- No Limit Hold'em Bet Sizing
- Hold'em
- Free No Limit Hold'em
- Texas Hold'em
- Low Limit Holdem
- How To Play Limit Holdem
In our last tip covering '5 Common Poker Tells to Look For' we ended with a reminder to new players not to concern themselves too much with looking for tells, as it's usually better to focus on betting patterns than what opponents are saying or doing.
May 27, 2019 That no limit holdem bet sizing means a certain percentage of your deposit is given in free money, so the bigger your deposit, the bigger your bonus. All online casinos have wagering requirements in place; this means any winnings made using your bonus money will only become available after no limit holdem bet sizing wagering a certain amount. Lesson #6: Bet Sizing in No Limit Texas Hold’em. Posted on 27th January 2017 4th February 2019 by Goku. Bet Sizing in No Limit Texas Hold’em. You have just finished the sixth lesson. Now lets recap: when you bet, you always want to have a reason for it. Jul 20, 2016 A certain, relatively small category of no-limit hold'em players never bluff. Whether because they are afraid to get caught or just have some sort of mental block preventing them from.
By betting patterns we mean both when players tend to bet and how much they bet. Watching both closely — and keeping in mind patterns being exhibited — can help you a great deal when trying to narrow down the possible hands a player might have. In live poker, especially, players often give away a lot about the strength of their hands simply by the size of their bets.
How to Describe Bet Sizes
Below we'll get into some of the important distinctions and factors that affect bet sizing, but first let's briefly cover how to talk about bet sizing — or at least how the topic is normally discussed.
When discussing preflop bets, we typically speak of betting amounts relative to the size of the big blind. For example, in a $1/$2 cash game (where the BB is $2), a player opens with a raise to $8. From a strategic standpoint, what matters here is the size of the raise being four times the big blind, or '4x' the BB.
The next reraise might also be spoken of in terms of the number of big blinds it represents, or (more commonly) it will be described as it relates to the original raise. For instance, after that $8 raise, a player reraises to $23. You could say the reraise is 11.5x the BB, or more likely you'll say the reraise is nearly 3x the initial raise.
When talking about postflop betting, amounts are often spoken of instead in terms of how they compare to the size of the pot (and not in BBs).
Let's say after that $23 reraise it folds back around and the original raiser calls, making the pot $49 total. On the flop, the first player checks and his opponent bets $25. The bet size is described as 'half-pot.' If he'd bet $35, that be referred to as a bet of 'three-quarter pot'; if he bet $50, that be about a 'pot-sized' bet; and so on.
The reason why postflop bets are referred to according to their relation to the pot is it helps with calculating pot odds. You can even begin to memorize common postflop situations to make figuring pot odds easier — e.g., a half-pot bet always yields 3-to-1 pot odds to call. (See 'Pot Odds Basics' for more.)
Preflop Bet Sizing
In no-limit hold'em cash games, you'll often find players making larger preflop opening raises than happens in NLHE tournaments. A preflop raise that is 3x the big blind in a cash game is often on the small side, while in tournaments such a raise is relatively speaking going to be bigger than most.
In low-limit live cash games, in fact, you'll frequently see opening raises of 5x or more as players try to cut down on callers. This happens in online poker as well, particularly at the lowest stakes (including the 'micros').
Whether in a cash game or a tournament (or live or online), pay attention to what a 'normal' or average preflop open seems to be at your table, then make note whenever anyone deviates significantly from that 'standard.' If a 5x open seems to be the norm in a live cash game, make note when a player opens for 8x or 10x, or decides to make a relatively small open for 2x or 3x. Then look at what hands these players end up showing (if they do), as that will provide useful information when evaluating their preflop opens going forward.
There are a few factors you want to consider when evaluating an opponent's bet size when open-raising before the flop:
- the player's position
- the player's stack size
- the player's style and betting patterns
Opening raises from early position are often going to be larger than middle or late position raises. Someone under the gun usually wants to discourage people calling behind them, as they'll have to play out of position against them postflop. (See 'The Importance of Position.') Meanwhile players in later positions aren't as concerned about postflop position — e.g., the button knows when open-raising before the flop that he'll be playing from position after the flop.
