At a glance
- On the HUD
- Flop RvB·Turn RvB·River RvB
- Formula
raises / first times they faced a single bet on the street, when they could raise- Typical range
5–16% on every street
- Where it shows
- Panel on your turn: when you bet, how often each player raises a bet your size (hover the number under a size).
- Read hint
- Above: Raises bets a lot: bet a stronger range, or check more.
- Trust it after
- 12 chances. Below that the number is faded; reads need 12 chances and a number at least one standard error outside the typical range.
What it measures
RvB isolates one decision: a single bet has been made on the street, nobody has raised it, this is the first time the player has to answer a bet on that street, and they have chips behind to raise. Did they raise? The kind of bet doesn’t matter. A c-bet, a lead, a stab, a probe and a plain bet in a limped pot all count, and so does a check-raise if they checked first.
That’s what separates it from Raise, which marks a street as raised if they raise at any point, including re-raises after their own bet got raised. RvB leaves those spots out and keeps each answer by the size of the bet they faced, so it’s the stat for the question “if I bet this size, will they raise?”
The narrower raising stats split it by bet type: raise c-bet for the c-bet, raise donk bet for leads into the aggressor, and check-raise for players who checked first. When your spot matches one of those, it’s the sharper number. Use RvB when your bet isn’t one of them, when the narrow sample is thin, or when you want to see how their raising changes with your size.
How it’s calculated
- Chance: the first time on the street they face a single bet (nobody has raised yet), with chips behind to raise. Players who called in between don’t change that.
- Counts if: they raise.
- Kept by size: the bet they faced as a share of the pot before it, in four buckets: under 40%, 40–80%, 80–110% and over 110%.
- Not a chance: later decisions on the same street, a bet that was already raised before they acted, a call that would put them all-in, and streets where fewer than two players could still bet.
Formula: raises ÷ first times they faced a single bet on the street, when they could raise.
Example: Dana faced a first flop bet with chips behind 45 times and raised 6, so her flop RvB is 6 / 45 = 13%. By size, she raised 5 of 20 bets under 40% of the pot (25%), 1 of 18 bets of 40–80% (6%), none of 5 bets of 80–110% and none of 2 overbets. Her overall 13% looks ordinary, yet she raises small bets more than four times as often as medium ones. Her two big-bet buckets have too few chances, so for those sizes the HUD falls back to her 13%.
Why it matters
Every bet has three outcomes: fold, call or raise. A pure bluff loses the same amount whether it’s called or raised, so for bluffs only the fold rate matters. For medium-strength value bets and semi-bluffs, the raise is the worst outcome: you either fold and give up your equity, or call and play a big pot with a hand that wanted a small one. RvB is the price of that risk at each size.
On your turn the panel shows, under each bet-size button, how everyone answers that size. Read the folds and raises against what the size needs:
| Button | Size bucket it reads | Bluff needs folds | Minimum defense (MDF) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | Under 40% | 16.7% | 83.3% |
| 33% | Under 40% | 24.8% | 75.2% |
| 66% | 40–80% | 39.8% | 60.2% |
| 133% | Over 110% | 57.1% | 42.9% |
MDF is how often the players have to continue, by calling or raising, so that any two cards can’t bluff them profitably. Say a player folds 30% and raises 20% at the 33% button. They call roughly the other half. A 33% bluff clears its 24.8% break-even against them alone, but a thin value bet at that size gets raised one time in five. If the same player raises only 6% at 66%, bet the medium hand at 66% or check it; don’t bet it small.
Too low, about right, too high
Too low: under 5%
What it says
They almost never raise the first bet; they call or fold. That’s common in PokerNow home games, where many players call with strong hands and draws alike. The HUD makes no read for a low RvB, but the pattern is useful: their calling range is wide and strong hands hide in it, and a raise from them is close to the nuts.
How to exploit it
- Bet medium hands for value at any size. Second pair and weak top pair rarely get raised off.
- Use small bets freely. Against a player who doesn’t raise, a 20% or 33% bet with a medium hand risks little.
- Bet your draws: they’ll get to see the next card without facing a raise.
- Fold one pair to their raises, on the turn and river especially.
- Judge bluffs by folds alone. Check their fold rate under the button you want: if it clears the break-even in the table, bluff; if not, don’t.
About right: 5–16%
What it says
They raise some first bets with a mix of strong hands and draws, which is where most solid players sit. The overall number won’t give you much. The size buckets often will: many players raise small bets much more often than big ones, because the raise is cheap, while others raise big bets almost only with very strong hands. Once the buckets fill, treat them as the real stat and the overall number as a summary.
How to exploit it
Once a size bucket has 12 or more chances, use it. Bet medium hands at the size where their raise rate is lowest, and bet your strong hands at the size they raise most, so they put money in for you. Check whether their raises come from check-raises or from raises in position: the panel already switches to check-raise for a player who checked to you, so the RvB number you see is about players who haven’t acted yet on this street.
