When To Bet In Poker Chart
How to Bet in Poker Tournaments: A Guide to Sizing Your Bets
Not knowing how to size your bets properly is one of the most atrocious mistakes you can ever make in a poker tournament. Make your opponents think that you don't know how to bet in a poker tournament, and they will (figuratively speaking, I hope) eat you alive.
A bet after the flop by a player who did not take the lead in betting before the flop (and when the player that did take the lead in betting before the flop declined to act). Compare with continuation bet prop, proposition player A player who gets paid an hourly rate to start poker games or to help them stay active.
Poker Starting Hands - Comprehensive guide to which poker hands you should play, including a 2021 Texas Hold'em poker starting hands chart. Bet around 3/4 the size of the pot after the flop. Raise 3 or 4 times the size of the big blind + 1 for each limper before the flop. Whenever you decide that you want to make a bet or a raise, you should always take a look at the size of the pot before moving that chip. AGAIN: These charts are a good starting point for beginners. Specifically, Chart #1 recommends a significant amount of limping. This is great in loose, passive games but less often seen in tougher games. You’ll find other training material on Advanced Poker Training that may recommend a more aggressive approach for more experienced players.
Place a wrong bet and you will suddenly turn yourself into the easiest target at the table. That's because sizing your bets in the correct way is a crucial element of building a solid image at the table.
If you are planning to head to a casino to play your first poker event against total strangers, and you are not sure about how to size your bets either before or after the flop, have a look at this quick guide that we have prepared for you.
How to Bet in Poker Tournaments: Preflop
The 2x Bet. A 2x open preflop or a min-raise is popular among top pros for a variety of reasons, but opening for the minimum can invite problems, too, including
- it does not put that many chips in the pot for you to win when you flop a good hand;
- it leaves you liable to being reraised.
Min-raising preflop with marginal hands that you can't call a three-bet with is a major leak in my game, which is why I tend to stick with larger opens.
The 3x Bet. This used to be the standard opening raise size, and in fact still frequently works well during the early stages of a tournament. Often during the first few levels your stack is so large in relation to the blinds in play that it really isn't worth opening for any less.
It sometimes seems attractive to play looser in the opening stages, and to call lots of bets preflop in the hope of building a monster pot to win at the river, but playing tight and opening a decent range with at least a 3x raise guarantees that you aren't ignoring the early blind levels. As the tournament progresses, however, and you gravitate towards the 25-35 big blind level, it may not be possible to open every hand with a 3x raise, which is why poker players tend to shift down a gear.
The 2.2x-2.5x Bets. If you are trying to learn how to bet in poker like pros do in the most prestigious poker series, have a look at this. Normally these opens are between 2.2x and 2.5x, although this sizing usually depends on the player.
Towards the middle to late stages of tournaments, there will be all sorts of stack sizes seated at your table — the big stack who has enough chips to last well into the next level; the short stack looking for a double-up to get back into the game; and those in the middle who are comfortable, at least for now.
Read also: When the Minimum Raise is Maximally Wrong
The shorter stacks (those who aren't moving all-in preflop) don't have enough chips to open for 3x and fold, but they may still want to open with a raise. Similarly, larger stacks want to make it appealing for opponents to call an open without scaring them off. This bet-sizing of between 2.2 and 2.5 times the big blind is perfect for both stack sizes.
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Play NowHow to Bet in Poker Tournaments: Postflop
A poker hand often falls into certain patterns, the steps from the deal to the showdown together often appearing like a familiar series poker presents time and time again. But don't be fooled — in fact, when it comes to postflop play there are an infinite number of bet sizes for you to choose from. I've tried to stick to the three main sizings, with examples for each of them.
Small bets (~1/4 pot). The small postflop bet invites the same problems min-raises before the flop do — you simply don't put enough money into the pot to give yourself a chance to fold out opponents. But that doesn't mean there aren't times to use small postflop bets effectively.
Against certain players who you are aiming to check-raise, providing they are aggressive enough and/or view a small bet as weak, you could do so to induce a slightly bigger raise out of your opponent.
