jjd323's blog

One of the greatest reasons for the complexity of big-bet games, especially NL, is that you can bet however much of your remaining stack as you like. However, people typically try and bet an amount that is in proportion to the pot; in Professional No Limit Hold’Em (PLNHE), the authors recommend that betting 2/3 pot as a solid, all-purpose size. Their reasons are, “It’s large enough to protect your hand against most drawing hands, it’s large enough to get most weak hands to fold if you’re bluffing, and it’s also generally a good size for a value bet.” Such simple reasoning has taken many players very far. I want to do better.

The authors of PLNHE do not recommend betting 2/3 pot at all times. However, they do suggest that is can safely be used when no reason to bet another amount exists. They are probably not far wrong. But, as you will be making a very large number of bets throughout your poker career, it would be wise to consider if we can find a better default bet size.

One of the biggest differences between a beginning no-limit player and an expert player is their ability to manipulate the size of the pot. This doesn’t just mean betting in such a way that is natural to get all-in by the river. It means making sure that the pot is the right size for the way you want to play your hand, or alternatively, making sure the pot size is really awkward for your opponent in such a way it forces him to make mistakes.

I have many many things I want to say on this. Over the next few weeks I will be making a series of blog posts, and possibly videos, about the many different aspects of bet-sizing. In my next post I will introduce some useful theories about α, the ratio of the bet-size to the current pot.

alpha, α

α is the ratio of the bet-size to the current pot. A pot-sized bet has an α of 1. A half-pot-sized bet has an α of 0.5. When the SPR is 13 we can make a series of three bets with an α of 1, concluding with a final all-in bet. For example, with a $130 stack and a $10 pot, we can bet pot on the flop, turn and bet all-in for pot on the river ($10, $30 and $100 bets).

How much should we bet on the flop, turn and river when the SPR is greater than 4 but less than 13? With the SPR at 4 we have two streets of betting left; at 13 there are three. At what SPR value do we switch from a two street plan to a three street plan? Is there a clear inflection point? How can we choose a bet-size that is better than the default 2/3 pot mentioned at the beginning of this post?

I will be dealing with these questions in my next post.