Betting Strategy Poker Texas Holdem

ShareTweetSharePin0 SharesTexas Holdem is one of the most popular gambling games worldwide. Mastering this poker game is not out of your reach with our best Texas Hold’em poker tips. With millions of players worldwide, Texas hold’em, or Hold’em, is undoubtedly one of the most popular poker games. The rules are pretty simple to master. Play Fewer Hands And Play Them Aggressively. There is a limit on how many starting hands you.

Welcome to our Texas Holdem guide.

The idea behind this guide is to walk you through the basic rules and strategies to Texas Holdem. While a lot of sites have articles written on the same topics, they’re not as easy to understand as ours. They’re not packaged neatly into a handy guide like ours, either, leaving you to figure out what you should read and in what order.

So if you want to pick up the game of Texas Holdem quickly, and blend into any table you sit down at, this is the guide for you.

Our Holdem guide will be divided into 4 parts. We’ll start with rules and end with basic strategies. In the first part of our guide, I’m going to explain the rules of Texas Holdem, what (hands) beats what, betting formats and betting basics for beginners. Everything you need to know to play your first game of Texas Holdem.

Texas Holdem Guide » Part 2 » Part 3 » Part 4

Good luck and enjoy!

Texas Holdem Rules

Your first task is to learn the rules of Texas Holdem. The game appears to be complicated because there are 4 rounds, each with a new card and opportunity to bet.

But trust me, it’s not as complicated as you may think. I’m going to walk through a complete hand now. I’m sure you’ll pick it up quickly.

Note: All my examples will use 5/10 blinds.

Pre Flop

Pre flop is the first stage of a Texas Holdem hand. This is when the cards are dealt, players bet and decide whether or not they want to be involved in the hand.

The first thing that will happen is the blinds will be posted. The blinds are essentially antes that create dead money and encourage players to play, as opposed to sitting around waiting for good hand.

There are two blinds that need to be posted; the small blind and the big blind. The small blind is the first player to the left of the dealer button. This player will post $5. The player to his left (and two seats to the left of the dealer button) is the big blind. This player posts $10.

That’s it. The blinds will change each hand, as the dealer button moves around the table.

After the blinds have been posted, the dealer will give each player 2 cards, one at a time, starting with the small blind and moving clockwise around the table. Each players’ “hole cards” are dealt faced down.

After the cards have been dealt the first betting round will begin. The betting action starts with the player to the immediate left of the big blind, also known as the player under-the-gun or UTG. This player has the option to call the big blind, raise or fold.

Once the UTG player has acted, the action will continue clockwise around the table until each player has acted. Each player will have the option to call, raise or fold. The blinds will be the last players to act in an un-raised pot. The small blind will have the option to pay the difference between the small and big blind or “complete,” and the big blind can check his option. Both players can raise, too, if they choose.

The pre flop action will end once all the players but one have folded, or two or more players have completed the betting round and are ready to see the flop.

The Flop

The flop is the first community round.

The first thing that will happen is the dealer will place 3 community cards in the middle of the table (face up). All players can use these 3 cards to make the best 5-card poker hand.

After the flop has been dealt, another betting round will start. On the flop (and all subsequent rounds) the betting action will start with the first remaining player to the left of the dealer button and move around the table clockwise.

The betting options include check, bet, raise or fold. This depends on the action that took place before each player acts. If you’re not familiar with these betting options, I cover them in more detail below.

The betting round ends the same as pre flop. Either all but one player folds, or two or more players have ended the betting round and are ready for the next community card.

The Turn

The turn is also known as 4^th street. It’s the 4^th community card dealt that players can use to make their poker hand.

The betting round on the turn is the same as the flop.

The River

The river is the fifth and final community card that players can use to make their hand. It’s also known as 5^th street. The betting action on the river is the same as the turn.

Showdown

After the betting round on the river, and assuming two or more players are still in the hand, there will be a showdown. Players will show their cards so that a winner can be determined.

The showdown is simple. In an un-raised pot, the first player to the left of the dealer button will show their hand first. In a raised pot, the first player to show their hand is the player who raised last on the river. Then the action continues clockwise around the table. Each player can muck their hand (not show), or if their hand is better (and they want to win the pot, they can show their hand.

Then the pot is awarded to the best hand.

That’s an entire hand of Texas Holdem. Once the pot has been awarded the cards will be collected and reshuffled. The dealer button will move one seat to the left, new blinds will be posted and a new hand of Texas Holdem will be dealt.

