Value (poker) - Definition and Overview

In poker, the strength of one's hand (that is, how likely it is to be the best according to the rules of the game being played) is often called its value, but discussions of poker strategy often use the term in a more specific sense to describe a type of bet: A bet "for value" is a bet made for the purpose of increasing the size of the pot, and which the player wants his opponents to call. This is in contrast to a bluff or a protection bet (though some bets may have a combination of these motives).

Most of the time, this is because the player believes his hand is valuable in the first sense, and he therefore wants his opponents to put money into the pot that he expects to win from them at showdown. In certain situations, though, even a drawing hand that is not currently the best can value bet: For example, on the next-to-last betting round of a fixed limit game, if a player surmises that he has a 1-in-4 chance of being dealt a final card that will give him a winning hand, and there are six opponents remaining, he can bet for value even though he will lose three out of four times, because the one time he does win he will win more than three times the amount bet (so the bet earns money in the long run). This is still a value bet, because it is made hoping the opponents will call and build a bigger pot in anticipation of winning (even though the win is only statistical).