How to Bet in Poker Tournaments: A Guide to Sizing Your Bets
Not knowing how to size your bets properly is one of the most atrocious mistakes you can ever make in a poker tournament. Make your opponents think that you don't know how to bet in a poker tournament, and they will (figuratively speaking, I hope) eat you alive.
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Place a wrong bet and you will suddenly turn yourself into the easiest target at the table. That's because sizing your bets in the correct way is a crucial element of building a solid image at the table.
If you are planning to head to a casino to play your first poker event against total strangers, and you are not sure about how to size your bets either before or after the flop, have a look at this quick guide that we have prepared for you.
How to Bet in Poker Tournaments: Preflop
The 2x Bet. A 2x open preflop or a min-raise is popular among top pros for a variety of reasons, but opening for the minimum can invite problems, too, including
- it does not put that many chips in the pot for you to win when you flop a good hand;
- it leaves you liable to being reraised.
Min-raising preflop with marginal hands that you can't call a three-bet with is a major leak in my game, which is why I tend to stick with larger opens.
The 3x Bet. This used to be the standard opening raise size, and in fact still frequently works well during the early stages of a tournament. Often during the first few levels your stack is so large in relation to the blinds in play that it really isn't worth opening for any less.
It sometimes seems attractive to play looser in the opening stages, and to call lots of bets preflop in the hope of building a monster pot to win at the river, but playing tight and opening a decent range with at least a 3x raise guarantees that you aren't ignoring the early blind levels. As the tournament progresses, however, and you gravitate towards the 25-35 big blind level, it may not be possible to open every hand with a 3x raise, which is why poker players tend to shift down a gear.
The 2.2x-2.5x Bets. If you are trying to learn how to bet in poker like pros do in the most prestigious poker series, have a look at this. Normally these opens are between 2.2x and 2.5x, although this sizing usually depends on the player.
Towards the middle to late stages of tournaments, there will be all sorts of stack sizes seated at your table — the big stack who has enough chips to last well into the next level; the short stack looking for a double-up to get back into the game; and those in the middle who are comfortable, at least for now.
Read also: When the Minimum Raise is Maximally Wrong
The shorter stacks (those who aren't moving all-in preflop) don't have enough chips to open for 3x and fold, but they may still want to open with a raise. Similarly, larger stacks want to make it appealing for opponents to call an open without scaring them off. This bet-sizing of between 2.2 and 2.5 times the big blind is perfect for both stack sizes.
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Play NowHow to Bet in Poker Tournaments: Postflop
A poker hand often falls into certain patterns, the steps from the deal to the showdown together often appearing like a familiar series poker presents time and time again. But don't be fooled — in fact, when it comes to postflop play there are an infinite number of bet sizes for you to choose from. I've tried to stick to the three main sizings, with examples for each of them.
Small bets (~1/4 pot). The small postflop bet invites the same problems min-raises before the flop do — you simply don't put enough money into the pot to give yourself a chance to fold out opponents. But that doesn't mean there aren't times to use small postflop bets effectively.
Against certain players who you are aiming to check-raise, providing they are aggressive enough and/or view a small bet as weak, you could do so to induce a slightly bigger raise out of your opponent.
Example:
It is the middle stage of a multi-table tournament. You are in the small blind on an average sized stack and a player in early position opens for 2.5x. You look down at and you elect to call. A tight-aggresive player in the big blind who has been playing a lot of hands aggressively three-bets. The initial raiser gets out of the way and you call.
The flop is . You've flopped the nuts. You know your opponent's three-betting range is going to include a lot of overpairs to the board, other pocket pairs, and high Broadway cards. Therefore, instead of donk-betting or check-raising, put out a small bet of around 20% of the pot.
If your poker brain was correct, the aggressive player should raise and you can move on with the hand from there.
Against aggressive players who like to continuation bet and raise players out of pots, try and get the maximum out of them when you flop strong-to-nutted hands like this one. Be careful of your own table image, however. If you appear to be a competent player, a small bet such as this could appear suspicious to your opponent.
Medium bets (~1/2 pot to 3/4 pot). I like to refer to this bet-sizing as the Goldilocks sizing — not too big, not too small, jusssst right. Your holdings and the board texture will dictate exactly how strongly you want to bet, but a bet of this sizing should do enough to dissuade drawing hands from calling given they are not getting the right pot odds, and also reap rewards from weaker hands who would still call.