Betting Strategy Poker Texas Holdem Rules

What Hands Beat What in Texas Holdem

One thing that trips new players up is determining what hands beat what. It’s real simple for Texas Holdem. Here are the winning hands, from best to worst:

• Royal Flush – AKQJT suited.
• Straight Flush – 5 cards in a row, all of the same suit. For example, 34567 suited.
• 4 of a kind – 4 cards of the same value. For example, 4444x.
• Full House – A 3 of a kind and a pair. For example, 3-3-3-2-2.
• Flush – 5 cards of the same suit. For example, A-8-5-4-2 suited.
• Straight – 5 cards in a row. For example, 5-6-7-8-9.
• 3 of a kind – 3 cards of the same value. For example, 3-3-3-x-x.
• 2 Pair – Example: 2-2-3-3-x.
• 1 Pair – Example: A-A-8-4-2
• High Card – Example: A-K-J-3-2

In Texas Holdem you can make these hands (and win) using any combination of the community cards and your hole cards.

If there is a tie the pot will be split. It will be split however many times is necessary. For example, if 3 players have 78 and they all have straights, each of them will earn 1/3 the pot.

If two or more players have the same type of hand, the better or higher hand will win. For example, an ace high flush will beat a queen high flush.

Betting Formats and Actions

Texas Holdem is played in several variations and betting formats. They’ll impact the game in a number of ways including time, variance, dead money, betting caps and more.

In this section I want to take a couple of minutes to explain the different betting formats you’ll come across. That way you can choose which type of game you prefer, and at the very least understand how they all work. I’ll also explain the different betting options you have during each betting round in Texas Holdem.

What Kind of Betting Formats Are There in Texas Holdem?

Limit Betting – Limit (or fixed limit) betting used to be the most popular format before no limit took over. With this betting format there are a couple of things to be aware of.

On the pre flop and flop rounds, only the small bet ($5) is used. On the turn and river the big bet ($10) is used. And there is (usually) a cap of 1 bet and 3 raises for any round. This does vary from one casino to the next, though. Last thing — players can only raise one increment (small or big bet) at a time. In other words, if someone bets $5, you can only raise $5, to a total of $10.

Pot Limit Betting – What distinguishes pot limit betting from other formats is that the amount of money in the pot determines how much someone can bet. In other words, if there is $10 in the pot, the next player to act can’t bet more than $10. If they put $10 in the pot, making the total $20, the next player to act can only bet $20. Every time the size of the pot increases, the amount of money the next person can bet also increases.

No Limit Betting – No limit Texas Holdem is the most popular version played today. There is no limit to how much someone can bet. And at any time a player can push their entire stack in middle, going “all in.”

Note – For the pot and no limit betting formats, raises must be the minimum of the current bet to call. For example, if the amount to call is $10, the minimum raise must be $20. If it’s $26, the minimum you can raise is to $52.

Blinds – The blinds are forced bets that the first two players to the left of the dealer must post before the cards are dealt. The first player is the small blind and posts the smaller of the two bets, and the second is the big blind, and this player posts the bigger of the two bets. In a cash game the blinds never change. However, in a tournament and sit and go the blinds will change every so often, usually every 5-20 minutes.

Antes – Antes are a forced bet that each player must post before they are dealt cards. This is in addition to the blinds. They’re usually 10-20% the size of the blinds.

Caps – In a capped game players can only lose so much per hand. The amount you can lose per hand depends on the game.

Short, Standard, Deep Stacks – This refers to the maximum number of big blinds someone can buy in for (in a cash game). In short stack games the maximum is 40 big blinds. In standard games you can buy in for 100 big blinds and 150+ in deep stack games.

Blind Levels – You only have to worry about blind levels if you’re playing a Texas Holdem tournament or sit and go. The blinds will start low, around 10/20 or 25/50, and increase every 5-20 minutes. Each tournament will have a different structures and time frames.

Betting Actions

These are the betting options you have during a betting round in Texas Holdem.

Fold – You decide not to play your hand and toss it into the muck. If you fold you cannot win the pot.

Call – You call the last bet made. In an un-raised pot, you call the amount of the big blind. If someone raises, you must call the amount they bet.

Raise – A raise must be in increments of the last bet made. For example, in an un-raised pot at 5/10, the minimum you can raise is 10, to a total of 20. However, if someone raises to 35 (total), your minimum re-raise must be 35, to a total of 70.

Check – Checking is like saying, I pass. You give up your turn to bet (unless someone bets and the action comes back to you). It is possible for every player to check and the betting round to end with no additional money put into the pot.

Betting Basics for Beginners

From experience, I can tell you that most beginners don’t know how to bet correctly. They bet for the sake of it or for the wrong reasons. And when they do bet, their sizing is off, which doesn’t accomplish their goals and/or wastes chips.

