Bet sizing - How much do you bet and why?
by shakin65
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Introduction
In this article
- How much should you bet
- What are you trying to accomplish with your bet
- Factors that are influencing your bet
Bet sizing means determining the optimal size of a bet. How much you bet depends on different factors:
- the board
- the pot size
- the chip stacks
- the number of your opponents
- the development of the current hand
- the image
In this article you will learn, how to determine a good and adequate bet size.
A second major aspect of this article deals with the question, which aims you have with your bet. Why do you bet? It will be easier to make the right decision in a particular situation, if you know, what you are doing
Factors you have to consider when deciding the bet size
When analysing the board there are two important aspects that you take into consideration:
- Did I hit and what did I hit?
- In what ways could my opponents have hit this board, e.g. are draws possible?
You normally describe your bet size in relation to the size of the pot:
- pot size = the whole pot
- 2/3 pot size = 2/3 of the pot
- 3/4 pot size = 3/4 of the pot
- 1/2 pot size = 1/2 of the pot
Your bet size depends on the pot size. The bigger the pot, the bigger your bet.
In a tournament you will often be confronted with situations, in which you or your opponent are not able to make adequate bets in relation to the pot size, without being forced to go all-in afterwards.
If your opponent has 1000 chips and you bet 700 chips on the flop, he won't be able to call without becoming commited to the hand. Should he call, he would have 300 chips left on the turn, in a very large pot and will have to almost always call further bets due to the pot odds. In this kind of situation you can say: the player is pot committed. He can't get out of the hand, because he has already invested too much.
Because of this you should always consider: Will this bet cause me or my opponent to become pot commited? If this is in fact the case - it is wiser to go all-in immediately
because this will inevitably happen anyway.
The question is therefore: If I bet, what will happen, if my opponent calls? Will one of us be pot committed?
Depending on the number of your opponents and the structure of the board you have to decide, whether you should eventually protect your hand. The more opponents and the more possible draws, which could beat your hand, you are confronted with, the more you have to protect your hand.
The number of your opponents can also be crucial when deciding whether you should make a continuation bet or not. What a continuation bet is, will be addressed in more detail later, but it generally means betting the flop after having raised preflop. When continuation betting it is not necessary to have hit the flop, you simply hope, that you will push your opponent out of the hand by showing strength. The probability of being able to bluff everyone else out of the pot decreases with an increasing amount of opponents.
When, if and how much you bet also depends on the way the current hand has developed of course. Has another player shown strength by raising preflop or did he just call to see a cheap flop?
What do your opponents think about you? What kind of player do you represent? This is your image. Have you recently played many hands or fewer? Did you play aggressive or not? Your opponents will always react differently depending on what kind of image you have. If you played many hands aggressively, they could consider you to be a notorious bluffer. Then you could make bigger bets with a strong hand because they won't believe you.
But the images of your opponents is also important for you. An opponent, who plays many hands without giving them up will also call bigger bets. If you want to get paid off for a good hand or protect a hand, you should make bigger bets against him. On the other side bluffs like a continuation bet do not make sense against him.
What are you trying to accomplish with your bet?
Some of the factors which help determine your bet size have already been mentioned, but when deciding how much to bet it is also important to know what goal you are trying to achieve with your bet. When betting you have to know: What do I want to accomplish?
You can set different goals with your bet:
- Winning as many chips as possible with a strong hand. You can also say: maximizing the value.
- Winning the pot with the help of a continuation bet, the bet on the flop after having raised preflop. This can also be a bluff.
- Trying to find out how good your hand is: How does my opponent play if I bet? You get information about the strength of his cards and if he wants to stay in the hand.
- With a small amount you can also try to see a cheap card or showdown. This is called blocking bet, which should keep your opponent from making a big bet, which would be too expensive for you.
- If the board makes draws possible or your hand is very vulnerable, you can make the next card expensive for your opponent by betting. This is how you protect your hand.
Winning as many chips as possible with a good hand can be achieved by inducing mistakes of your opponents. For being able to estimate, which bet your opponent would call, you have to get an impression of his image (how he played so far) and his hand.