Example:
It is the middle stage of a multi-table tournament. You are in the small blind on an average sized stack and a player in early position opens for 2.5x. You look down at and you elect to call. A tight-aggresive player in the big blind who has been playing a lot of hands aggressively three-bets. The initial raiser gets out of the way and you call.
The flop is . You've flopped the nuts. You know your opponent's three-betting range is going to include a lot of overpairs to the board, other pocket pairs, and high Broadway cards. Therefore, instead of donk-betting or check-raising, put out a small bet of around 20% of the pot.
If your poker brain was correct, the aggressive player should raise and you can move on with the hand from there.
Against aggressive players who like to continuation bet and raise players out of pots, try and get the maximum out of them when you flop strong-to-nutted hands like this one. Be careful of your own table image, however. If you appear to be a competent player, a small bet such as this could appear suspicious to your opponent.
Medium bets (~1/2 pot to 3/4 pot). I like to refer to this bet-sizing as the Goldilocks sizing — not too big, not too small, jusssst right. Your holdings and the board texture will dictate exactly how strongly you want to bet, but a bet of this sizing should do enough to dissuade drawing hands from calling given they are not getting the right pot odds, and also reap rewards from weaker hands who would still call.
Example:
This advice about bet sizing applies whether you are playing in some of the biggest series, games, tournaments, or other formats, although you always want to be aware the exact situation you are in when making decisions about how much to bet.
Let's say it is the early stages of a tournament and everyone still has around the starting stack. A player opens from early position and you look down at on the button. Because you have such a large chip stack relative to the blinds at this early stage you decide to call.
The flop comes and your opponent checks. You continuation bet for around half the pot and your opponent calls. The is dealt on the turn and again your opponent checks. Again, you slide out a half-pot sized bet and your opponent calls once more.
The river is the and your opponent checks for a third time. At this stage, you are behind both and , but surely would four-bet preflop. A straight is possible as well, although that would require your opponent raising preflop from early position with either or , also unlikely.
You bet 2/3 pot, trying to get a call from top pair. Your opponent obliges, calling and turning over for top pair, and you win with your set.
Overbets (pot-sized bets or larger). It can often be profitable to bet the pot or even more than the pot, especially on turns and rivers. However, be warned that most players know that an overbet is extremely polarizing, suggesting you either have the nuts or nothing.
Use this to your advantage against players you have identified as weak and who perhaps tend towards the cautious side of things when facing a decision for a large quantity of their chips.
Example:
A weaker player opens from the button and you call in the big blind with in the big blind. The flop comes . You check and your opponent continuation bets for slightly less than half-pot. You decide to call. Your opponent's range includes , club flush draws, and perhaps some smaller pocket pairs.
The turn is the and it goes check-check. The river then brings the . At this point, you could slide out a bet slightly over the size of the pot. The weaker player goes into the tank for a while before calling with .
Facing a bet of this sizing, a weaker player is going to know that it is immensely polarising, and might even find a call like this with some hands, or equally try and hero call with ace-high.
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NL Hold’em Starting Hand Charts
One aspect of the game of No-Limit Hold’em that causes beginning players much grief is deciding which hands to play and which hands to dump. NL Hold’em is much more difficult than Limit Hold’em because the value of a hand depends on so many factors other than just the cards in your hand. Despite this difficulty, our coaches believe that following some general guidelines and adjusting from these is a better solution than having no guidelines at all. Given that well over half of your profitability in NL Hold’em is based on hand selection alone, we have developed these charts to help you better determine whether to play or fold.
There are no perfect No-Limit starting hand charts. That is because there are many factors that affect your decision, and charts cannot account for all of them. Some of these include:
- The size of your opponent's stacks.
- How loose or tight, passive or aggressive, your opponents are.
- Where these opponents are located at the table – for example, does an aggressive player still have to act after you?
- Your image at the table – for example, how tight or tricky you are perceived.
That being said, these charts will serve you well in most typical low-stakes No-Limit cash games, such as games with blinds of $1/$2, and home games. These games typically have several loose players at the table, and good opportunities for winning big pots with suited connectors and pocket pairs. With practice, you will be able to be a consistently winning player with these charts as a starting point. As you improve, you'll find yourself making adjustments to these charts based on the factors listed above, and more.
