BETTING IN POKER HOLDEM

A very common error among beginners is that they bet at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons. There are many reasons for betting and it is important to know why you bet in any given situation. The two most common reasons for betting is to make a so-called value bet, i.e. betting because you think you have the best hand and want to build the pot, or to bluff because you think you have the worst hand and want to scare players into folding.

Bluff against the right players

It is imperative to bet at the right time, and refrain from betting at the wrong time. Many bad players, for example, bluff far too often and persist in trying to bluff the wrong people. Bluffing should only be done against players who can fold before showdown. Do not bluff if you are in a pot against a player who is unwilling to fold before the showdown. On the other hand, do not waste an opportunity to bet against such a player when you have a good hand, because of their willingness to pay to see it.

Avoid value bets against tight players

On the other hand, when you are in a pot against a tight player you should avoid making value bets unless you have a very good hand. You have to ask yourself whether the opponent would call with a hand that is worse than the one you are betting with, otherwise it is no point betting against a tight player, unless you want to force him out of the pot. This is particularly true on the river where you should be careful value betting against tight players because they will, as a rule, only call if they are holding a better hand than you.

Semi-bluffs

Betting on a draw is called a semi-bluff. Unless you are a very good player, all bluffs you make on the flop and the turn should be semi-bluffs (occasionally, you could make real bluffs on the river). When you do bluff, you need to calculate the approximate odds for the other player folding his hand. Before the river, you rarely have the pot odds for a pure bluff to work, and that is why you should only semi-bluff before the river. If you have a flush draw, you can add the odds for hitting the flush, and the odds for the other player to fold, thus getting far better odds.

For example: say you are playing limit Hold’em; the blinds are 10/20 and you are holding A♣10♣. The pot is 50 chips and the flop comes 5♥8♣Q♣. You are first to act and you judge the chances of his folding to be approximately 25%, if you bet. The pot odds for your bet are 2.5-1 as it will cost you 20 to win a pot of 50. The odds of your opponent folding, however, are as high as 3-1, i.e. too high to justify a pure bluff. But with the flush draw, you have close to a 20% chance of hitting the flush on the turn in case you opponent calls. If you add the 25% chance of his folding to the 20% chance of your winning if he does not, it gives you a 45% chance of winning. This gives you odds of approximately 1.2-1. In other words, more than enough to bet.

In addition, if you include the outs your two overcards give you, as well as the possibility of your opponent checking on the turn, giving you a free card to catch the flush, the odds get even better. However, in most situations it is not that easy to find a good opportunity for a semi-bluff and it is rare for the odds to increase as significantly as in the example, but the semi-bluff is still a good tool for winning those extra pots. But be careful about using the semi-bluff too often, or it will not take long for other players to realise what you are doing, and the odds for your succeeding will quickly diminish.

Preventative betting

Sometimes it is wise to use a preventative bet. This is done to stop someone in NL to bet a significantly higher sum than you are prepared to bet on your draw, or in Limit and PL, if you want to prevent someone from betting in the next round. If you want to prevent someone from betting in the next round, thus seeing the river for free after the turn, you must remember that that a preventative bet only works if you are in position. If you are in position and wants to see the river a little cheaper, it could be worth pushing in a small raise on the flop if your opponent is less than aggressive, but has bet before it was your turn to act.

If you have a draw and suspects it would otherwise become too expensive on the turn, if you have not already caught your draw, a preventative bet might be a good idea. Attempting a preventative bet rarely works from an early position, however, because if you check on the turn you show weakness, encouraging your opponents to bet.

Information betting

Sometimes, it may be a good idea to bet first in order to get information about another player’s hand, in order to save money by folding a fairly good hand.

For example: You are holding AQ in middle position. You call the big blind. A tight player in a late position raises behind you, and you decide to call. The flop comes A84, rainbow. You suspect, of course that the other player might have AK, but he could also have JJ, QQ or even AJ. If you check here and lets him bet, it means that you will probably have to call a bet in the next round as well, without knowing any more about your opponent’s hand. Instead, if you bet he will probably raise you if he has a better hand than AQ, allowing you to fold and avoiding having to pay all the way to the river.

For information betting you must be well aware of what type of player your opponent is. If he is an aggressive player, he night probably raise even with a worse hand than AQ, and then it is pointless to make an information bet. In cases like that it may sometimes be a better idea to check raise to get information (particularly in NL). If he folds, he had the worst hand. If he calls, your AQ is probably the best hand. If he re-raises, you are still better off than if you had played the hand to the river. But you have to be careful when check raising for information and be prepared to actually fold your hand. It is easy to trap yourself in a pot you should not play, particularly in limit.

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