If the pot is already big and your opponent's chip stack is relatively small, so that he is pot committed, you can go all-in directly.
If the pot is small in relation to your chip stacks, you will have to consider some things. A pot size bet normally is daunting, if your opponent didn't hit anything. In this case a half pot size bet would be better. On a dry board you could even check, in order to let your opponent make a bet or a bluff.
If the opponent has already checked, you will have to take the board and the development of this hand into consideration. You must decide, whether you want to check and give him a further cheap card or if you make a half pot size bet.
If you have a rather loose image, you should make a bet because your opponents may falsely assume your bet to be the attempt to steal the pot. Yet the more opponents are in the hand, the more you should be wary of protecting your hand. You don't want to be beat just because someone hits luckily due to you giving away cards too cheaply. If there are many draws possible on a board you should always adquately protect your hands by making larger bets (like pot size bets).
Against aggressive opponents, who will probably bet if you check, you can also play check/raise.
Maximizing the value does not mean pushing your opponents, who are holding draws, out of the hand. Instead you want them to make mistakes, which means paying too many chips for their draws. You can also say: You want to give them incorrect odds. But this is a different issue, which will be mentioned in continuative articles.
Having raised preflop you will often not have hit the flop. Nevertheless you already represented a strong hand with your pre-flop raise. If there is only one opponent in the hand you can bet on the flop again - as a bluff. This is called a continuation bet.
This bet shouldn't be too big, so that it doesn't look like the attempt to steal the pot. Normally a 1/2 or 2/3 pot size bet should be sufficient.
On some flops you shouldn't make a continuation bet. If you have a pair of jacks and the flop brings an ace and a king you can normally check. You should do the same, if there is more than one opponent in the hand. You can only make a continuation bet then, if you have a solid image and your opponents are able to fold in such situations. Furthermore the chip stacks are very important. A continuation bet shouldn't be too big in relation to your stack or already pot commit your opponent.
It will happen quite often, that you didn't really hit the flop or that the board could induce draws. If you raised preflop, you should try to find out what your hand is worth by making a 1/2 pot size bet. If you hit a pair of tens sitting in the big blind with JT, for instance, but there is no queen on the board yet, such a bet is advisable. Depending on your impression of the opponent, you should give up the hand against resistance or try to see a cheap showdown.
The more opponents are in the hand, the less you should make such bets because second best pair or worse is often not strong enough.
The concept of the block bet is one of the more advanced topics, but shouldn't remain unmentioned. It requires a good impression (reads) of the opponents and their possible hands. The aim of a block bet is to so see a cheaper next card or showdown, if you think, that your opponent would otherwise make a bigger bet.
If you have a hand you could probably be ahead with, but which is not really strong, you can make a small block bet on the river, in order to keep the opponent from betting bigger. The bet shouldn't be too big in relation to your chip stack, but should neither be small, so that the other player doesn't want to raise. In a pot of 700 chips, a bet of 200 chips would be enough.
If you are holding a draw on the flop, a small bet could have the same effect. You can avoid a big bet of your opponent and see a cheap next card by making a small bet yourself.
As soon as the board allows draws, which could beat your hand, you need to be aware that your opponent could actually be holding these cards. Protecting your hand with a bet means, betting so much, that your opponent will make a mathematical mistake, if he calls. You make the next card too expensive for him. If the opponent has a flush draw and you make a pot size bet on the turn, he cannot call profitably anymore.
Examples
Chip stacks:
UTG (1730)
Hero (1500)
MP1 (1500)
MP2 (1360)
MP3 (1500)
CO (1490)
Button (1320)
SB (1480)
BB (1620)
Preflop: Hero is in UTG+1 with A
K
UTG folds, Hero raises to t80, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB calls t60
Flop: (t170) Q
Q 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t120, BB calls t120
Turn: (t410) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
River: (t410) A
(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Results:
BB has Kh, Ad (two pair, Aces and Queens)
Hero has Ah, Kc (two pair, Aces and Queens)
Comment:
I didn't hit anything on the flop. But the structure of the flop could mean the same for our opponent. This is why you bet 2/3 of the pot here. After his call he has got a pair such as a 9 or AK at best. As such you don't want to invest more chips and are happy to see a free showdown. On the river a valuebet would have been reasonable, since there are some worse hands in villains range he could still call with.
