How To Bet Size Correctly

November 23rd, 2009

Your first decision when assessing the strength of your hand is whether to fold, call or raise. The next decision is how much to bet. This is very important as giving your opponent the right odds to call may mean they hit the card they need to improve and your incorrectly sized bet could cost you the pot. Let’s look at bet sizing and how you can use bet sizing to get tells from your opponent and also give off false tells of your own.
Bet sizing is the most common leak in poker, but the most easily repaired. Let us assume that the largest bet we will make in this discussion is the pot sized bet. The all-in bet is a different bet and we will look closely at it in the future.

In a cash game, let’s say you are playing a $1 - $2 table and you raise in late position with the standard four times the big blind bet and get one caller. The pot is now $19. The flop comes down giving you top pair and top kicker. How much do you bet? The first thing you must do is understand why you are betting. Do you want everyone to fold? Is it a value bet? With top pair top kicker you like the hand but it is not strong enough to build a huge pot. In cash games players will usually not get too involved unless they can beat top pair top kicker. You make a continuation bet of $10, just over half the pot. Why $10 and not $19 or more? A pot sized bet builds the pot too quickly in relation to the strength of your hand if you are called. You are likely to get a fold with half the pot bet and if you do not your bets on future streets will be cheaper. When trying to get a fold from your opponents, you want to invest the smallest amount possible to achieve that goal.

Opponents often fall into a certain pattern of bet sizing. With a draw they often bet only a small amount of the pot, usually half. They are saying to you “I do not have a great hand but if you call and I miss my draw I will not be losing too much”. Quality opponents are not afraid to make a semi-bluff re-raise if they feel an opponent may fold their hand. Sometimes players bet the pot everytime they have a set but only half the pot if they have a hand like a pair of flush draw. This is a tell seen regularly in online poker. The bet sizing always tells a story and if you can work out what that story is you have a real chance to outplay your opponents over and over.

When you are making a bet that you want your opponent to call, this is called a value bet. The size of this bet is critical also. You obviously want to bet the highest amount in this situation that your opponent will call. Let’s say you have a full house against a player in a tournament and his stack is $500,000 going into the river. The pot is $200,000 and you have $700,000 in your stack. What do you bet as a value bet? If you bet the pot this represents a large proportion of his stack so he will probably fold. But if you bet $50,000 this seems to scream “please call me” and represents that you are really strong and he will probably fold here too. The value bet I would select here is between $85,000 and $120,000 which could be interpreted as a steal or value bet. He may call thinking this bet is too standard and you are trying to get him to fold with a middle strength hand.

An advanced strategy is to represent the opposite of your intended action. For example if you want to be called you can bet a large percentage of the pot making it look like a steal. This works if your opponent can make big calls with semi-strong hands. Alternatively if you think you might be beat you can make what looks like a value bet and hope your opponent puts you on a strong hand and folds despite being offered the correct calling odds. You need to know your opponents well to make these plays as a bad player could just call off and make you look silly.

Make working on your bet sizing a major part of your poker study. This is the actual part of the game that makes you money. Learn what each bet size in relation to the pot can mean and use it to maximise the value of your hands. Your bankroll will thank you for it.

You don’t want the bubble to burst on your chances, but you can also use the bubble as unspoken pressure against other players. As the bubble nears, players will tighten up in hopes of protecting their chances. This offers prime blind stealing opportunities.

Short Stacks

Players with short stacks will be looking for a double or triple up opportunity. In their desperation, they will avoid drawing hands, and go all-in on just about any pair; hoping to flop a set.

The All In Offensive

In the early goings of a poker tournament use the all-in bet as an offensive weapon when you have the cards. The maniacs will give you action on your bet, and you can quickly chip up.

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