Betting
Of course everything in poker revolves around betting. It's not just a just case of betting at the right moment, it's also betting the right amount.Reasons to Bet
You'll hear people talking about lots of justifications as to why they're betting, such 'I was isolatingRaising to reduce the number of players in a hand the weak player', or 'I was denying them pot oddsRatio of the amount to call a bet and the size of the pot that would be won', but you should be able to simplify these reasons to either 'I bet to get value out of my hand' or 'I was bluffing to make my opponent fold'. Understanding that these are really the only two reasons to bet is extremely important as it provides a simple yet solid foundation for all your actions in poker.Betting for Value
Generally if you think you have the best hand then you should bet. Taking a line where you check to try and trap your opponent is almost always a mistake, especially at microlimitsSmall buy-in games, typically between $2 and $100. By slowplayingChecking or betting very small to try and look weak or allow your opponent to draw a good (but not too good) hand a hand you deny yourself maximum winnings for two reasons;- You're building a smaller pot. By letting your opponent check behind the pot remains static for a whole streetA community card shown followed by a round of betting. When you want to bet on the later streets a large pot sized bet won't be as big as it could have been.
- You giving your opponent easy odds to draw to a better hand. Which will happen, far too often
Having said that, if you bet for value in a situation where your opponent is extremely likely to fold isn't giving you much value at all.
For example, you have AK, and the board comes out A92r. It's an extremely dryA board which is unlikely to complete a drawing hand board, and you probably have the best hand. However, unless your opponent has a weaker ace (or a stronger hand than yours like a set) they'll usually fold to a bet. Here is one of the rare occasions it's best to check while having the best hand. Hopefully the turn will bring a card that gives your opponent a pair or a draw, and your turn bet will bring some value. Be very careful though - it takes a dry board to do this safely. If the board has two cards of the same suit or is reasonably connected (like A9T) then it's better to bet. Situations to check for value are much rarer than betting for value.
Betting as a Bluff
If you don't have the best hand, then the only way you can win the pot is to make your opponent fold. Bluffing is a much harder skill to master, but of course since you'll miss flops far more often than you'll hit learning to bluff effectively is essential to winning. A lot of strategy sites will advise not bluffing at the microlimits, however this is too black and white. If you want to win at the microlimits you do need to bluff, however it's going to be a lot harder for you compared to the high stakes pros for two reasons- Microlimit players are eternally optimistic, and will call with weak hands
- You need a lot of experience to really know the right moment to bluff
The factors in bluffing are;
- Position
- Your opponent's rangeThe range of hole cards that a player would be expected to play from a certain position or in a certain situation
- Board texture
- Previous streets
The MP open raises 3bb, and you call from the button with 55.
The flop comes 37A, and the MP checks.
You've missed the flop and only have third pair. However the MP seems to have missed as well, so you bluff with a 3/4 pot sized bet.
The MP folds.
Continuation betting is so effective that it's worth cbetting almost all the time. However it's not always a good idea - this is where the board texture and your opponents range becomes important.
With board texture a draw heavy (wet) board is a bad one to cbet on. For instance if the flop has two cards of the same suit (a two tone board) or has two connected cards, then your opponent may have picked up a draw. If that's the case then they'll call your raise and you're no better off - you've only two streets to make a hand, and your opponent may still make their draw. You may think that cbetting a wet board is a good idea because you can represent a strong hand, but this isn't effective in the long run. The few large pots you will lose outweigh the small pots you win through successful cbets.
Flop cbetting is however a well known tactic, and you'll need to evaluate your opponents carefully to see if they're cbetting with bluffs or not. Once you know they are, effective tactics become check-raising if you're out of position, or if you're in position then call the cbet and raise on the turn if they check. Act cautiously though - even a 100% cbet villain can hit the flop, and may still cbet for value.
Bluffing on later streets must tell a story for it to be convincing. A common mistake made by beginners is to call a flush draw for two streets, and then when they've missed on the river to bet as a bluff. To any reasonable player to have your opponent call, call and then bet on busted flush board is extremely obvious. For this reason a bluff should often involve a scare card on the turn or river, along with a readDetecting something about your opponent's personality or betting pattern that assists your decisions that your opponent is nervous about seeing that card.
The Semi-bluff
A bluff can be a safer move when you have a draw simply because if you're called then you still have the backup plan of making your draw. Remember however that in this situation the bluff is plan A and the draw is plan B - don't semi-bluff in a situation where it's unlikely your opponent will fold. If that's the situation then the bluff wasn't much of a plan in the first place and you're value betting your draw (which is a bad move since it's not actually a made hand yet!).The biggest semi-bluff you can carry out is the combo draw bluff. This is the situation where you have both a flush draw and a straight draw. For instance you have JcTc where the flop is 3c8h9c. You allow your opponents to increase the pot and then shove over their bets (on the flop preferably). Even if the bluff doesn't succeed a large amount of times then the amount of times you hit those draws will make up for it. In this situation it's the combination of successful bluffs and successful draws that make it such a powerful hand - if you always played these hands just for the draw they would make less, especially from out of position (why? Simply because making your draw doesn't guarantee a big win - players will be observant enough to see the board completing draws and play more cautiously).
Bet Sizing
Making the right sized bet is critical to maximising your winnings - using a sledgehammer-sized bluff to beating your opponents into folding may work most times but will also lose big time when they call with a made hand. The trick is to judge the amount that is just enough to tip their decision from call to fold when bluffing, and fold to call when betting for value. There are no solid rules to bet sizing because it's entirely dependent on your opponent.You must put yourself in your opponent's shoes, and imagine what they'd do to a certain sized bet - do they seem aware of pot odds, do they see small or big bets as bluffs, do they call everything (calling stations), or nothing (nits)?
Apart from the worst players, most bets are seen in context of the pot. This is because most players understand the concept of pot odds - if they know they have a one in three chance of hitting their draw, but a bet is only giving them 2-1 odds (ie they need to call a pot sized bet), then they know it's not worth continuing.
Generally bets should be between 1/2 pot and 1 x pot. Bets less than 1/2 pot are giving most draws odds to continue, while bets larger than the pot are seen as excessive strength (and yet why is it not worth making > PSB's as bluffs? Simply because the percentage the bluff needs to succeed to be profitable is too high. The few times you get called down will ruin any money made from successful bluffs).