My goal for the last section of our guide is to go into detail about how betting works in Texas Holdem, and to put you on the path to making correctly sized bets.

Mistakes Beginners Make When Betting

Lets start with the biggest mistakes beginner Holdem players make when they bet. The biggest mistakes I see are:

• Beginners bet too big. (You don’t want to bet too small, either, but instead find a balance.) The problem with betting too big is that at some point the extra chips don’t do anything. In other words, at 5/10, betting 200 chips is going to do the same thing as betting 50. So why bet 200?
• Your bets are transparent. A mistake players make is bet small with their premium hands (to keep other players in the pot), limp with weaker hands they don’t mind folding, and then betting huge with premium, but vulnerable hands. Betting like this makes it obvious to everyone what you have.
• Betting for no reason. Sometimes players bet just for the sake of it.

Beginners make other betting mistakes, too, but a lot of that falls under specific strategies. That’s too much (and too advanced) for me to cover here.

How to (Size Your) Bet Correctly

With the common mistakes out of the way, lets look at the right ways and times to bet.

Pre Flop Bet Sizing

One of the concepts I want to drill into you is that you should only bet enough to get the job done. No more, and no less.

So how much do you bet preflop?

The standard is 3x the big blind. With blinds of 5/10, the standard raise will be to $30. Depending on the game and stakes you’re playing, however, your bet sizing can vary from 2-5x. For example, in tournaments a min-raise (2x) bet is very common for the later stages. And in micro stakes games, you can usually get away with betting 4-5x with your premium hands and the other players won’t know the difference.

Note: One important thing to keep in mind is that you want to keep your bet sizes as consistent as possible, especially the higher the stakes you play.

In the scenario that a player limps in before you act, the rule of thumb (if you choose to raise) is to raise 3x the big blind plus 1 big blind for every limper. For example, if 3 players limp into the pot at 5/10, you’d bet $60. I use the same rule of thumb for my 3-bets (re-raises), too.

Post Flop Bet Sizing

When you make a bet post flop your bets should (almost always) be in relation to the size of the pot. And the amount you choose to bet will depend on a number of factors including:

• Your opponent
• Your hand
• The board texture
• Your goal

To come back to my main point, only bet as much as you have to (when bluffing) and as much as you can (when betting for value). And these should blend (balance) as much as possible, so that your opponents cannot tell the difference. That way you don’t give away any information that can be used against you.

To give you an example:

On a drier flop (like A-T-3 rainbow) with 125 chips in the pot, a continuation bet of 75 chips is reasonable. If the flop is wet (has a lot of draws possible), then betting closer to 100 chips will work.

One thing you don’t want to do is over bet the pot. For example, if the pot has 500 chips in it, your bet should be less than 500 chips. I wouldn’t bet 550, 700 or shove all in (like many beginners do), regardless of the hand you have, or how vulnerable it may be. Betting close to the size of the pot is inducing enough mistakes from players on a draw as is, so only bet as much as you have to. There are exceptions, but these are advanced topics and not something I’d worry about right now.

Effective Stacks

One important concept to understand is effective stacks or effective stack sizes. You want to understand this concept because it will impact when and how much you bet.

To determine the effective stack size, just find the lowest stack size of the remaining players to your left. For example, if there are 5 players to your left and the shortest stack has 15 big blinds, that means effective stack sizes are 15 big blinds.

In this particular example, with effective stack sizes of 15 big blinds you might choose to fold your hand or push all in, as opposed to raising. However, if effective stack sizes are 50 big blinds, then you can resort to your default (betting) strategy. If effective stacks are 150 big blinds, then you’ll play a wider range of hands and will bet (and re-raise) more.

That’s the basic idea. It does get more complicated than this. But I wanted to give you the basics so that you can determine for yourself when it might make more sense to fold, raise or shove all in.

Have a Reason or Goal to Bet

If you’re ever questioning when you should bet, just remember that there are only 3 reasons for betting:

• Value – You think/know you have the best hand and you want to earn as many chips as possible.
• Dead Money – Money that is already in the pot, either from antes, blinds, players who folded or a combination of these things.
• Bluff – You want the other player(s) to fold the better hand.

These are the only reasons for betting. Many players make the mistake of thinking that you should bet for information or to protect your hand. However, these reasons are byproducts of the reasons I outline above. If you’re betting to protect your hand, you’re usually betting for value. You’re getting value from hands that are drawing. If you’re betting for information, that’s usually a byproduct of all 3 reasons above. You’ll get your information based on what your opponent does.

The bottom line – if you’re thinking about betting, but you can’t decide if you should bet for value, dead money or to bluff, then you probably don’t have a good enough reason to bet and should check, call or fold instead.

