When it comes to bet-sizing, I used to sit firmly in the camp of ‘keep everything the same’, i.e. always raising 2.5x preflop and leading for 2/3 of the pot. This keeps your actual hand strength disguised, as you’re doing the same thing with your whole range. However, I actually think that most players you come up against don’t notice subtle differences in your bet-sizing. Most of the time they don’t even notice when you bet a specific amount to get them to do something (as they still do it anyway), meaning you should feel free to change your bet sizes according to circumstances.
Small and perfectly formed
Sometimes, it is clearly to your advantage to bet smaller than you would normally. A good illustration of this can be shown by using the same flop texture but with two different hands. (For the sake of convenience we’re going to assume that all players in the hand have 14k in chips.)
Blinds: 200/400/a50
You have 9-9 at a nine-handed table and raise in mid position to 1,025 and get two callers, one in the cutoff and one in the small blind.
Flop: A-Q-J
The small blind checks to you, the pot is just over 4,000 and you have the worst possible flop for the hand you’re holding. However, you do have the initiative in the hand and there is no guarantee that either of the other players has a hand they can continue with. A line I like taking in this spot is to lead 1,350 into the 4,025 pot, as it does a couple of things: to take the pot down cheaply if they fold, and to induce a raise from a hand that’s smashed the board, as they won’t want to see a King turn up and face another barrel.
Now imagine the exact same situation, but this time you have A-Q. Checking second to act could be dangerous, as the cutoff could easily have a hand that didn’t connect with the flop and check behind, and there are plenty of cards that could come to destroy the strength of your hand – a King, Jack or Ten. As such it’s imperative that you bet this flop for value and to protect your hand, but obviously you want action from weak Aces and K-J/K-Q/A-J hands. A big bet might not get too much action on this type of board, and given the stack sizes if you bet 3k it would cost someone their whole stack to continue aggressively if they think you missed.
A bet of 1,350 into 4,025, however, will give them a chance to peel one off with a wide range of worse hands, some draws and some worse two-pair/one-pair combos and, importantly, it gives them the opportunity to try to bluff you off your hand…
The smaller bet-sizing in these two cases maximises the value you can gain from both of your hands. I have shown you two cases of how smaller bet-sizing can help but you also need to show that you’re balancing your range in spots like this. If you are seen to be just making small c-bets with air then you will get raised a lot once you have been figured out. In order to keep the opposition guessing you must make similar moves with both strong and weak hands, or at the very least make sure your opponents think you are.
Drop the hammer
Of course, poker is about balance, and while smaller bet-sizing can work in some situations, so can bigger bets.
Take the following situation: you have flopped a set on a board that’s dry aside from a flush draw. You decide to slow-play your hand and flat-call two streets in position. The river bricks out and your opponent checks to you. You could make a smallish value bet here hoping to get paid, but given that you’ve flatted both streets a much bigger bet could look like you were on a draw that’s missed. If your opponent thinks you’re on a draw then they’re likely to call you irrespective of the bet size, so the bigger the better, and the more it looks like a bluff.
Overbetting or making a large bet for value can often work well if you make your hand and you can read your opponent for huge strength. Betting half the pot on the river will get a call, but if you believe your opponent has a really strong hand or is a fishy player who will call you down lighter, it’s often better to stack a few more chips on top. Make him pay a larger price, knowing it is hard for your opponent to fold, whether because of a lack of skill or because his hand compels him to call.
Overbet bluffing
Making an overbet as a bluff can work really well on some board textures. For example, a board comes four to a straight or flush, or what was second pair on the flop turns into potential trips on the turn or river. In spots like this a big bet might scare your opponent off his hand, as it looks like you are making a big bet to get paid off. However, the thing with making these big bets, be it for value or as a bluff, is that it has to be done against the correct opponent.
You do not want to be overbet bluffing against terrible players as they are literally just clicking buttons and won’t pay attention to your carefully considered bet-sizing – you will end up looking the fool. Also, you will have to be much more careful when value-betting huge against better players, as they have greater capability of laying down a monster if they think you have spiked a big hand.
Overbetting advice also comes with a disclaimer: try not to overbet-bluff fish unless you know it will get through, and definitely overbet for value against the weaker players. Tighter players will be more susceptible to the overbet bluff if the circumstances are correct.
Karl 'discomonkey' Fenton is a member of Team PKR Pro. To find out more about him and to read more articles written by Karl, please click here