Most hands don’t make it to the river, they are usually taken down pre flop or on the flop. However if you have gotten this far in the hand and have to make a river decision you want to make sure you do so wisely. There are a number of factors you want to keep in mind when deciding how to play the river. One of the most important considerations is that you should plan on playing the river much more timidly because if the other player(s) have felt there hand is strong enough to still be involved in the hand on the last street, then you can safely say they have a fairly strong hand. If you have a pair of aces but you did not improve you hand and a potential flush hit on the river and you are facing a lot of aggression on the river then you have an important decision to make if you want to continue with the hand.

The majority of the time the river is often worth checking and calling on the river if you have a good but not great hand. Aggression should progressively become more timid with every street. In other words, you want to be most aggressive on the flop, then progressively tone down your aggression on the turn and be very cautious on the river.
Playing in position helps your river play immensely. As mentioned above often times the river is just checked and you will see a showdown, however if villain decides to bet the river, if you have position on them you get to act last, so you get additional information on the hand. You need to decide about whether you have the best of it and if you should call the river bet or perhaps even raise for value, or if you should just fold the hand.

If you have followed the tips in this article then you should always have at least a medium strength hand if you get to the river. The majority of the time you should be calling a river bet if you have better then a medium strength hand just make sure that you don’t call river bets too lightly. The river is the worst street to be bluffing so if you don’t think you have the best of it then don’t call. Always be aware of scary cards on the river that may have improved villains hand.

If it’s a multi way pot and there are several callers on the river and you don’t have a very strong hand then your odds of having the best hand go down considerably.