When a player bets before the flop, it's also worth noting how much that player has behind. Say in a $1/$2 cash game a player opens for $12 from middle position and it folds to you on the button. Before you decide what to do, you take a look and see the player only has $40 left after making the raise. It's likely a player with such a short stack may be eager to get the rest of it in the middle soon after the flop, which means a call of $12 may soon lead to committing $40 more yourself. If your hand is strong enough, you might want to reraise and force a decision on the opponent before the flop. Or if you are thinking of set mining with a small pocket pair, you should realize your opponent's stack isn't deep enough to warrant this play. (See 'The Fundamentals of Set Mining.')
Finally, a player's style and betting patterns provide important context when evaluating the size of a preflop raise. Is the player loose and aggressive, having made lots of opens before? Is the player a nit who almost never open-raises? When raising before, did the player usually make it 4x the BB, and now has chosen 6x? Answering these questions can help you decide more accurately what the player's raise in this particular instance might indicate about hand strength.
Postflop Bet Sizing
When we move to postflop betting, distinctions between live and online poker and between cash games and tournaments tend to be less dramatic. Some live games will play much more loosely than some online games (and vice-versa); also, some cash games will be very tight and some tournaments full of loose, aggressive players. The point again is to get a sense of the apparent 'standard' when it comes to postflop bet sizing and make special note when players deviate from it markedly.
That said, we can make a few generalizations about postflop bet sizing that tend to apply across different NLHE game types and settings.
On the flop, continuation bets are commonly made by preflop raisers. Big 'c-bets' — say, 3/4 pot and above — often signal both strength and potential vulnerability. A player holding pocket jacks on a flop doesn't want opponents to see a turn card cheaply, and so makes a big flop bet to try to win the pot right there. Small flop 'c-bets' — say, less than 1/2 the pot — are more ambiguous. A player making such a bet on that same flop could have king-high or a set of nines.
On the turn, bet sizing becomes even more meaningful, and in many cases more telling. When evaluating bet sizing on the turn, you'll again want to consider the player's relative position (acting first or last?), stack size (is the player pot committed, or nearly so?), and style and betting patterns (is the player aggressive or passive postflop?), as well as the board texture. A player betting $30 into a $120 pot on a board might be semi-bluffing or making a defensive 'blocking bet.' A player betting $90 into a $120 pot on such a board might have completed a draw and be going for value while also protecting a hand that could be outdrawn on the river.
On the river, big bets (three-quarter pot or more) often indicate either extreme strength or a bluff — they are 'polarizing,' forcing an opponent to answer the question 'Does he have it or not?' The board reads and a player fires $150 into a $180 pot. Should you fold your two pair, or can you call with what is essentially a 'bluff catcher'? Small bets (e.g., a third of the pot) might also be bluffs, but lean toward being value bets. A player betting $55 into $180 on that same board might have a flush and figures that size to be optimal to get a two-pair hand or straight to call.
How Should You Size Your Bets?
So how should you be sizing your bets, both preflop and postflop? A complete answer to such a question would require a separate series of articles, but as a general rule try if you can to balance your bet sizing and avoid being too obvious with patterns of betting.
By 'balancing' we mean (for example) don't always make the same big bets with strong hands and the same small ones with weak hands. Don't always make the same size bet when bluffing, or the same size bet when betting for value. Attentive opponents pick up on those patterns quickly, and suddenly you'll find no one is calling you when you have strong hands and everyone keeps calling when you don't.
Also, size your bets with an awareness of the pot odds you're giving your opponent(s) to call. A small bet or raise yields inviting pot odds, while a big bet gives poor pot odds. It may be that you want callers with draws and medium-strength hands to stick around, say, when you hold the unbeatable nuts. Or you might want to drive out players by giving them a bad price to call you down when you're hand is currently best but vulnerable.
Whatever you do, size your bets with purpose, and try to choose the best betting amounts to help achieve the goal you are aiming for by making the bet. Want a call? Want a fold? Want to try to induce a raise? Do the math, and make your best bet.
Also in this series...
Ready to take a seat at the table? Put these hold'em tips into practice at PokerStars.
Want to stay atop all the latest in the poker world? If so, make sure to get PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
Tags
cash game strategytournament strategybeginner strategyno-limit hold’embet sizingpot oddsbluffingvalue bettinglive pokeronline pokerRelated Room
Full Tilt
Basic Strategy:Tips : Position : Starting Hands : Bluffing : Betting : Money Management
It's all well and good knowing when to bet and raise, but if you don't know how much money you should be betting and raising when the action is on you, then there is a pretty big hole in your game.
