In our latest poker strategy article, poker coach John “WhatA298” explains bet sizing in poker tournaments, so that you know when to bet small, and when to use a larger sizing.
Choosing which betsize to use, is a very important skill, in all forms of poker.
When to bet small in poker tournaments?
A small sizing, is generally considered to be, between 10% and 33% of the potsize.
This sizing is so small, in relation to the pot, that it can rarely be a bad bet, and if you don’t know what size to use, a small size will usually be a good option.
That said, there are board textures which make significant sense to bet small on.
Generally, dry boards (not many hands have hit) or static board textures (not many hands are likely to improve over future streets).
Here are a few examples:
3-of-a-kind boards
Paired boards
High Card Rainbow Boards
Monotone Boards
Disconnected Rainbow Boards
All of these boards are hard to hit, and therefore a small bluff is likely to be very profitable.
When holding a weak-made hand, the only way to get value on these boards is to bet small, and you are unlikely to get played back at too heavily, due to the difficulty of hitting the board.
With a strong hand, betting small is often the only way to get any value on these types of boards.
Therefore, a small sizing makes some sense with all your possible holdings.
As well as these board textures, small sizes should be favoured, in the following situations:
- When SPR is lower
- 3bet/4bet pots and squeezed pots
- In ICM situations, such as the bubble or the final table
- When In Position
Exploitatively, it makes sense to use the small sizing more readily with your weaker holdings (bluffs and weak-made hands), as opponents rarely exploit this, and in a vacuum, these hands prefer the smaller sizing.
Your bluffs get a cheap price, and you keep your opponents’ range wide for future streets, which allows future street bluffing opportunities.
Your weak-made hands get a little bit of value, along with some protection and increased ease of playability.
When to use a larger sizing in poker tournaments?
Larger sizings are more appropriate on wet, dynamic textures, such as:
Two-tone Connected Boards
High Boards
Connected Boards
On all these board textures, you can expect many calls and raises, especially when you bet small.
Your value hands are vulnerable to being outdrawn on, and you can get a lot of value on the flop, so they prefer larger sizings.
Your mid-strength made hands, will often need to check, so as to not bloat the pot too much.
Your bluffs will need to bet a large sizing, as on these textures, pressure needs to be applied to your opponents’ weak, but not total air hands.
Additionally, you should look to use larger sizings, when out of position (to nullify the positional advantage), and when stacks are deeper (to apply pressure and gain requisite value from your value hands).
Exploitatively, it makes sense to use the larger size more readily with your value hands.
Many opponents will have ranges which are fairly inelastic to betsize, and therefore, you may as well get as much value as you possibly can.
In the situation above, for example, villain’s continuing range will be fairly similar whether you bet big or small.
Villian will elect to continue with any pair, any flushdraw, or any gutshot, whether you bet small or large. If you bet small, there are not many more hands which will continue (perhaps overcards with a backdoor flushdraw, but not much else).
Therefore, you may as well bet bigger, get more value right here on the flop, and also, this begins to build the pot exponentially. Your turn size will be bigger, as will your river size.
This can end up being a spot where you stack your opponent for 60BB, rather than simply win 30-40BB.
Betsizing in poker tournaments Conclusion
Whether to bet big or small, is just as important, if not more so, as whether to call or raise, or bet or check.
Consider all the factors in this article, and master this under-utilised tool in your arsenal.
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