How to bet in no-limit hold'em
Your bets in Texas hold‘em are as important as your cards – and probably harder to master for the beginner.
If you’re new to the game, one of the biggest frustrations can be getting knocked off hands you’re fairly sure you were winning and getting sucked into calling bets when you should have known you were losing. Good betting strategies won’t completely eliminate those situations – they are, after all, the crux of the game – but will increase your confidence and your winnings.
For now, let’s look at normal playing conditions in no-limit hold‘em and bets that suit a tight-aggressive style of play.
Betting before the flop
OK, so you’ve got a hand you want to play… now what? As you skillfully thumb your chips, waiting your turn, ask yourself this, ‘What do I want to achieve with this bet?’
Drawing hands
In the case of cards that could develop into a strong hand – small pocket pairs, suited connectors, flush draws, straight draws and marginal hands like K-J off- suit, the answer is ‘nothing’ – you don’t want to bet (unless it’s a bluff). You want to see the flop as cheaply as possible to find out if your hand gets better, so call the blinds and possibly a small raise before the flop.
Ace-big and premium pairs
In the case of premium pairs and ace-big you’ve already got a strong hand and you don’t want others to develop theirs and beat you. This is where the pre-flop raise comes into play. The purpose of the pre-flop raise in this situation is to knock out marginal callers, leaving you facing only one or two other players after the flop. This reduces the danger of running into straights, flushes, hard-to-spot two pairs and the like being made by players limping in.
How much you should raise pre-flop depends on the playing conditions. The goal, remember, is to narrow the playing field – but you don’t want to scare all the action away (though just taking the blinds with A-A is infinitely preferable to being taken down by a limper who flops two pairs). A lot of players use a multiple of the blind to come up with their pre-flop raise – multiplying the big blind by a number between, say, two and four to determine their raise. So, if the big blind in a tournament is 30, that would mean a pre-flop bet of somewhere between 60 and 120. Multiplying the blind in this way is an effective strategy, though do remember to avoid betting the same multiple every time or you’ll get predictable.
Slow-playing
You could think of slow-playing a hand as ‘anti-betting’. Its purpose is to trick opponents into thinking you’re weak by either checking or under-betting a strong hand. The aim is to induce action – preferably a bluff, but also bets from weaker hands – then pounce with a large bet of your own.
Some players slow-play before the flop, just calling pre-flop with pocket A’s for example, then coming in with a very large bet after the flop. In normal play this is a very tricky business. You may be able to lure a player who has flopped high pair into calling your big bet, but you’re equally vulnerable to limpers who flop two pairs, sets and so on. There are few worse feelings in poker than to be taken down holding A-A.
That doesn’t mean that slow-playing shouldn’t be part of your arsenal. Flop A, A, J with pocket A-J for example and you might be wise to keep quiet hoping the A’s or J improved an opponent’s hand and letting them assume the board didn’t hit you.
Slow-play can be especially effective against loose and super aggressive players – they’ll often take the lead by betting or bluffing into you, particularly if you’ve shown weakness by checking before them. Very tight players are a good target for the slow-play too. They won’t want to get into any action until they’ve made a hand.
The key is in remembering that slow-play is as dangerous as over-betting. To be effective at it you have to have the smarts to know how likely it is that a card could come to make a hand that would beat you, and the discipline to avoid getting trapped if that happens.
Re-raising
Re-raises generate a lot of buzz. Like two tough guys in a bar eyeing each other up, a re-raise signals a fight brewing and a crowd invariably gathers around to watch. But what does it mean when someone re-raises your bet? When should you consider re-raising someone else’s bet?
It might be easier to understand re-raising by looking at it from the perspective of someone re-raising you. After all, you’re on track to becoming a tight aggressive player (right?), so you’ll probably find yourself re-raised more often than you re-raise.
Here’s a common scenario: You’re on the button, no-one raised before the flop. Everyone checks around to you, you’re in the last position to bet. You’ve flopped high pair on a raggy flop.