Example:
This advice about bet sizing applies whether you are playing in some of the biggest series, games, tournaments, or other formats, although you always want to be aware the exact situation you are in when making decisions about how much to bet.
Let's say it is the early stages of a tournament and everyone still has around the starting stack. A player opens from early position and you look down at on the button. Because you have such a large chip stack relative to the blinds at this early stage you decide to call.
The flop comes and your opponent checks. You continuation bet for around half the pot and your opponent calls. The is dealt on the turn and again your opponent checks. Again, you slide out a half-pot sized bet and your opponent calls once more.
The river is the and your opponent checks for a third time. At this stage, you are behind both and , but surely would four-bet preflop. A straight is possible as well, although that would require your opponent raising preflop from early position with either or , also unlikely.
You bet 2/3 pot, trying to get a call from top pair. Your opponent obliges, calling and turning over for top pair, and you win with your set.
Overbets (pot-sized bets or larger). It can often be profitable to bet the pot or even more than the pot, especially on turns and rivers. However, be warned that most players know that an overbet is extremely polarizing, suggesting you either have the nuts or nothing.
Use this to your advantage against players you have identified as weak and who perhaps tend towards the cautious side of things when facing a decision for a large quantity of their chips.
Example:
A weaker player opens from the button and you call in the big blind with in the big blind. The flop comes . You check and your opponent continuation bets for slightly less than half-pot. You decide to call. Your opponent's range includes , club flush draws, and perhaps some smaller pocket pairs.
The turn is the and it goes check-check. The river then brings the . At this point, you could slide out a bet slightly over the size of the pot. The weaker player goes into the tank for a while before calling with .
Facing a bet of this sizing, a weaker player is going to know that it is immensely polarising, and might even find a call like this with some hands, or equally try and hero call with ace-high.
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Table Of Contents
Other Poker Game’s Rules:
How to Play Poker for Beginners: Basics and Poker Rules
Before you learn how do you play poker, you need to figure out what variant of the game you want to get busy with.
When most people say they want to know 'how to play regular poker,' they imply that they want to learn the basics of Texas Hold'em.
Texas Hold'em is (by far) the most popular poker game out there and it's the one you find at every online poker site.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. With so many poker variants to play online and offline, the only proper guide on how to play poker for dummies is the one that get you access to all the best games out there.
Not just to the most famous one.
Many poker rules are consistent from game to game, although among the dozens of variants such as Texas hold'em, Omaha, and seven-card stud you will find many differences.
Let's have a quick look at the poker rules of the most played poker games online:
How to Play Texas Hold'Em
| Game | Texas Hold'em |
| How Many Players | 2-10 |
| Poker Rules | How to play Texas holdem |
| Where to Play | Top poker sites |
Also called the 'Cadillac of Poker,' Texas hold'em is the game you are going to play over and over again.
This is the most popular poker game online and it is also the one you are most likely to play with our friends in your next home game.
Whether you play it in the form of a tournament or as a ring-game, the basic rules and the hand rankings don't change.
How to Play Omaha Poker
| Game | Omaha Poker |
| How Many Players | 2-10 |
| Poker Rules | How to play Omaha |
| Where to Play | Top poker sites |
The second-most popular poker variant. Omaha poker finds its roots in the game of Texas Hold'em, although the rules of the two games are slightly different from each other.
Many players find learning how to play poker Omaha to be the natural step to take after they have successfully mastered the basics of Texas Hold'em.
In the poker rules page dedicated to the game you find the perfect beginner's guide to move your first steps in the world of Omaha.
How to Play Seven-Card Stud
| Game | Seven-Card Stud |
| How Many Players | 2-8 |
| Poker Rules | How to play 7-card Stud |
| Where to Play | Top poker sites |
Before Texas hold'em became king, anyone who wanted to to learn the basic poker rules and how to play poker had to go through the game of seven-card stud.
As the name suggests, this is a variant of stud poker. 7-card stud is also the 'S' game in the H.O.R.S.E. poker — but if you are still learning how to play poker, it's probably too early for you to jump on that.
Other Poker Rules to Learn
If you want to go deeper and you want to learn how to play even more poker games, PokerNews is the right site for you.
With these guides you learn how to play poker and enjoy all the different variants out there.
They cover all the official poker rules, the basic strategy tips, and the hand rankings — because you need to know how to calculate points, if you want to win at poker.
