Online Poker Betting

Typically, players are supposed to bet when they have a good hand. Players who don't have good hands are supposed to fold. Of course, if it was this simple, there would be no need for poker strategy. You might as well wager on Tic-Tac-Toe! Most players play contrary to this idea, attempting to be a cunning or deceptive player. Don't fall into this trap if you are just learning to play. Your betting strategy should be built upon this simple idea, but you must know when to stray and bet in situations when you otherwise wouldn't. Here are some situations that are worth looking at:

Poker Betting - Blind-stealing

When you are in the dealer's position, and only you and the blinds are remaining in the game, a raise is often called "blind-stealing". This is because the blinds may fold, whereas if you didn't raise but simply called, the blinds would simply check. It's a good way to make a quid or two, but will never make you rich. It's more of a way to end the game fast and have a new hand dealt with more players (and more money).

Poker Betting - The steal-raise

If you are last to act and all players have checked to you, betting to simply limit the number of players or take the pot is called a steal-raise. Don't use this exclusively, as better players will be onto you quickly and begin check-raising against your (most likely) poor hand. It is good to use a steal raise when you have an excellent drawing hand such as a nut flush draw. Players will tend to "check to the raiser". If you draw to your hand, you now have a larger pot to win. If you don't, you can always check, and hope the fifth card makes your hand.

Poker Betting - The check-raise

Check raising is checking to your opponent, with the intention of luring them to bet, so that you can raise them back. Your intention is to lure them into a false sense of security so that you can raise them and increase the pot (remember, after one bet is committed, its more likely they'll commit to two).

Poker Betting-The opener

This reckless move is often done by people who bluff. It is when the person first to act raises, making all other players call two bets at once. Its intention is to limit the number of players. Basically, this move amounts to a backwards steal-raise. The effect will almost certainly cause many players to fold, but the ones remaining will either be equally aggressive or truly have a great hand. This is also known as betting for information. This tactic is best used with few players in on the hand.

Poker Betting - Squeezing

Squeezing is a tactic only used in a short-handed game. It's betting when you have a good hand currently, and you suspect another player or players may be on a draw. For example, you have top pair with the best kicker. Chances are they won't make their draw (be it a straight or a flush draw, etc). Your goal is to limit their pot odds.

Filling Time Between Hands

Over the course of one session pick a single player and watch them play. You are looking for patterns and habits in the way they play--for example do they often bet out on their draws? How do they play their very strong hands and their very weak hands? Do they try to bluff a lot or do they almost always show down the best hand? It's important that you concentrate on one person for a while and not try to evaluate everyone's play at the same time.

Count the pot. You can't utilize pot odds if you don't know how much money is in the pot each time you act. A method you may want to try which can help you get a good estimate:

Count the pot by the number of small bets. Ignore the small blind--it isn't going to affect the pot odds much, and if those couple of chips would have made the difference on a particular draw then it's probably not worth making the draw in the first place.

Count the number of people in the pot at the end of the betting round and multiply it by the number of small bets per person (on the turn there were 6 callers and the bet was $12 or 4 small bets, so the result for the turn is 24 small bets in the pot)

Pot odds are most useful for figuring out if you should continue with a draw in low limit hold 'em. You may want to count up the river bets as well for a rough idea of what the final pot was, but for our purposes what you really want is to get a very close idea of how many small bets are in the pot when it is your turn to act on the flop and on the turn.

Be friendly to the players at the table. Offer them gum or breath mints if you are having one, and in general be a nice to them. There is a whole topic here, but in general people who like you and are having fun are going to be more likely to play worse against you.

Read one of the poker magazines that they keep in stock at all the major card rooms. The articles are usually very good and contain useful advice (that you might be able to apply on the next hand that you actually do play)

Get up and walk around.

Pre-Flop Betting is Based On the Type of Your Cards.

The simple quick version is: if you are playing cards which often turn into drawing hands (suited cards, connectors, and suited connectors) you want to see the flop as cheaply as possible. The money you "lose" pre-flop is more than made up for by after the flop betting if you make your hand, and the money you save by not raising (or in some cases by getting out entirely if there are too many raises before you) is even more important.

