Blocking bets are an incredibly useful skill for low to mid stakes players. While the blocking bet has its place in higher stakes games as well, it is most effective at the lower limits. A blocking bet is just as it sounds, a bet made to block your opponent. Two of the most common uses for a blocking bet are situations where you are unsure of your hand’s strength or when you are on some sort of draw. Using a blocker bet when on a draw is rather inefficient, but is probably used more often than blocker bets for mediocre hands. In a perfect world players would be able to eliminate the blocker bet from their game altogether, but situations will arise where the blocker bet becomes the ideal move. Blocking bets tend to work less when you move up in limits because your opponent’s will be able to pick them off with relative ease. One of the keys to playing winning poker is the ability to maintain a deceptive playing style, and unfortunately blocking bets often make everything crystal clear.

Making a blocking bet

Poker players will, from time to time, find themselves stuck in situations where they are unsure what the right move is. Most of these situations will have an ideal play that is not the blocker bet, but every once in awhile you will be able to implement this move. Pretend you have middle pair on a board that is very draw heavy. The river is dealt and the draws miss. Now, if you put your opponent on one of the draws you might be afraid to check to him. Why? Because they might fire out a big river bet that leaves you paralyzed. The solution to this quandary is the blocker bet. Your opponent is much less likely to make a river bluff if you lead out with a bet of your own. In their eyes it is entirely possible that you actually have a moderately strong hand, so they will simply fold their busted draw. The worst case scenario would be for the other player to raise your blocker bet, but this is much better than being put to an incredibly difficult decision when you check to them and they make a big bet.

Another common time that players like to use blocker bets is when they are on a draw. At the surface it makes sense to use a blocker bet in these situations, but if you dig a bit deeper you will find that it is simply burning money. Blocker bets tend to be on the small side. If you make a few small bets on a draw heavy board and then bomb the pot when the draw completes, won’t it be obvious to the other player that you have now made your hand? A blocker bet when on a draw will prove to be incredibly useless as it provides absolutely no deception whatsoever. Instead of trying to figure out a way to incorporate a blocker bet into your game for the times when you are on a draw you should simply drop the idea completely.