Start from them, and then follow the suggested reading on each page to move from beginner to pro.
Common Traits of Most Poker Rules
The Value of Poker Hands
One element used in most poker variants is the system of hand rankings.
The highest ranked hand is a Royal Flush (five cards of the same suit, ranked ace through ten), followed by a Straight Flush (five cards of the same suit of consecutive ranks).
The third-best combination is the Four-of-a-kind, which is then followed by the Full House (three of a kind plus one pair), the Flush, the Straight, the Three-of-a-kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card or no pair.
When a hand reaches the showdown, the player with the highest-ranked hand wins the pot.
That's true of Texas hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, seven-card stud, and five-card draw.
Of course, in 'lowball' games like razz or deuce-to-seven triple draw, the hand rankings are turned upside down and the 'worst' hand according to traditional hand rankings is the winning one.
Poker Hands Ranking
- Royal Flush10JQKA
- Straight
Flush56789 - Four Of
A Kind3333K - Full HouseJJJKK
- Flush2459K
- StraightA2345
- Three Of
A Kind45777 - Two Pair499KK
- One Pair3QK1010
- High Card248QK
Suggested Readings
- Poker Hands Chart: The official classification of all poker hands with a free pdf to download and print.
- What Beats What in Poker: the perfect starting guide to learn how to count points in poker and discover the real value of each hand.
Blinds and Ante Bets
Games like hold'em and Omaha feature small and big blinds, so called because they are 'blind' bets players have to make before they are dealt any cards.
Meanwhile stud games usually use 'antes', which also involve players putting chips in the middle before the hand begins.
From there players bet more as the hand progresses, thereby creating larger pots.
Limit vs. No Limit Poker Games
Some games are played with no-limit betting, which means players can bet as much as they like at any point in the hand, including going 'all in.'
Pot-limit betting means that the current size of the pot creates an upper limit on how much a player can bet.
Games that are played with fixed-limit betting have predetermined amounts from which players cannot vary when they make their bets and raises.
The Action
There are other terms that tend to be used in all different poker games, including many having to do with the actions you perform when playing.
When the action in on you, you can:
- Check: Decline to bet
- Fold: Withdraw from the hand, if someone else has bet already
- Bet: Place a wager on the table
- Raise: Add more chips by matching your opponent's bet and putting in a greater amount.
- Call: Match the bet of your opponents to stay in the hand and continue to play.
All of those terms are an important step in your journey to learn how to play poker since they tend to come up in all poker variants.
The Betting Rounds
In games with community cards like hold'em and Omaha (also sometimes called 'flop games'), the betting rounds are referred to as:
- Preflop: The bets made before any community cards are dealt
- Flop: The bets made after the first three community cards are dealt)
- Turn: The bets made after the fourth community card
- River The bets made after the fifth and last community card.
Suggested Readings
- How to bet in poker: a beginner's guide to betting in Texas hold'em.
- Texas hold'em betting tips: This short article gives you some actionable tips to learn how to play poker with your stack of chips.
The Table Stakes
One other poker rule common to just about every variant of the you'll play – whether you are playing live poker or online poker – is one called 'table stakes.'
Table stakes means that once a hand begins, you can only bet whatever amount you had on the table to begin the hand and are not allowed to add anything more during the hand as it plays out.
Learn To Play Poker Beginner
If you only have $100 on the table to begin a hand, you can't pull out your wallet and add more halfway through the hand – you can only play out the hand with whatever you had to start.
Practice Poker Online for Free
Now that you know everything about the basic poker rules and you have all the beginner guides you need to master each game, it's time to look for the best places to practice for free.
Don't start to play poker for real money right away. Try out the games for free first. That's the only way to discover if you have really learned how to play poker.
Looking for a site to practice online poker for free?
Don't miss the updated list of the best free poker sites in 2020!
There are countless options to give the game a test run, but the best way is to try out the real deal.
Sign up for a poker account with one of the big online poker rooms and give the freerolls a try.
That way, you can practice poker online without any risk; you're not wagering any money. And if you want to try out cash games instead of tournaments, all major poker sites online have so-called play money tables.
Learn To Play Poker Like A Pro
That way you can practice the game, learn the rules, and figure out how the software works, readying yourself for the big stage.
Learn To Play Poker Like A Pro
Register a free gaming account and test your poker knowledge in the next freeroll!