Bet Sizing: Understand Bet Sizes in Poker Games

If you want to win at poker, understanding how bet sizing influences your bottom line is critical. Bet sizing in poker refers to the amount of chips you choose to put into the pot every time you are making a bet or a raise. To become a crusher at the tables, you need to be able to choose the correct bet every time!

We explore the most popular bet sizing strategies applied by the pros and the best bet sizes you can use in different scenarios before and after the flop. 

What Is Bet Sizing in Poker?

Bet sizing is a massive but often overlooked aspect of general poker strategy. Knowing how to size up your bets in different situations can make a significant difference in your bottom line. While learning basic poker strategy is an essential first step in becoming a serious poker player, mastering the art of bet sizing is one of the things that will take you to the next level. 

In this article, we are going to explore how bet sizing impacts the outcome of poker hands, what sizes work well in what situations, and how you can manipulate bet sizing in poker to get your preferred results. 

How to Choose the Correct Bet Sizing

The size of your bet greatly impacts the way your opponents react to it, which means different bets produce different outcomes. Firing out a small 25% pot bet often results in your opponent continuing with nearly their entire range, while a massive 2x pot overbet will often push out all but the best hands from their range. 

In order to choose the correct bet size in a particular moment, you should consider your position, preflop action, board texture, your and your opponent’s perceived ranges, stack depth, opponent’s tendencies, and much more. 

There is no single answer that fits all bet sizing questions. On each betting street, you will have to examine all the key variables before choosing a bet size to go with. 

Should Bet Sizing Be Consistent or Unpredictable?

Talking about the consistency of your bet sizes, it is worth to immediately note the difference between a GTO versus exploitative approach to poker strategy. GTO poker strategy recommends more standardized and balanced bet sizes. Exploitative poker players, on the other hand, often change their bet sizes drastically to exploit their opponents’ tendencies. 

Remaining balanced by betting the same size with a variety of value and bluffing hands in a particular spot gives you the advantage of remaining unexploitable. However, it also takes away your opportunity to exploit your opponents. 

As a general rule of thumb, you should aim for more consistent bet sizing against stronger players and more exploitative and adaptive bet sizes against weaker opponents who are not thinking about your range too deeply. 

How Board Texture Affects Bet Sizing

The most important thing you should consider when choosing a bet size is the board texture. More than any other element, board texture determines whether you should bet small, medium, large, or massive. 

For the most part, dry and static boards like A♦4♠4♥ or K♠7♣2◆ call for smaller bets, while dynamic boards like J♣T♣4♥ or A♦8♦7♥ call for bigger bets. At the same time, the dryer boards allow you to bet your entire hand range, while dynamic ones require a polarized approach, where you bet your best hands combined with bluffs, while checking a big part of your range. 

Board texture continues to be important on later streets as well. The way the board develops either allows you to apply maximum pressure and represent the nuts or even forces you to shut down your betting altogether and check instead. 

How Your Position Affects Bet Sizing

One of the things to consider when choosing a bet size is your position relative to your opponents. Generally speaking, being out of position is a significant disadvantage, which is why bigger bets and raises are often preferred, as they give you more of a chance to win the pot uncontested. 

For example, imagine playing in a $1/2 cash game with an effective stack of $500. An early position player raises to $7, and you have A♥K♦ on the dealer button. The standard raise size you might go for in this spot is about $20, as you have position and don’t mind your opponent continuing. However, if you have the same hand in the small blind, you may want to raise as much as $30, as there is a greater advantage to winning the hand preflop. 

Similar concepts hold true across the board, as larger bets from out of position are often preferred, while smaller bets tend to work very well in position. 

How Your Opponents Affect Bet Sizing

Another thing to consider when choosing your bet sizing is the opponents you are facing. While this element applies less to GTO poker, player tendencies are very important inan exploitative approach to the game. 

For example, imagine finding yourself in position on the flop of K♥K♦4♣ after having 3-bet the flop. Poker solver software would recommend betting small against any opponent with your entire range. However, the actual opponent you are facing may be quite relevant. 

Imagine your opponent is a player you know to be very sticky and rarely fold on flops, especially on dry boards like this one. Against this player, you can easily size up with your strong hands and even some bluffs, expecting to get called on the flop but win it often on the turn or river. 

On the other hand, if your opponent is going to be folding even hands like AT in this spot to any bet, which many nits will, firing a small continuation bet will work amazingly well. 

Poker Bet Sizing Theory and Formulas

Most poker players choose their bet sizes quite randomly instead of following concise bet sizing theory. Instead of just betting any number that comes to your mind, theory dictates you should size your bets based on board texture, position, pot size, effective stack size, and other relevant factors. 

A solid theory to follow when choosing your bet sizing has to do with geometric bet sizing. Geometric bet sizing refers to betting an equal percentage of the pot on every street in order to put all the money into the pot by the river. 

For example, if you imagine playing in a $100 pot with $1,300 behind, holding the nuts, you would love to put all the money into the pot on the flop. However, betting $1,300 into a $100 pot will rarely get you paid. 