Hole cards: Queen of Hearts and 10 of Diamonds
Flop cards: 6 of Diamonds, 10 of Clubs and 2 of Hearts
Prudently you place a strong bet, secure in the knowledge that everyone else will obediently fold to your clearly articulated strength – thank you very much. Next thing you know the big blind re-raises to double your bet. What?
The re-raise could mean a lot of things at this point so it’s important to consider all the possibilities. You may also recognise some situations where you’ll want to re-raise in future…
Does he think you’re bluffing?
It’s very common for players to try to steal a pot when they’re on the dealer button after everyone else has checked. Getting re-raised in this case might be the big blind saying ‘I’m on to you!’ Players on the big blind are especially prone to getting their backs up in these situations because they don’t want to be seen as a soft touch. Remember, even solid players can appear to be bluffing if they’ve taken a lot of pots in recent hands. If you think that this is what his bet is saying, then your best course of action is to call – after all, you’ve got a strong hand. If he checks after the turn, then a similar or slightly higher bet should see him off. If not, then be on your guard.
He’s trying to trap you
Good players are clever enough to know that a re-raise can rattle an opponent and possibly induce an over-bet in retaliation. In a case like the one illustrated above, where you’re holding a high pair, you’d be well advised to avoid the temptation to re-raise again or go in big – that might be just what he’s waiting for. Evaluate the player. If he’s the slippery sort, proceed with caution. If he checks on the turn, call the re-raise and bet again. Treat any more big bets coming out of his corner with caution.
Is he bluffing?
Every bet that comes at you in Texas no-limit hold‘em is a potential bluff. That said, it’s never wise to assume a player is bluffing unless you’ve caught them red-handed – and even then, remember, he may have the cards this time. Still, that’s no reason to trash a perfectly good hand. Call the re-raise and bet again on the turn if he checks.
Does he think you’re on a draw?
Unlikely in the case illustrated above, but if there is a draw on the table then take this into consideration. Call the re-raise and re-evaluate after the flop.
Does he think you’re weak?
Have you folded a lot of hands in the face of big betting recently? If you think your opponent is trying to exploit a perceived weakness then now is the time to stand firm. Call the re-raise then bet again after the flop – no need for big dramatic bets (that shows weakness, too) – either the same amount as your original bet or the amount of the re-raise will do.
Over-betting and under-betting
Over-betting
Over-betting is common in weak or inexperienced players. There’s a certain laziness to it and, if you think it’s part of your game, you’d be wise to kick the habit.
Here’s a common scenario; An inexperienced player flops the flush or trips on some other big hand. Other players in the tourney have been pushing him around all game and now it’s his turn – so he hammers the magic button and bets his entire chip-stack in an awesome display of strength. Now, one of three things is going to happen:
* Everyone folds and he takes a much smaller pot than he might have with a strong bet (say, the size of the pot).
* He gets a caller with an even better hand and gets beaten like a rented mule.
* A complete idiot with a mediocre hand calls and the inexperienced player takes all his chips (unless the idiot gets lucky and wins on the turn or river).
Assuming you’re playing against idiots is rarely a winning strategy in poker (though there are some exceptions to every rule). That’s just one of the reasons that good players rarely go all-in – they know enough to look at the stack sizes around them, the size of the pot and calculate a bet that is going to apply strong pressure without over committing or scaring away business. For a beginner, as a rule of thumb, a bet that is equivalent to more than half the pot is strong; matching the pot is very strong.
Under-betting
Under-betting is as bad a habit as over-betting. Under-bets leave you vulnerable to draws and aggressive players who smell your weakness. Most under-bets relate to the odds of certain hands appearing, so the best way to cure the practice is to familiarize yourself with basic hand and pot odds.
Knowing your opponents
Poker is a game of people. Get too focused on the cards and you’ll miss half the game. Different situations are going to call for different strategies, styles and bets. Loose tables may require bigger bets to knock off draws while tight tables may require a little slow play to induce action. The more you play and the more you watch how other players treat their chips the more you’ll learn.
And remember, all good players mix up their game so they’re harder to read and can adapt to the table they’re playing on. As your game develops, you should do the same.