Too high: over 16%
What it says
They raise first bets a lot. The HUD’s read says “Raises bets a lot: bet a stronger range, or check more.” At this rate their raising range holds top pair, draws and bluffs along with strong hands. LAGs and Maniacs land here, often with the highest numbers against small bets, which look weak to them. Check the chance count before trusting it: on 20 chances, four raises already read 20%.
How to exploit it
- Bet a stronger range, or check more medium hands that can’t handle a raise.
- Bet your strong hands, at the size they raise most, and re-raise or call down when they raise.
- Semi-bluff with draws that can call a raise, not with weak draws that must fold to one.
- Call their raises lighter with top pair and good draws, especially in position.
- Don’t bluff small into them. A cheap bet invites a cheap raise, and a bluff loses its bet every time they raise.
On the flop, turn and river
Flop: raise vs bet
Flop RvB builds fastest and is the most useful. Small c-bets are common on the flop, and small bets are the easiest to raise, so the under-40% bucket often runs well above the player’s overall flop number. Both default small buttons, 20% and 33%, read that bucket.
A flop raise also carries the most fold equity for the raiser, because the bettor’s range still holds lots of air. That’s why aggressive players raise flops with draws and backdoors and slow down later.
Flop exploit: if a player’s under-40% flop RvB is above 16% on a decent sample, stop betting small with your medium hands into them. Either bet 66% with hands that are happy to get raised and check the rest, or check your whole medium range and let them bet.
Turn: raise vs bet
Turn RvB is usually lower than flop RvB. The pot is bigger, so a raise commits a lot, and with one card to come there are fewer draws worth raising. A turn raise from a player whose turn RvB is under 5% is usually two pair or better.
The turn is where the size buckets get thin fast. Most players face only a handful of turn overbets, so expect the panel to fall back to the any-size turn number under the 133% button for a long time.
Turn exploit: against a player with a low turn RvB, bet your medium hands on the turn for value and protection. They’ll call with worse and with draws, and you rarely face the raise that would put you in a tough spot. Against a high turn RvB, check-call those hands instead.
River: raise vs bet
River RvB is a pure value-or-bluff decision with no draws left. It also includes river check-raises, since a player who checked and then faced the bet is answering their first bet of the street. In most games river raises lean heavily toward value, so most players sit low here.
A low river RvB is a green light for thin value: when they rarely raise rivers, betting second pair or top pair with a weak kicker only risks a call from better, not a raise that forces you off the hand.
River exploit: if a player’s river RvB is above 16% on a real sample, they raise thin or bluff. Bet your river range polarized against them, strong hands and bluffs, and check medium hands, which can call down more cheaply when they bet themselves.
When it’s your own number
If your RvB is high, the read on your own badge tells others to “bet a stronger range into you, or check more.” Observant players will stop betting medium hands into you, so your raises get folds from air and action only from strong hands. A low RvB makes no read, but anyone who looks can see you rarely raise and will value-bet thinner into you.
Check your size buckets. If your raise rate against small bets is far above the rest, that’s natural, but make sure those raises include strong hands and not only draws. If you never raise the turn or river, you’re likely calling down with hands that should raise for value.
Using it on the HUD
RvB lives in the panel on your turn. Under each bet-size button the panel shows the chance everyone folds; hover the number to see each player’s answer, including how often they raise a bet that size. With the default buttons, 20% and 33% read the under-40% bucket, 66% reads 40–80%, and 133% reads over 110%. A bucket with fewer than 12 chances steps back to the any-size number, and the tooltip says which version you’re seeing.
Two cases use a different stat: a player who already checked to you shows their check-raise, and when your bet is a c-bet, players show their raise c-bet, falling back to their any-size RvB when that’s thin.
Gold means above 16%, blue below 5%. Raising is rare, so samples matter: 10% over 30 chances is ±5.5 points, over 100 chances ±3, and each size bucket gets only part of the chances. Read it with fold vs bet and the size pages such as fold vs small bets.
Questions
What does RvB mean in poker stats?
RvB is raise vs bet: how often a player raises the first bet they face on a street, when they have chips to raise. PokerNow HUD Advanced keeps it for the flop, turn and river and by the size of the bet faced, and shows it on your turn as the raise rate under each bet-size button.
What is a normal raise vs bet percentage?
Between 5% and 16% on each street is the HUD’s typical range. Most players raise flop bets more than turn and river bets, and small bets more than big ones. Under 5% means they almost never raise, so you can bet thin for value; over 16% means many of their raises are draws, thin value or bluffs.
Why does a player’s raise rate change between bet sizes?
Because raising a small bet is cheap and raising a big one is expensive. A raise over a 33% bet risks little and can still win the pot, so aggressive players raise small bets with draws and bluffs. Against a pot-size bet, most players raise only strong hands. That’s why the HUD keeps RvB in four size buckets.
Does the panel show raise vs bet or check-raise?
It depends on the player. For someone who already checked to you on this street, the panel shows check-raise, because that’s the spot they’re in. For players still to act, it shows raise vs bet at your size. When your bet is a c-bet, it shows raise c-bet and falls back to raise vs bet if that sample is thin.