Short-Deck Poker Rules. Before we discover how to play short-deck poker, let's see how to get to the 36-card deck needed to play a game of 6+ hold'em. The 36-card deck in use in poker short deck. Hold'em Resources Calculator is a popular ICM software tool. It's widely used by professional poker players to study Preflop strategy for the later stages of NLHE tournaments.
Understanding how to correctly use bet sizes to influence and manipulate the action is what separates skilled poker players from absolute beginners. Without a doubt, improper bet sizing is a very common mistake among beginners to poker and such errors are a tell-tale sign of a player’s inexperience. Beginners often raise or bet at the extremes – betting either too little or too much.
When playing poker it’s really important that you think about the result you hope to achieve before you make a bet. In our previous lesson we discussed some of the main reasons to bet in poker and provided some clear objectives that you should always consider before firing out a bet. In this lesson we’re not going to discuss why you should bet, because you should know already. Instead, this lesson is all about how much you should bet – and we’ll be focusing on basic bet sizing before and after the flop.
Bet Sizing before the Flop
A good tip for beginners is to raise three times (3x) the big blind, plus one big blind for every limper in the pot. If it folds to you, raising three times the big blind is often enough to ensure the field of players doesn’t grow too large. For example, using this forumla in a cash game with blinds of $0.25 / $0.50, your standard raise would be to $1.50 (3 x $0.50), but with two callers you should raise to around $2.50 (that’s 3 x $0.50 + 2 x $0.50 for the limpers).
Beginners often make the mistake of raising the same amount regardless of whether several players have already entered the pot. Remember, it’s much easier to play poker against fewer opponents and if you don’t increase the size of your bet when limpers are involved then you’re effectively inviting a whole heap of trouble after the flop.
For many years now the 3x + 1 for each limper has arguably been the standard pre-flop bet size favoured by the majority of skilled poker players. These days it’s equally common to see raises of 2.5x + 1. For example, in a poker tournament with blinds of 300/600 your standard opening raise would be 1,500 and not the 1,800 it would be if you were betting 3x. Many players favour 2.5x because they believe it has the same end result as a 3x raise, but fewer chips are put at risk.
It’s also fairly common to see tournament poker players mix up their pre-flop bets based on the stage of the tournament or their stack size. For example, a player might choose to start with 3x for the early levels but may switch to 2.5x when they’re deeper into the tournament.
Betting Too Much
While many beginners are guilty of not betting enough pre-flop, another typical beginner mistake is betting too much. An example would be raising 5x-6x the size of the blinds when you are first to enter a hand in a game where the standard raise is 3x. Sure, everyone might fold and you pick up the blinds – and if that was your goal then it worked, but what if your intention was to maximize your winnings with a solid starting hand? Your failure was likely the result of improper bet sizing.
Adjusting Your Bets
Be sure to base your bet sizing on the tendencies of the poker players at the table and other situational factors. Make sure you adjust If you find yourself in a game where the 3x (or 2.5x) betting formula does not accomplish your goals. Different games play differently. Maybe you’re in a game that requires 4x to 6x the big blind to consistently accomplish your objectives.
Bet Sizing after the Flop
Miss-sizing of bets also occurs after the flop. So, how much should you bet? While your bet size should depend on the situation, a general rule of thumb is to bet between ½ the pot and the size of the pot. This will usually give draws incorrect odds to call, get worse hands to call and often times get better hands to fold.
The size of your post-flop bets should be related to the amount in the pot. For example, let’s suppose you’re playing in a no-limit cash game and the pot contains $20 after the flop. A respectable bet size would be $15. However on the next hand the pot might be smaller, let’s say it’s just $12. If you’re sticking with the same bet size then, based on the pot, your bet should be $9. This is of course assuming you’re betting 3/4 of the pot.
What about betting the turn? Well if you bet the flop and get called then obviously there’ll be more money in the pot. You have various options on the turn, but if you decide to place another wager then it should again be based on the size of the pot – so your bet on the turn will be more than the flop. Many beginners fail to adjust the size of their bets to the amount in the pot – avoid this mistake.