Chip stacks:
UTG (1525)
UTG+1 (1760)
MP1 (1425)
Hero (1435)
MP3 (1685)
CO (1260)
Button (1455)
SB (1440)
BB (1515)
Preflop: Hero is in MP2 with K A
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t30, Hero raises to t120, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, MP1 calls t90
Flop: (t285) T J Q (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t150, MP1 folds
Comment:
On the flop I have the best possible hand (nuts) against one opponent. There is nearly no flush danger. After he checked I have the opportunity to give a free turn card or to make a 1/2 pot size not scaring the opponent. Perhaps the first option would have been the better one. There is not so much danger of a flush against one opponent. On the other hand you have to face the question, which card on the turn would make him invest some chips.
Chip stacks:
UTG (1725)
UTG+1 (1545)
MP1 (2545)
MP2 (1850)
MP3 (220)
Hero (1335)
Button (1630)
SB (1545)
BB (1105)
Preflop: Hero is in CO with J J
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, Hero raises to t150, Button folds, SB folds, BB calls t100
Flop: (t325) 7 7 A (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t200, BB folds
Comment:
I make a 2/3 pot size bet here to get information about my position. Although I want to see anything but an ace holding JJ, the opponent didn't show strength and possibly called the raise with a weaker hand out of the big blind.
Chip stacks:
UTG (1320)
UTG+1 (1480)
MP1 (1650)
MP2 (1500)
MP3 (1690)
CO (1450)
Hero (1430)
SB (1480)
BB (1500)
Preflop: Hero is in Button with A A
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t20, MP2 folds, MP3 calls t20, CO folds, Hero raises to t120, SB folds, BB folds, MP1 calls t100, MP3 folds
Flop: (t290) T Q 3 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t160, MP1 calls t160
Turn: (t610) 5 (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets t520, MP1 calls t520
River: (t1650) T (2 players)
MP1 checks, Hero checks
Results:
MP1 has 8s, Js (a pair of Tens)
Hero has Ah, As (two pair, Aces and Tens)
Comment:
On the flop I have an over pair against one opponent. This is why I bet a bit more than half pot size. By calling my opponent shows, that he probably hit the flop somehow or has a draw.
For this reason I bet more than 2/3 of the pot after he checked on the turn. The 10 on the river could easily be a card he already hit on the flop. On the other hand draws failed, so that I can't think of hands I beat, which would call a river bet. If he hit a queen, he would have raised on the flop.
Chip stacks:
UTG (1500)
UTG+1 (1500)
MP1 (1500)
MP2 (1500)
MP3 (1500)
CO (1500)
Hero (1500)
SB (1500)
BB (1500)
Preflop: Hero is in Button with J J
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t20, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Hero raises to t80, SB folds, BB calls t60, MP1 folds
Flop: (t190) 8 T J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t100, BB calls t100
Turn: (t390) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t240, BB calls t240
River: (t870) 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t540, BB folds
Comment:
I'm sure to be ahead with three of a kind on the flop. But you cannot deny the danger of draws on this board.
Nevertheless I don't want to push the opponent out of this pot. I make a half pot size bet.
The third clubs completes a possible flush draw on the turn. But I still think I'm ahead because he could have bet already on the turn.
I would have called an all-in due to the possibility of a full house or four of a kind.
On the river I get the full house and make a 2/3 pot size bet.
Conclusion
You now know that your bet size depends on several factors. It also depends on the purpose of your bet.As a standard amount you should always take 2/3 of the pot to pot size. For a continuation bet 1/2 pot size should be sufficient.
Of course a block bet, which wants to keep the bets small, should be smaller, 1/3 of the pot or less.
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