Bet Good, Run Good

David Williams explains how there is a direct correlation between knowing when and how to bet and your success in No Limit Holdem

July 23, 2008

By David Williams
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

Bet for value. Bet for information. Bet for protection. Bet to block. Bet to bluff.

There are many different reasons to bet and many different factors that go into figuring out how much to bet, but there should always be a plan and purpose for what you're betting.

Some players advocate betting the same amount every time; they say it is the only true way to not give away too much information. Other players contend that your bet amounts should be based on the strength of your hand and whether or not you want to get called, which is where the term "betting for value" originates from. While each of these strategies tends to lean towards one extreme or the other, there can be merit to each. However, as always, in the game of poker, No Limit Holdem in particular, it's never good to do one thing always because that puts your game "inside a box," and No Limit Holdem is an "outside the box" type of game.

The betting strategy that I find most successful is to always bet with an objective in mind.

Betting the same amount every time could put your poker game "inside a box."

Bet enough on the flop to force your opponent to fold a marginal draw or at least leave him calling with incorrect odds to make that draw. Bet the right amount to entice your opponent to call when you’re likely to have the best of it. 

The idea behind varying your bet sizes is to force your opponents to play a pot whose size you control as well as control the likely decisions that your bet causes your opponents to make. Let's look at an example:

You are dealt pocket 4s in an online six-max $3/$6 No Limit game against an aggressive opponent whom you have seen attack seemingly weak bets on numerous occasions. He is not afraid to float, and reraise light, and he seems to like to force people into difficult decisions with constant pressure being applied.

You bet out $18 from the cutoff, and the aggressive player flat calls on the button.

The flop comes 4–Q–8 rainbow.

Now, here is where varying your bets works to your advantage. Betting a pot size bet might cause the aggressive player to put the brakes on his previously loose-aggressive behavior, since it's really going to make him commit a ton of chips to raise here, or even see a turn card. Betting 75 percent of the pot might tell him you're looking for value, and he might not get out of line in that spot either. However, knowing what we know about this player, let's say you choose to bet half the pot, or even slightly more than 1/3 of the pot. This bet smells of a blocking bet or informational bet used to try and see where your opponent is at. I can't say that this type of play would work at every level, but its chance of working in this $3/$6 game is high. So you throw out your bet of $18-$20 into the $42 pot, and a good percentage of the time, the aggressive player senses weakness. He immediately raises to $60, and you decide to continue to tell your story by just calling.

Varying bet sizes should prove to be profitable over time.

The turn comes a king and you check. Your opponent immediately ships his stack in, and you snap call. The river is a blank, and your opponent mucks his K-9 offsuit and the pot is pushed to you. You bet to induce a raise, and your opponent takes the bait. Send the money.

Now, it won't always work out perfectly like this. Sometimes we will not convince our opponents to buy what we are trying to sell them, but the varying bet sizes should prove to be profitable if used correctly over time.

Also, the next time we flop a strong hand against this same opponent, we will make a bigger bet or make the same bet when we're bluffing or want to see the turn card for a cheap price. The idea is to adjust to the situation you are in better than your opponent does and be able to control them with your betting in the process.

There is a direct correlation between knowing what amount to bet and your win/loss column at the end of a session. If you control most of the betting, then chances are, you're going to come out ahead on your strong hands and lose minimally on your marginal ones. That is a winning combination in any No Limit game.

TOP PHOTO: Bodog Poker pro David Williams at the 2008 World Series of Poker.