Value Betting a "Calling Station" in Poker PokerLaws.Org

Calling Stations were put on earth for the sole purpose of improving your bankroll. Do not ever criticize a calling station. In fact, the point of this whole article is to bet into one, especially when you have the goods – and you know your opponent is holding a meddling low or middle type pair judging from the board and the way they’ve played the hand.

You NEVER want to actually attempt to bluff a calling station. If you follow the rules below regarding a calling station then you will find that playing with them is a very profitable experience. These are the types of players you want in your game. They’re predictable. And predictable means there’s always opportunities to exploit that for profit.

If you’re looking for even more information on how to beat calling stations and to reeally maximize profits, check out similar sites to ours such as 2+2 (fan favorite in terms of forums go) or this direct piece from our friends at 888 Poker. Check out their take on calling station profitablity here: https://www.888poker.com/magazine/strategy/5-tips-beat-calling-station-poker.

Do Not Criticize a Calling Station

Why would you ever want to criticize a calling station? If they called you down – maybe with a long shot draw – only to make a hand on the river and beat you, do you want them to stop doing that? You may have lost that particular hand but over time this is the kind of action that you want.

Did you try to bluff them on the river only to get called by a very marginal hand that beat you? Well shame on you for trying to bluff one of the most exploitable types of opponents at the table. Fear not, that’s why you’re reading up on this strategy in the first place – you got this (well, hopefully)!

That is who they are. It is what they do. You need to realize that once in a while they will, against the odds, draw out on you. These things happen. But it also means they’re essentially begging you take their chips. You also need to understand that unless they have absolutely nothing on the river, they will call you. If you expected a calling station to fold to your bluff bet on the river and they did not, then it is your fault.

Always Bet For Value Into a Calling Station

If you have a good hand then you need to almost ALWAYS be betting into a calling station. However, you need to be careful if there are other players in the same hand with you. You want to isolate as much as possible if you’re able to – but if you can’t, please evaluate all streets, bet types and the player themselves before getting involved in mulit-way in pots with calling stations AND other types of players.

The hand that you have might not be a good enough hand to be betting against other players but it might still be a good enough hand against a calling station. You must especially bet in these scenarios before the flop, after the flop and of course after the turn. On the river, if it doesn’t look they might have hit their draw then you need to also make a “value bet.” A value bet is when you are pretty certain that you have the best hand and you bet the hand in order to get the maximum value for it.

Never Try to Bluff a Calling Station

Trying to bluff a calling station is just not practical. The only hand that these types of players will fold to a bet is a hand that you would probably beat in a showdown. It is almost impossible to run calling stations out of a pot. But hey, that’s not the worst thing if you’re playing correctly and utilizing some of the strategy instilled in this particular article.

These types of villains may call you with the bottom pair on the river or with any kind of a draw on the flop or turn, but they will probably fold on the river if thy have absolutely nothing and that is a hand that you can probably beat in a showdown. Over time within a given session, you should easily be able to find these types of players and hopefully be able to exploit them for a decent amount of cash in the process.

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