By betting $100 into the $100 pot, you will get a call more often. Betting $300 into the $300 pot on the turn and $900 into the $900 pot on the river will result in a lot more action on every street. You will either manage to get all three calls or at least get paid on the flop and the turn for $400 in total. 

While geometric bet sizing is not the perfect fit for every scenario, it is a good approach to sizing up your bets in many situations. 

Common Bet Sizes You’ll See in Poker Games

While the game of No Limit Texas Hold’em technically allows players to bet any portion of their stack at any point, players tend to make relatively standardized bets. You will rarely see someone push 100 big blinds into a 5 big blind pot or bet 1 big blind into a 20 big blind pot. 

Instead, here are some of the common bet sizes you will see at the poker tables:

• Min Bet: A small bet of just one big blind. This bet is usually seen on flops in single raised pots or limped pots, where one of the players is simply probing the waters and trying to win the pot cheaply. 
• Third-Pot Bet: A common bet sizing for flop c-bets in position, a 33% bet has become quite standardized in modern games. This bet works well on dry boards and can often take the pot down without a big investment, and can be made with your entire range. 
• Half Pot Bet: While this bet size is often used in games, smaller or bigger bets are usually recommended by the poker solvers. 
• Three-Quarters Bet: A very effective large bet size, this bet is typically made on wet board textures with a lot of draws, or on later betting streets, either for value or as a bluff. 
• Overbet: Often used by professional poker players, an overbet is made with a polarized hand range made up of the best value hands and complete bluffs. 

Guide to Preflop Bet Sizing

Your preflop decisions are essential to your overall poker strategy. The preflop betting round is often overlooked by amateur players but is actually the most important of all rounds. This betting street defines your hand range and sets up the rest of the hand. 

Choosing the right bet sizes before the flop and knowing how to manipulate your opponents with different sizing can lead to a huge increase in your overall win rate. 

Fundamental Preflop Bet Sizing Strategy

Getting your raise sizes correct before the flop is very important. Fortunately, this part of the puzzle is also quite easy to learn, as using standardized bet sizes before the flop is usually optimal. For example, if you are playing in a deep-stacked cash game, you can’t go wrong by raising to 3x the big blind every time you are the first player into the pot. 

Things become a little bit more complicated when the stacks get shallower, there are limpers in front of you, or another player raises before you. At shallower stacks, a smaller standard raise size is recommended, while adding at least one big blind to your raise size for every limper in the pot is recommended. 

Facing a raise in front of you, you will want to size your 3-bet based on position. When 3-betting in position, choosing a 3x raise size is usually good. Out of position, however, you will want to size the raise up in order to somewhat negate the positional disadvantage. 

Using Preflop Bet Sizing to Isolate Players

The isolation raise is one of the most common moves in a professional poker player’s arsenal. The move is designed to keep weak players who limped into the pot in, while forcing other players to fold their cards. 

For example, imagine playing in a $2/5 game with a $500 stack. A weak player in an early position limps into the pot, and you have a strong hand behind them. You would normally be raising to $15 in this spot, but doing so in this situation may allow other players to join the action in pursuit of the weak limper or even 3-bet you somewhat lightly. Going for a raise of $20, $25, or even bigger is a much better decision. 

How big you raise when isolating limpers should depend heavily on player tendencies. If you know the limper to be one to always call any raise after they limp, you can go particularly big with your strongest hands and still expect to get action. 

Common Preflop Sizing Mistakes to Avoid

The bet sizes you should be using preflop are quite standardized, and you should not deviate from them too much. Some common mistakes players make include:

• Limping Into Pots: Never limp if you are the first to put money into the pot. Come in with a raise and make your life easier. 
• Making Iso Raises Too Small: If another player has limped into the pot, always increase your raise size to ensure you are isolating him and not inviting the whole table in. 
• Raising Big with Strong Hands: Use standard bet sizes across the board. Don’t raise big just because you have AA or min-raise just because you have 87 suited. 
• Not Accounting for Stack Depth: As stacks get shallower, your preflop raise sizes should go down. At deeper stacks, raise bigger and build the pot before the flop. 
• Positional Awareness: When choosing a preflop raise size, always be aware of your position. Make bigger raises from OOP, so as to negate the positional disadvantage you find yourself in. 

Guide to Postflop Bet Sizing Strategy

Unlike preflop bet sizing, which is often standardized and simple, postflop bet sizing can become a lot more complicated. With three betting streets and various possible situations, choosing the right bet size after the flop is a bit of a science. 

That said, we have prepared some useful tips for you that will help you standardize your postflop bet sizes and adjust well to the different variables that come into play. 

The Continuation Bet Sizing

The first bet that comes up after the flop is the continuation bet, also known as the c-bet. If you play aggressively preflop, which you should, you will often be put into spots where you want to c-bet the flop. 