Giving Draws the Incorrect Odds
There will be many post-flop situations where you’re playing against an opponent who has a drawing hand. One key to successful poker is to charge your adversaries for the opportunity to draw out on you. In a fixed-limit game you can only charge them as much as the betting limits allow, but in a no-limit game you can bet enough so that the cost for them to draw exceeds their chances of completing their straight or flush. When that’s the case, the long run supports bets of that nature.
Here are some typical bet amounts relative to the pot and the odds offered to your opponent:
Poker Nl Holdem Games
- If you bet 1/4 of the pot you’re offering 5-to-1 odds.
- If you bet 1/2 of the pot you’re offering 3-to-1 odds.
- If you bet 3/4 of the pot you’re offering 2.33-to-1 odds.
- If you bet the the full pot you’re offering 2-to-1 odds.
As you can see, if you only bet 1/4 of the pot then you might be giving decent drawing odds to your opponent. Whereas a decent bet of 3/4 the pot against a single opponent would rule out common draws such as straights and flushes. Even if your opponent gets lucky, he’ll lose in the long run when he’s drawing to longer odds than are offered by the payoff.
While it’s generally better to wager more rather than less, don’t fall into the trap of over betting to “protect” your hand. Ideally, in poker you want to bet an amount that maximizes how much you can win and minimizes how much you can lose. When you structure your no-limit bet so that the pot is offering even money on a call, but the odds against your opponent completing his hand are 2-to-1, you’ll win in the long run. And that’s what poker is all about. Make ‘em pay to get there, and charge ‘em what you think the traffic will bear.
Varied vs. Consistent Bet Sizes
Since the size of your bet tells a story to the other players, it’s important that you do not give off patterns in your play – both pre-flop and after the flop. A common pattern for beginners is to bet more with a strong hand and less with a weak hand. This can eventually become predictable and thereby exploitable – making it easy for opponents.
In order to prevent being readable, there are two schools of thought: randomly vary the size of your bet or keep betting the same increment every time. The reason why you would vary your bet sizes is to throw off your opponent and keep them guessing. At the same time, that is also the goal of staying consistent. If you bet the same amount whether you have a hand or are bluffing, your bluffs are more believable and your opponents cannot pick up patterns in your play.
I believe you should be consistent in how you bet regardless of your holding so as to make it more difficult for observant opponents to put you on a hand accurately. If you always raise 3x the big blind plus one additional bet for every limper in front of you and always bet 3/4 of the pot post-flop then no one can get a read on your play.
Conclusion
To summarize, here’s a recap of some of the bet sizing strategy tips we’ve discussed in this lesson:
Poker Nl Holdem Rules
- Betting around 3x the big blind + 1 for every limper when raising pre-flop is a solid formula to stick with.
- Adjust your bet sizing depending on situational factors.
- Post-flop bets should always be based on the size of the pot and betting around 3/4 of the pot is a good benchmark.
- Be consistent with your bet sizing, regardless of your cards.
Take onboard what you’ve learned in this lesson regarding bet sizing. Remember that every game and situation is different so remain alert and flexible in your thinking for greatest results.
Related Lessons
By Donovan Panone
Poker Nl Holdem Rules
Donovan started playing poker in 2004 and is an experienced tournament and cash game player who has a passion for teaching and helping others improve their game.
Related Lessons
If I were teaching a new player to play no-limit hold’em, and my goal were to get this player up to a professional level of play, how would I do it? What would my lessons look like?
Let’s say I had only three months to do it. With most people, I will admit, it would be a tall order. The learning curve is steep these days, and I don’t think everyone could make it from zero to pro in that short a time.
I’d have to make compromises. I couldn’t try to cover every possible situation. I’d have to find the important bits and skip the rest.
I’d also have to tailor the lessons a bit to a specific type of game. The most important skills in some game types are not as important in others. With this in mind, here are what I think my top five lessons would be for a new player trying to beat the $2-$5 no-limit hold’em games in Las Vegas.
Lesson No. 1. Don’t limp into pots ever. And don’t call preflop three-bets unless you are trapping with an ultra-premium hand.
Limping into pots, calling the preflop raise, and then check/folding the flop when you miss is an enormous leak. It’s also one that nearly every player who hasn’t been specifically coached out of it exhibits.
In my opinion, most players would see an immediate improvement in their winrates if they simply refused to limp in with any hand, especially if they chose to instead fold most of these hands.
For most players, refusing ever to limp means playing much tighter, particularly from out of position. Until you’re already an established pro player, tighter is better.