Conclusion — End of Part 1 of Our Texas Holdem Guide

That’s it for the first part of our guide. You just learned enough to go play for your first game of Texas Holdem, not to mention disguise the fact that you’re a beginner. And if you are confused about anything I discussed here, just re-read the guide again. You’ll also find that any question you may have will be cleared up once you play a couple of hands.

In the next section of our guide I’m going to explain why you should pay attention at the table, whether you’re in the hand or not, as well as how to classify your opponents and how different types of opponents will impact your strategy. Following that we’re going to get into some math. I’m going to show you how to count poker outs, calculate card odds and pot odds so that you can correctly determine when you’re (profitably) drawing to a better hand.

Tips and Tricks to Winning Poker Hands Using 3-Bets and 4-Bets

Part of the beauty of No Limit Hold’em is that there is no limit to how much you can bet, as long as you have the chip amount that you would like to bet in your stack to start the hand. This opens the door for players to make moves known as 3-betting and 4-betting, which play a very important part in proper No Limit Hold’em strategy.

What exactly is a 3-bet and a 4-bet? For those who are new to the game, a 3-bet usually refers to when one player raises another player’s raise before the flop is dealt. For the remainder of this article, a 4-bet will refer to any time a player re-raises another player’s 3-bet before the flop is dealt. There are post-flop versions of these bets, but we will not be covering those today.

3-Betting Strategy

Now that you know what a 3-bet is, it is time to learn how to use them. Most players do not 3-bet very much at all since they feel it should be done only when they have a big hand. Some players 3-bet too often with the idea that they will run the table over and steamroll their way to victory.

Which one is correct? The answer is neither. You should never come to a table with a specific 3-betting strategy because you never know what type of table you will be sitting at. The amount of 3-betting that should be done is dictated by how out-of-line the players at your table have been getting.

Who Should You 3-bet?

One of the first steps to incorporating 3-bets into your overall poker strategy is to understand exactly who you should be 3-betting. Of course, the strength of your hand will play a part in this decision, but it is not the only factor that you should consider. If you start trying to 3-bet the wrong kind of people in the wrong situations, you will put yourself squarely on the road to Bustoville.

In general, you should be looking to 3-bet with weak hands against players who will fold to 3-bets often. If you do not have a heads-up display program to show you who is folding to 3-bets often, you will have to wing it and try to go from memory.

Usually, the types of players who often fold to 3-bets are the types of players who don’t play many hands at all. This may seem counterintuitive, because these tight players will have a stronger range, but they may choose to fold part of their range that beats you. Another perk to 3-betting these tight players is that they will almost never 4-bet bluff you, so you can be sure that they will not exploit your light 3-betting tendencies.

Staying active while you do not have a strong hand is a great way to get action once you get dealt a strong hand. By 3-betting players who fold to 3-bets a lot, you give yourself a way to stay active until you get dealt a premium hand.

When you have a strong hand and you are facing a raise from a loose player, you obviously will want to 3-bet the raising player often. One reason why this is true is that you open the door for them to try to 4-bet you, which would create a massive pot. Another reason for raising is that you do not let them see a flop for cheap with their wide range of hands.

When Should You Avoid 3-betting?

When you hold a very strong hand, such as pocket aces, and you are facing a raise, your first thought might be to re-raise the original raiser so that you make them pay extra if they want to try to get lucky on you. However, there are some scenarios where 3-betting this premium hand is a bad idea.

Let’s consider an example where the original raiser is a very loose European player who has shown that he likes to continuation bet on every flop. This is a great time to avoid 3-betting with your pocket aces because you are nearly guaranteed to get more chips from this guy on the flop whether he hits it or not. Not only will you get the continuation bet from him, but he might think you have a weak hand due to the fact that you did not 3-bet pre-flop, and he might give you his whole stack.

Another time when you should not be 3-betting your opponent is if you have a hand that cannot withstand a re-raise and your opponent is an aggressive psycho. It does not do any good to try to bully players who do not care about losing, so we do not advise trying this.

Let’s say you are on the button with queen-jack off-suit and there is a player who is raising nearly every hand. This player is a young kid with a hoodie and a pair of sunglasses on who has proven that he has no problem putting all of his chips in the middle.

If you try to 3-bet this player with your queen-jack off-suit, you will often be facing a 4-bet all-in. This is not ideal with a hand like queen-jack off-suit, because it is of marginal strength. This hand does not do very well against most 4-betting ranges, so you want to avoid spots where 4-bets are likely to occur. This is certainly one of those spots to avoid, and a better option is to simply cold-call the raise.