Use this quick and easy guide to find out how big your bets should be for the next time you sit down at a no limit Texas Hold'em table.
Why is it important to size your bets properly?
Lets say that you hold a strong hand like top pair on the flop, but there are also two cards of the same suit on the board. Like this...
If you bet too little, you are giving players with drawing hands or hands like middle pair the opportunity to see a cheap turn card, which makes it mathematically correct for them to call to try and beat your hand (as they will have good pot odds - but don't worry about this if you are not familiar with pot odds (playing flush and straight draws) yet, just take it as betting too little is bad). So by not betting enough, you are simply allowing other players to catch up and take the pot away from you.
If you bet too much, you are risking a lot of money for the times when an opponent has a better hand than you. Top pair is a good hand on the flop, and a big bet will get rid of those weaker hands that are trying to outdraw you, but what happens if another player already has you beat? You will have committed a lot of money to the pot when a smaller bet would have done the same job but saved you money.
No Limit Hold'em Bet Sizing
So as you can guess, we are going to be shooting for the 'sweet spot' in terms of bet sizes. This is going to be where we bet enough to make it mathematically incorrect for players on draws to call, but at the same time not betting so much that it means we lose too much money if we come up against resistance. So lets get to it...
How to size your bets in no limit Texas Hold'em.
Allow me to give you a fundamental yet very awesome rule about good poker betting strategy:
The size of your bets should always be made relative to the size of the pot.
This just means that whenever you make a bet, you take into consideration the size of the pot and bet according to how big or small the pot is. But again, this is all well and good, but it doesn't tell you how big your bets should be. So let me give you one more magical rule that you should always try and follow when it comes to bet sizing.
If you have a strong hand that you wish to bet with, you should make your bets between 75% - 100% of the size of the pot.
By following this rule, you will always be able to work out the optimum range of bet sizes to make at any stage of any hand. By betting between these two figures, you will be betting enough to force opponents on a draw to fold, but not risking so much that it makes it detrimental if one of the other players at the table has you beat. It's a simple rule I know, but it will take you a long way.
Betting before the flop.
I'll mention this again in the article on playing before the flop, but as a general rule of thumb, you want to make your preflop raises around 4 times the size of the big blind.
You have a good hand, so you want to play for good money with it.
If you find that there are any limpers before you, then add 1 big blind on top of the 4 big blind raise. So if you are playing $1/$2 NL Hold'em and you have decided that you want to make a preflop raise, then the standard raise would be $8. However, if there has been 1 limper, then make it $10. If there has been two limpers, make it $12 and so on...
This is because limpers make the pot bigger, which will mean that even if you make a standard 4X BB raise, your opponents will be getting a better price to make the call to see a flop. So make sure you put them to a tougher decision... you want bad players to make a costly mistake by paying a lot to enter the pot with a lame hand.
You're not trying to guarantee winning to pot with a big raise. The benefit of it is getting in to a bigger-money pot with an edge, and that edge is having stronger cards than your opponents. It's good when they call with terrible hands.
Hold'em
With high cards like AK and AQ, the ideal situation is to be heads-up (1v1) on the flop. The more players in the pot with a hand like AK, the trickier it gets. Good preflop betting strategy increases the chances of you playing heads up.
Free No Limit Hold'em
Poker betting strategy overview.
That's essentially the meat and bones of bet sizing in Texas Hold'em for you. You can perfect it in your own time through practice, but if you stick with the 75% - 100% rule and the 4BB rule for before the flop, you are well on your way to becoming a force to be reckoned with at the poker table.
Texas Hold'em
The bet sizing may seem a bit bigger than you might normally be used to, but trust me on this one, this is how a winning poker player bets. It may seem a little scary at first, but you will get used to it after you start to get your feet wet. You also won't mind it as much when you find that you have a much more commanding role over the pots that you play, so get back out there and start betting like a champ.
Go back to the sublime Texas Hold'em guide.
How Much More Money Could
You Be Winning?
Low Limit Holdem
“I played break-even online poker for 4 years before finding
DeucesCracked, for the last 5 months I've made more money playing
poker than at my full-time job.”
- liquid_quik, DC Member