AGAIN: These charts are a good starting point for beginners. Specifically, Chart #1 recommends a significant amount of limping. This is great in loose, passive games but less often seen in tougher games. You’ll find other training material on Advanced Poker Training that may recommend a more aggressive approach for more experienced players.
Note: It would be a serious mistake to apply these hand charts before reading the Frequent Asked Questions first.
CHART #1 ‐ LOOSE, PASSIVE GAME (OFTEN 4-5 LIMPERS PER HAND)
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET
- Raise Always
- Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
- Call always
- Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)
CHART #2 ‐ TIGHTER GAME (FEWER LIMPERS) OR MORE AGGRESSIVE GAME
NO ONE HAS RAISED YET
- Raise Always
- Call from Early Position, otherwise raise
- Call (or Raise) from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)
CHART #3 ‐ THERE HAS BEEN A SINGLE RAISE
(3‐5 TIMES THE BIG BLIND) BEFORE YOU
- Re‐Raise Always
- Call from Early Position, otherwise re‐raise
- Call always
- Call from Middle or Late Position if the conditions are right (see Frequently Asked Questions)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
For the hands in yellow, what do you mean when you say to play these hands if the conditions are right? The hands in yellow are speculative hands. They should always be folded from Early Position. From other positions, they can be profitable given the right conditions. Some of the questions to ask yourself:
- Are there other players who have called so far (the more, the better)?
- Are the players who have called playing poorly after the flop? Will they pay me off if I hit something?
- Is there an aggressive player still to act behind me (you might get raised and have to fold)?
- If there has been a raise and no other callers, what chance do I have of using my position after the flop to win the hand even if I don't improve (Chart #3 only)?
Why does Chart #2 say to sometimes raise with the hands in yellow, but Chart #1 does not? We have different goals in mind. Using Chart #1, we want to call to encourage additional players to enter the pot. These hands will be immensely profitable when our loose, passive opponents enter the hand, and get trapped when we flop a set, or make a well-disguised straight. When using Chart #2, however, we want to size up the opponents still to act. If they are tight, we can raise. Sometimes, we'll pick up the blinds. Other times, our pre-flop aggression will allow us to take down the pot on the flop.
What's the difference between AKs and AKo? AKs means an Ace and King of the same suit. AKo means an Ace and King of different suits.
What are early, middle, and late position? Early Position is generally the first 2 (in a nine player game) or 3 (in a ten player game) positions after the blinds. Late Position is the “cutoff” position (to the right of the dealer), and dealer button positions. Middle Position is everything in between.
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How much should I raise? As a general rule, raise 3 to 4 times the big blind, plus 1 extra big blind for every player who has called before you. So if there are 2 callers already, raise between 5 and 6 times the big blind.
What if someone raises after I call? Whether you call the raise depends on how much money the raiser has for you to win, how many other players are involved, and what type of hand you have. As a general rule, if you have a pocket pair, lean towards calling. If there are a lot of other players (and therefore a big pot), lean towards calling. In general, fold suited connectors from early position. Fold hands like KQ that don't play well against a raiser.
How do I play from the blinds? From the small blind, play the same hands you would play from late position, plus a few more. But don't call with junk hands like T5o, just because it is “cheap”. From the big blind, if there is a raise to you, play like you would if you had already called from early position.
The chart says to fold KQo to a raise. Really? Yes, this hand performs very poorly against typical raising hands. Against AK, AQ, AA, KK, QQ, you are a big underdog. Other typical raising hands like JJ, TT, 99, AJs, are slightly ahead of you as well. The only time you might call or re-raise is from late position, if the opener was in middle or late position, indicating they might have a wider range of hands.
I was told to fold AJo from Early Position, why do you say to call with it? Folding AJo is not a bad idea in many games. We included it because, at low stakes tables (even tight or aggressive ones), the players are often playing badly enough after the flop that it can be profitable. We used data from millions of hands of low-limit poker to analyze this. The same could be said for KQo, ATs, and KJs – you can make a small profit in the long run at most low-stakes games, but folding would be perfectly acceptable from early position.
Poker Bet Sizing
Can I use these charts in a NL Hold'em tournament? The charts would be best applicable to the early stages of a NL tournament, when everyone has a deep stack. In the middle and later stages, they should not be used.