Before the flop the strategy is very clear. You want to make people pay extra for your hands which can stand without improvement (that means raise AA, KK, QQ, JJ pre flop, raise Ace-Big pre-flop if you can get people out of the pot). Your drawing hands (Suited Connectors, Connectors) you want to be able to see the flop as cheaply as possible. The exception to this is AKs which can always be raised.

Your pre-flop hands that are likely to turn into draws (or immediate folds) on the flop are the ones you want to get in for as cheaply as possible. If you can get in for $3 instead of $6, $9 or $12 that translates into a lot more flops you can see, and therefore a much better chance that you will make your hand (which means at least flopping a four flush or open ended straight).

Resist the urge to raise the pot with suited connectors (except for AKs) except for use as deception. Always raise with any pair over TT, except AA, which you should just call with before the flop sometimes and then check-raise on the flop.

AA and KK withstand multiway action fairly well, but QQ and JJ do not, so be prepared to dump these hands if things get unfavorable on the flop.

See For Yourself

You will be tempted to wait around for another Q or J to fall. You are drawing to a hand with 2 outs. Don't do that. It might happen and when it does after you fold you will hate it, but remember: on the flop you have seen 5 out of 52 cards. That leaves 47 unseen cards. Do you really want to wait around when the odds are worse than 20:1 against you? Yes you want to, but DON'T.

What you can do instead is every time an overcard to your pocket pair flops (and there is action on the flop (where action equals either more than two people calling or one or more raises)) dump the pocket pair. Then at the end of the hand count the number of times you would have won vs. the number of times you lost.

Make a third column in your little notebook for the times when at least one of the bettors had at least the overcard (or a better hand like a set or two pair). Keep that notebook for about forty hours of play time and take a look. In that short time frame would you have won or lost money? Remember to estimate your actual investment in all the pots you would have lost (you called those raises and bets on the flop turn and river remember?

Betting after the flop. The Flush Monster

A staple of our strategy is the suited ace. In a table (of whatever limit) where five or more people pay to see the flop (and often stay to see the turn and river as well!) the value of the suited ace goes up. Way up. In fact, your overall expectation with a suited ace may be greater than when you have pocket aces because you will almost always play the hand all the way through with aces but you can easily dump a suited ace on the flop if it is not favorable.

Poker Game Betting – Why Flushes Are Better Than Straights

A flush draw, especially (especially!) an ace high flush draw is superior to a straight draw for two main reasons. First there is one more out for a flush draw (9 completing flush cards for a four-flush vs. 8 completing straight cards for an open ended straight).

Second, and more importantly, a completed straight draw can be destroyed on the turn or river by "counterfeiting" Counterfeiting is when one of the cards in your hand which completes the straight comes on the board.

Poker Game Betting – Why Straights Are Better Than Flushes

Since we just said flushes are better than straights this may come as a bit of a surprise to you. Well, nut flushes are better than straights any day. You should feel much more comfortable drawing for a third spade on the board when you hold a suited ace (of spades) than you should for any kind of straight draw by itself.

As we pointed out before, nut straights can be compromised with more cards to come, but nut flushes cannot.

On the other hand you can flop (or draw to) the nut straight with any connector (two consecutive cards like 6 and 7) or even any one or two gap combination (like 6 and 8 or 6 and 9).

Another aspect of straights is that they can be difficult to see on the board and you will get much more action on a board of 8 5 7 rainbow than you will on a board that contains three cards of the same suit.

For these reasons you should always play a straight fast when you get it.

Poker Game Betting – A Good Reason To Continue

First the obvious cases. If you are playing an Ace with a high kicker then you most want to see your kicker on the flop and next the ace itself. In either of these situations you usually want to make it very painful for people to draw since there is a very good chance you have the best hand right now. This is often a good chance to use our friend the check-raise if you are in early position. If you are in later position definitely go for a raise and possibly a re-raise (with AK or AKs) and then bet out the turn if it is checked to you.

If you flop second or third pair with an overcard to the flop (especially an ace) you can continue if the betting is not heavy.

If you flop a four flush or an open-ended straight you can continue if the pot odds justify it, especially if you are drawing to the nuts.

If you flop a gutshot straight and the pot odds justify it and you are drawing to the nuts then continue.

