What Is The River In Poker?
1 minute
Last Updated: December 19, 2023
In poker, the “river” is a term used to describe the last community card dealt face-up on the table.
The river provides players with the last opportunity to make their best five-card hand using any combination of their hole cards and the community cards, and it can quickly change the board texture and the hand’s winner.
The river card is dealt late in the hand, and since three betting streets have finished, there is a significant amount of chips which increases the importance of the river even more in many situations.
Because of all of this, it is very important that you understand which rivers are better for your range and which river cards are better for your opponent.
This will allow you to create the plan for the river much earlier in the hand, knowing how to proceed on different runouts.
Poker River Example:
Imagine that you are playing Texas Holdem, and there are four cards in the middle of the table Qh 9s 6s 7d. After the turn betting round ends, the dealer puts another card face up in the middle of the table, the Qs.
The Js is the fifth and the last community card, also known as the river.
In this specific hand, the river changes the dynamics of the hand completely as it completes multiple full house and flush draws.
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