Choosing the right c-bet size comes down to board texture and your position. On dry and uncoordinated boards, you should be aiming to c-bet the majority of your preflop raising range with for a relatively small bet size. A bet of 33% can work wonders on boards like K55 or J52. 

On more coordinated and draw-heavy boards, like J♠T♠5♣ or 8♣6♣4♦, bigger bet sizes usually work best. This has to do with the portion of your opponent’s range that will continue on such a board, which is typically wider than on a dry board. You can also adjust your bet sizes if you have particular reads on your opponents, but use these c-bet sizes as your standard strategy. 

Adjusting Postflop Bet Sizes for Opponents

While a GTO poker strategy can work well if applied correctly, an exploitative approach to bet sizing usually shows better results, especially against weaker opponents. In lower-stakes games, you can adjust your postflop bet sizes and achieve a lot by making bets that specifically target particular parts of your opponent’s range. 

For example, we talked about dry board textures and how a small c-bet is preferred on them. However, if your opponent is a maniac who rarely folds to flop bets and often raises them, you can go for a bigger bet with your strong hands while checking the weaker portion of your range instead. 

In another example, imagine reaching the river against a capped range that doesn’t contain many hands stronger than one pair. As the OOP player, you may want to fire a small river bet, strictly aiming for your opponent’s showdown value hands, which may elect to call a small bet but will fold to a larger bet every single time. 

Stack-to-Pot Ratio Explained

Stack-to-pot ratio is a very important concept to understand for bet sizing in poker. Like the name says, stack-to-pot ratio refers to the ratio of your stack (or the effective stack) to the pot size. For example, if you have $500 in your stack and there is $100 in the pot, the stack-to-pot ratio is 5/1.

When sizing your postflop bets, it is very important to be fully aware of this ratio and to make bets in accordance with it. For example, if the stack-to-pot ratio is particularly small, such as 2/1 or 1/1, you can go for smaller bets on the flop with your value hands, expecting to easily put the money into the pot on the turn. 

On the other hand, when the stack-to-pot ratio is particularly big, you may want to opt for overbets on the flop and turn, looking to make that final big bet on the river to either get called or force your opponent to fold all but their very best hands. 

Bet Sizing on the River

The river is one of the most sensitive betting streets in poker, as many of the biggest bets in the game are made on the river. As such, the way you size your bets on the river can make all the difference in your final results. 

Your river bet sizing is greatly affected by the range you put your opponent on. With every betting street, you have a chance to narrow down your opponent’s range. By the river, you should have a pretty good idea of the hands still left in your opponent’s range. 

• Against ranges of very strong hands and missed draws: You can go with a reasonably small bet on the river, expecting to get a fold from the missed draws and get a call from the best hands regardless of your bet size. 
• Against wider ranges with many different types of hands: You can go with a bigger bet, expecting to fold out all the missed draws and weak made hands while only getting called by the best hands in your opponent’s range. 
• Against ranges that don’t contain any top hands: ou can choose an overbet, looking to fold out your opponent’s entire range and win the pot 100% of the time!

Common Postflop Bet Sizing Mistakes to Avoid

Postflop bet sizing allows for quite a bit of creativity, with different bet sizes often achieving different positive results in the same situation. However, there are some mistakes you should avoid making with your postflop bet sizes, such as:

• Betting Too Small on Dynamic Boards: On dynamic boards, you should always bet big or check. Small bets achieve very little, don’t allow you to define your opponent’s range, and don’t charge your opponents to draw. 
• Not Betting for Value on the River: The river is the one street where you should be looking for value with your strong hands. Don’t be afraid of monsters, and be willing to look for value with hands that aren’t the nuts. 
• Overbetting Too Often: An overbet can be a useful weapon in your arsenal. Yet, if you use it too often, players will start to heavily exploit you and trap you with their strong hands. 

Tournament vs. Cash Game Bet Sizing

When playing in poker tournaments, your bet sizes should be significantly different to those you make in cash games. This is mostly a function of the shallower stack sizes, which impact the amount of chips you need to put into pots to achieve favorable results. 

When choosing your tournament bet sizing, you can start out with small preflop raises and 3-bets, as they are standardized and work pretty well against most opponents. A 2x or 2.25x raise before the flop will work in a tournament and often allow you to steal the blinds and antes. After the flop, smaller bet sizes are often preferable as well, as they allow you to win the money in the middle without risking too much of your finite stack. 

In cash games, bigger bet sizes typically do better than smaller ones. From big raises and 3-bets before the flop, to bigger flop, turn, and river bets, you can apply maximum pressure at the cash game table. With stacks often reaching over 200 big blinds, big bets make sense, as they force players to make difficult decisions and choose the wrong ones quite often. 

Conclusion

Learning the basics of poker bet sizing is one of the first steps to becoming a great poker player. The only real way to completely master bet sizing is to play yourself but keep our tips and general strategies in mind during your next session. 

Check out our guide to advanced poker strategy for even more tips on proper bet sizing, as well as other strategic elements that will take your poker game to the next level.