Betting before the flop

You are going to be folding a lot before the flop a lot. Even with the starting hand suggestions here (which in many ways are not appropriate for a higher limit game) you will be playing very few hands, especially in early position.

This is going to be very difficult.

Next to picking a table where most of the people are worse poker players than you, the most effective thing you can do is play well before the flop. Most of your opponents will not play well here. They will see the flop with cards that almost never win (you will see 7 2 in a showdown at one point or another during a game).

This pre-flop play is fairly easy to describe, and technically easy to do, but mentally it is very very difficult. It takes practice and it takes discipline and it takes patience.

Most poker books you read will suggest some rules for playing before the flop, usually with very good advice about starting cards and how to handle position, but then they move forward to whatever the next chapter is and you are already set up to fail because you just flat out won't be following those instructions.

Think About Your Starting Hands

Positionally the general rule is that you want to be as close to the last person to act as possible. The closer you are to that sweet spot (in Hold 'em the dealer button) the more information you will gain on every betting round before you have to act.

This information allows you to play your hand more effectively to maximize the amount you can win (or often more importantly minimize the amount you lose). The free card, for example, hinges upon you being in late position.

So, it may be helpful if your general plan is not to play any hands in early position, basically you are waiting to get within one or two of the dealer button to put your money into the game all the time.

If you make this your mantra then you will find yourself doing what is almost correct because we all know when you get AA under the gun you are going to play it regardless of what your general plan was (as you should) but when you get KT offsuit you'll easily throw it away because you aren't playing cards until you get close to the dealer button.

Another useful thing is to have something to fill time with between hands.

Betting in Poker - Betting at the turn

The turn is the place where your AKs is beaten by K2 offsuit. Remember that.

The turn is a great place to pump it up or get out of dodge. If you felt you had the best hand on the flop and check raised it there you have a choice. Usually you should bet out the turn but sometimes, if you hand was further improved and if that improvement likely improved one of your opponents as well, you can check and raise again on the turn.

You might think that after checking and raising on the flop that no one would fall for it again. Think again.

Another tactic if you have an especially strong hand on the flop is to just go with the flow of betting and then check-raise on the turn. Because the bet is double-sized on the turn you can get some extra money in the pot.

You can often check and raise again because any Ace out there is going to bet into you and you want to make any J or Q that is contemplating continuing their gutshot draw to be making a mathematical mistake.

Be careful if you are re-raised in this spot (top two pair vs. a possible straight). Don't throw your hand away but call and then check and call on the river (unless YOU improve to kings or aces full in which case use your best judgment--usually bet out on the river unless you are SURE your opponent will bet).

Getting People Out vs. Getting Money In

The way you bet your hand on the turn (coupled with your position) will influence whether people with marginal hands will stay in or dump their hands. You should know whether you want to knock out the marginal hands or keep them in before you check or bet on the turn.

This influence is weaker in a typical loose low limit game. If you've ever driven a rental U-Haul truck you know the difference between steering one of them vs. steering a "normal" car. Low Limit Hold 'em is your U-Haul truck when it comes getting people out of the pot. Often the best you can do is influence the amount of money that goes into the pot, and most times you can't influence even that by more than a bet or two per player at the showdown.

Of course if you are going to fold then your play is much easier, but be considerate of the rest of the table don't muck your cards out of turn.

When you bet out on the turn your opponents will often react cautiously especially if the turn card is a "scare card"--usually one that allows for a straight, flush, or a card which pairs the board.

The second option (check and call) is viable, but should you make your flush on the river and bet out you may not get many callers. The advantage here is lower variance since you can easily dump your hand on the river if a club, ace, or five does not hit and if there are multiple callers.

If you check and raise in early position here you will cause weaker hands (8, 2 or 5 with weak kickers or gutshot straight draws) to fold their hands instead of calling two big bets. This is not advisable here because you may or may not have the best hand right now but chances are you do not. Anyone who calls your check raise here probably has you beat.

Betting the turn on this hand is probably the best choice because people will be cautious about re-raising you (unless they have a bigger hand than a pair of tens), on the other hand many low limit players will call your bet with as little as a gutshot straight draw.

If you make a flush on the river and bet out again you stand a good chance of being raised by anyone else who made their flush as well (in addition to anyone who made their gutshot straight draw)