Bet Sizing in No Limit Poker: What Every Player Needs to Know

Poker is a wildly appealing game – it has been throughout history, and has never been as popular as it is today!

It’s never been easier for players to access a variety of tables, games, and opponents, hoping to put their opponents on tilt and relieve them of the burdens of their chips.

But the ease of play can mean that new players may all-too-easily find themselves in over their heads. Of course, learning the basics of strategy is absolutely essential.

After all, one of the most beautiful elements of the game is that there’s always more to learn!

Those 101-level concepts are crucial, but they’re also a bit basic – the poker equivalent of ing to wear pants, tying your shoe laces, and not forgetting your keys before you walk out of the house.

Good advice? Definitely! But for players who want to get serious, it’s not enough to truly excel.

So, what do players need to learn to get their game to the next level?

One major concept stands out: bet sizing.

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What is Bet Sizing?

Bet sizing refers to how much a player bets.

To put it in Goldilocks would understand, good bet sizing means making bets that are neither too small nor too big, but just right.

But let’s back up a bit. There are all kinds of poker tables out there, with all kinds of games available. Where betting is concerned, though, there are three varieties: fixed-limit, pot-limit, and no limit.

Of these, no limit is the most common (as well as the most famous). It offers players the wonderful opportunity of forcing their opponents to make a decision for all their chips at any time.

But most of the time, players’ bets will not be all-in. So if you can wager any amount any time (in no limit games) or as much as the pot size at any time (as in pot-limit games)… how much do you bet?

Bet sizing helps us answer this question.

Why is Bet Sizing Important?

It matters because the amount you bet determines the pot odds your opponents are getting. Therefore, bet sizing allows you to put your opponents in an uncomfortable position.

This is all to the good. Whenever an opponent makes a bad call (ie, one with bad odds), you are making money. Or to put it another way…

…good bet sizing forces your opponents to make bad decisions.

Bad bet sizing, on the other hand, gives opponents the edge.

Here are a few guidelines for solid bet sizing.

1: All bets should be made relative to the size of the pot.

That’s right!

A bet of $40 isn’t going to scare anyone off when there’s already $350 in pre-flop raising. But if the pot only has $6 in it, that same bet becomes quite overwhelming! And when it comes down to it…

…neither of those bets is a terribly good idea.

Why?

In the first example, the bet that is too small relative to the size of the pot, which gives all opponents incredible pot odds: such a bet will almost always be called and/or raised. The only time to make a bet like this is if a) you hold the nuts and b) you think your opponent will fold to any larger bet, and want more of their money in the pot.

The rest of the time, you’re basically giving your money away.

In the second example, the bet is too large relative to the size of the pot. You’re risking 8 times the size of the pot, and will only be called when opponents certainly have you beat. Whatever outcome is hoped for, it won’t be achieved with this tactic.

Again, this bet gives your opponents a big advantage.

This is what poor bet sizing looks like. So what does strong bet sizing look like?

2: Betting 3/4 the size of the pot is a good place to start

Why 3/4? Those can be pretty big bets! The main reason is that bigger bets provide excellent information about opponents’ hands.

One is that a bet of 3/4 the pot size is inconvenient for most drawing hands. When you have a flush or straight draw or are hoping to improve three-of-a-kind or two-pair to a full house, you need approximately 1/3 pot odds to call. This bet denies them those odds.

When faced with a bet of 3/4 the pot, your opponents will have to decide whether to a) lay down an excellent drawing hand (or possibly the best hand!) or b) pay too high a price in order to try and make their hand.

Both are winning scenarios.

Another possibility is that the opponent holds a decent-but-inferior hand. Such an opponent would certainly fold to an all-in bet… but may call a bet of 3/4 the pot. In this case, you’re gaining more of your opponent’s chips than you otherwise might.

A final possibility: you could be up against a monster hand. If that’s the case, your 3/4 pot bet will likely be called or raised… but you’ll have learned this information relatively cheaply, before having to face an all-in bet. They might prefer to slow-play their hand, but you’ve denied them the chance!

In all of these examples, a 3/4 pot-sized bet forces your opponents to make awkward decisions… an excellent turn of events!

3: Before the flop, open with a 3 times the big blind… +1 for each limper

Before the flop, betting 3/4 of the pot is usually not a useful guideline, since there’s so little money in there to begin with!

Instead, we recommend opening with a raise of 3 times the big blind (3BB), plus an additional big blind bet for each player who has limped in. This is a bet large enough to drive away competitors, but not so large that you’ll only face opponents holding aces or kings.

For example, if you’re playing $1/2, sitting on the button, and the action is to you with one limper, and you want to make a raise… what should you bet? In this case, we’d suggest betting $8 (3 times the big blind of $2, plus an addition BB for the limper).

If playing a pre-flop and betting has already been opened (especially if the bet has already been called by other players), you can just refer to the 3/4 pot size guideline above.

In Summary

At the end of the day, each player will eventually learn their own style of bet sizing. Until then, the most important things to are:

Good bet sizing is essential to winning poker;
All bets should be considered relative to the size of the pot;
Make bets that give your opponents bad odds, and force them to make awkward choices;
When in doubt, bet 3(+1 for each limper) BB to open the betting preflop and 3/4 of the pot thereafter.