If you want to be a great poker player who consistently crushes online poker tournaments and cash games, knowing when to bet is a must. However, understanding exactly how much to bet is equally important, if not more so. This blog post will help you to improve this aspect of your game.
You’ll learn easy-to-apply rules about choosing the right poker bet size and what factors to consider. While these won’t apply to every scenario, they’ll steer you along the right path in most cases.
What Is Bet Sizing?
Bet sizing is all about choosing the right amount of chips when betting or raising. Although it sounds elementary, it can be the difference between a winning session and a losing one.
While a couple of big blinds here and there may seem negligible, it all adds up over time. If you only play occasionally, it won’t be a big deal. However, if you regularly play poker online, you really need to master the art to become more profitable in the long term.
What To Consider When Bet Sizing
In general, your bet size should depend on four main criteria. These are your opponent’s range, their chances of hitting any draws, your overall plan, and the stack-to-pot ratio.
Of course, there are always other factors to consider in any specific poker situation. But these four make for a good starting point and will apply to the vast majority of cases.
Opponent’s Range
The range of your opponents is perhaps the most important thing you need to work out. Most poker bet sizing decisions are based on this.
Pay attention to the kind of hands your opponents are betting and calling with. Are they playing loosely, with any half-decent-looking hand? Or do they only bet with the most premium holdings? Once you can put them on a range, you’ll be able to make more optimal plays.
Odds of Opponent Hitting
Let’s say you figure your opponent for a draw. You can calculate their approximate odds of hitting and use this information to adjust your bet sizes properly. Bet enough chips so that your opponent needs to pay over the odds if they wish to draw to their hand.
Let’s say you calculated there’s a 30% chance of your opponent hitting. How many chips do you bet? Enough that in the 70% you win, you significantly cover your potential losses in 30%?
This way, you either bag the pot on the spot, or your opponent makes a bet with positive EV for you. In both scenarios, you’re in a great position.
Your Plan
It can be good or bad to be confident when betting, but one thing is always true. If you’re without a plan in poker, it’s going to be hard to win. Ask yourself what you’re trying to do with your hand. The size of your bet should differ based on your answer.
Do you want your opponent to call? If so, your bet size shouldn’t be more than they typically call with their range. On the other hand, a bigger bet might be considered a bluff, so perhaps that would be even better for you. The art of value betting is quite complex, but you should be thinking about all of this when deciding how much to bet.
Stack-to-Pot Ratio
The last major thing to consider is the stack-to-pot ratio.
Let’s say you want to play your hand in a way that you’re able to go all-in if necessary. When you do shove, you’ll want your bet to represent at least half of the pot, preferably even higher. If you’re going all-in with less than that, you might be giving your opponents beneficial odds.
On the other hand, what happens if you go all-in with an absurdly high amount? Let’s say twice the size of the pot or higher. Typically, that won’t be called unless your opponent is holding the nuts or thinks you’re bluffing. That can be beneficial, depending on your plan.
Additional Tips
Here are some additional tips to apply in your poker games. These mostly rely on the four previously mentioned concepts.
Preflop Raise
If you want to raise preflop, what size should you use? A good rule of thumb for beginners is three times the big blind. On top of that, add an additional big blind for every limper participating in the pot.
This way, you’ll typically ensure that the field of players doesn’t grow too large. With fewer active opponents, you can make better postflop decisions.
Bigger Preflop Raise Against Fish
If you correctly identify a total fish at your table, you can use that to your advantage. These less experienced, or simply bad players, often call with a static range of hands.
So, if you plan on raising preflop against them, you can use a slightly bigger size than you would against another player. This way, you’ll win more on average.
Be Hard To Read
The size of your bet tells your opponents a story. But unlike the New York Times Best Seller list, you’ll want to make yourself hard to read. If your opponents can tell when your hand is good, it’s going to be hard to win pots.
There are two popular options to combat this. First, you can randomly vary the size of your bet. This way, your opponents obviously won’t be able to predict what you’re working with, as there will never be a discernable pattern.
Secondly, you can go the opposite way entirely and just bet consistently. Whether you’re holding good cards or running a total bluff, your bet sizing remains the same every time. With this strategy, there are simply no patterns to guess.
Try Borgata Online for Size
If you feel overwhelmed by all of this information, don’t worry. You won’t become a bet-sizing poker master overnight. This is one of the more complex concepts in poker and will take time to perfect. Keep practicing and remember to enjoy yourself. Playing poker should be fun, after all.
If you’re ready to jump into an online poker game and test out your bet sizing skills, be sure to register at Borgata Online. A wide variety of tournaments and cash games awaits you across all of the most popular online poker variants. Get involved today.