Red Dead Redemption

I got both "The Big Bluff" and "In A Van Down By The River" achievement to unlock pretty easily actually. For the "In A Van Down By The River" I simply just went into a private match with a buddy and checked through the hand until one of us unlocked the achievement. The key here is to 1) You need the river card to change your fortune (meaning the 5th card to turn up suddenly gives you a better hand) and 2) You need the hand to go to a showdown (don't fold the hand right away and play it through until you flip up your cards and compare your hands)

Unfortunately, the odds of the winning by the river are slim even when playing one-on-one and absurdly slim with 6 players. So this is about playing against the odds. Rather than folding when you're holding nothing, play it out... even if you're holding nothing before the river you have better than 1 out of 8 chance of coming up with a pair, which might get the win if you're opponent was holding a lesser pair since the flop. In general, don't bet aggressively because if the opponent folds on your bluff, you don't get the chance to turn it around.

At the same time, there is a lot of luck involved in any case. I got the achievement when I was dealt a pair that turned into a flush on the river.

So more than anything this boils down to two things:
1. Play against one other person to maximize the odds of the river making a difference.
2. Play any hand you're dealt to the end.

Unfortunately, the odds of the winning by the river are slim even when playing one-on-one and absurdly slim with 6 players. So this is about playing against the odds. Rather than folding when you're holding nothing, play it out... even if you're holding nothing before the river you have better than 1 out of 8 chance of coming up with a pair, which might get the win if you're opponent was holding a lesser pair since the flop. In general, don't bet aggressively because if the opponent folds on your bluff, you don't get the chance to turn it around.

At the same time, there is a lot of luck involved in any case. I got the achievement when I was dealt a pair that turned into a flush on the river.

So more than anything this boils down to two things:
1. Play against one other person to maximize the odds of the river making a difference.
2. Play any hand you're dealt to the end.

Again, this is very easy and relatively quick with 2 people, It only took us about 30 minutes for both of us. Why? because the cards that you get, and when you get them greatly impact when you can get this achievement. Basically, both of us just kept calling, not raising or bidding high (this does not matter, it just kept us from running out of money) but we told each other our cards (which does not matter) but the one with the "Higher" cards "Best Hand" has to stay in the lead until the 5th card that is laid down on the table. It has to be the 5th card that is laid down that causes the "Winning" person to all of a sudden loose. If this is confusing, someone there should have a basic understanding of poker-if for no other reason than to try and understand what is happening. Otherwise you both can just keep playing until you 2 get it, which i know for a fact you will. Like i said, it is best and easiest to play with only 2 people, in my opinion.