. For instance, if you are betting against a total rock in a $40 pot, your value bet might only be $8 just to keep this player in the hand. Against an aggressive opponent, you could probably get away with a $15-$20 value bet; you might even get re-raised depending on how aggressive the opponent is.
Whatever the case may be, you have to know your opponent before throwing out a value bet. The better you know the other players at the table, the more likely you are to make good value bets. And if you are making excellent value bets, you will extract maximum value from your best hands.
Just be careful not to make value bets when you’re unsure as to whether or not you have the nuts because this will cost lots of money. This is especially the case against conservative players who only play the nuts.