Lesson No. 2. Don’t pay off big turn and river bets.
This lesson might be different in some types of games, but in the Las Vegas $2-$5 games, it’s easily a candidate for the single most important piece of advice. Do not pay anyone off. When someone makes a big turn or river bet or raise, your one pair hand (or whatever other hand you’re thinking about calling with) is a bluff-catcher. That means, in the great majority of cases, your opponent won’t be trying to make a value bet with a worse hand. Either you’re beat or your opponent is bluffing. And players in these $2-$5 games do not bluff often enough to make calling worthwhile.
So you don’t pay off. I know it can be frustrating to feel like you’re getting muscled out of a huge pot, but the fact is, most players in these games do very little muscling. They try to make hands, and then they bet the hands they make. A big bet usually means a big hand. You don’t need to call to find out for certain.
Lesson No. 3. Your opponents will limp into pots, call raises, and check/fold flops. Take advantage of this weakness by raising lots of hands with position, betting the flop, and often also betting the turn.
It’s a simple play, but it’s one that generates a very consistent profit in these games. Players play too loosely preflop, are too willing to call preflop raises after limping in, and are too willing to check/fold the flop or turn if they miss. With many players, you can ignore your cards and raise the limps, bet nearly all flops, and bet most turn cards as well.
Say two typical players limp in a $2-$5 game. You raise to $25 on the button. Both limpers call.
The flop comes 10 8 2. They check, and you bet $50. One player calls.
The turn is the 5. Your opponent checks, you bet $120, and he folds.
In this scenario, and in many like it, it doesn’t matter what you have. Your opponents are beating themselves by playing call/call/fold so often. All you have to do is put the bets out there and let your opponents run repeatedly into the brick wall.
Nl Hold'em Strategy
Yes, there is some nuance to this, and some boards are better bets than others. But against many opponents at the $2-$5 level, most flops, turns, and even rivers are good bets. Keep betting until your opponents prove to you that they won’t beat themselves by folding too much.
Lesson No. 4. With value hands, don’t try to blow opponents out of pots. Instead, play most value hands with the goal of keeping a player in through the river.
Value hands — hands like top pair, two pair, or any other hand you think is a favorite to be best — lose their value when all your opponents fold. If you win without a showdown, you might as well have been holding 7-2. (See Lesson No. 3.) With your value hands, you generally want opponents to get to the river.
Most players like to see showdowns if they feel like they can see them without losing too much money. No one likes to fold and think, “What if I was good?” If your opponents get to the river, often it’s an easy sell to get them to call a final value bet (as long as you don’t make it too big).
Calling these value bets is one of the biggest mistakes that $2-$5 players make. (See Lesson No. 2.) Allow your opponents to make this mistake.
Most players try to end hands early when they feel like they have the best hand. “Don’t want to get drawn out on,” they think. But this is backward thinking. End hands early with strong bets when you have nothing but a weak draw. Allow hands to reach showdown when you actually have something to show down! (Makes sense when I put it that way, doesn’t it?)
If I have top pair, I’d much rather get called for $30, $50, and $80 on flop, turn, and river than get called for $30 and then blow my opponent out of the hand with a $100 bet on the turn. The chance to win $160 with the hand instead of $30 outweighs the risk that I’ll get outdrawn.
Lesson No. 5. Think every hand about what strategies your opponents are using and how they’re thinking, and (almost) ignore the two cards in your hand.
I’ll put it bluntly. Most $2-$5 players beat themselves. They tend to play strategies that are extremely transparent, overly simplistic, and inflexible. You can beat some of these players simply by betting every time it’s your action (See Lesson No. 3.) You can beat other of these players simply by waiting for hands that beat top pair/no kicker and then making value bets. (See Lesson No. 4.)
Your job as a poker player is to identify the strategy each opponent is using and deploy a counter strategy. In many cases, the two cards in your hand become irrelevant. My experience is that the players that are always thinking about their hands never figure it out. It’s the players who are thinking on the next level that do. ♠
Ed’s newest book, Playing The Player: Moving Beyond ABC Poker To Dominate Your Opponents, is on sale at notedpokerauthority.com. Find Ed on Facebook at facebook.com/edmillerauthor and on Twitter @EdMillerPoker.