A final reason that you should pump the brakes on 3-betting a certain hand is if this hand is not a premium hand and you have an extremely loose image at the table. How do you know if you have a loose image? If people are playing back at you often, or even commenting about how much you have been raising, then you will know your image is loose. This is usually going to be an awful time to bluff because you will not have the fold equity that is necessary to make the bluff profitable in the long run.

Why Should You 3-bet?

The main reason that most people 3-bet is simply because they have a good hand and they want to get more money in the pot. However, this is a short-sighted way of looking at it, because people will eventually pick up on such a simple strategy and they will stop giving you action. There are plenty of other reasons to 3-bet which are extremely underrated, in our opinion.

If there is one key reason to why you should 3-bet more often, it is that it makes you tougher to play against. This is because 3-betting really puts pressure on people who are open-raising with a weak range of hands. When you 3-bet someone in position with a polarized range that includes extreme weakness and extreme strength, this is very tough to battle with.

Another reason to 3-bet is that your hand strength becomes much less obvious when you have a premium hand. We have all been to the casinos and seen the old guy who only 3-bets when he has aces or kings and then he gets angry when he never gets any action.

You do NOT want to be this guy, whether you are an old man or not. These types of players think that they are playing a safe style, but in reality, they are costing themselves tons of money by not finding ways to actively 3-bet without premium hands. You might feel like you are taking more risks by putting chips into the pot, but in reality, you are winning more chips in the long run

For example, let’s pretend you just got done 3-bet bluffing a player who was opening a bunch of hands, and then the very next hand you are dealt pocket aces. If you had just been playing tight this whole time, you would be less likely to get any action with this monster hand. However, the aggressive player raises, you re-raise him, and he spazzes out by going all-in with his 8-9 suited. This scenario happens repeatedly in poker, and if it wasn’t for your aggressive play in previous hands, you might not have gotten any action in this spot.

What Size Should You 3-bet To?

The beautiful part about 3-betting is that there is not one specific raise size that is considered to be optimal. Each situation is unique when it comes to what the perfect raise size will be; you just have to know which variables to consider.

Some variables that you should look at when deciding what size to make your 3-bet raise include how deep the effective stacks in the hand are, what position you are in, how many players are in the hand, your history with the person who raised, and whether it is a cash game or a tournament. We will now look at an example for each one so that you can see how important they are.

Variable Examples

In our first example hand, we hold ace-ten suited and we have 20 big blinds on the button. One person ahead of us has raised to 2.5 big blinds, and the action is on us. It would be extremely incorrect for us to make a small 3-bet to six or seven big blinds here, since we only have 20 big blinds to start the hand.

We will not have nearly enough room to bluff on the flop and the turn if our small re-raise is called. The correct 3-bet sizing, in this case, is all of our chips. This is going to be the case anytime we have a stack-size of under 25 big blinds. If we had 30 big blinds in our stack in this exact same situation, it would be perfectly fine to do a small 3-bet. This is due to the fact that our flexibility is not affected very much when our stack goes from 30 big blinds to 23 big blinds, but when it goes from 20 to 13 big blinds, our flexibility is hindered greatly.

Texas Holdem For Beginners Betting

Consider when sizing your 3-bets is what position you are in. As a general rule, you should make your 3-bets bigger when you are out of position. For example, if you have 30 big blinds on the button with a hand that you would like to 3-bet, you should make a small re-raise of around 2.5 times their original raise. However, if you are in the big blind with this same hand, you should consider making your 3-bet around 3.5 or 4 times their original raise. This should win the pot enough times to prevent being constantly forced to play post-flop out of position, which is very tough to do.

Consider when sizing your 3-bets is how many players are already in the hand. You should never be making the same 3-bet size without considering this, otherwise, you might make your bet so small that everybody has pot odds to call your raise. As a general rule, you should add one original raise size to your 3-bet for every call that the original raise received before you decided to 3-bet. For example, if one player raises to 2 big blinds and three people call before it is your turn, you should add three big blinds to whatever your normal 3-bet size would be if there was only one person in the hand.

Believe it or not, the history that you have with a certain player might dictate what your 3-bet size will be in specific situations. For example, let’s assume that you are at a poker tournament table and you have been 3-betting the table captain all day long with small raises. However, you noticed a pattern that whenever you 3-bet small, he does not show much respect, but whenever you 3-bet large, he usually folds. You can then manipulate this player and start 3-betting to a large size when you have a weak hand, and 3-bet small when you have a strong hand.

The final consideration for what size to make your 3-bet is whether you are playing in a cash game or in a tournament. In general, you should not be 3-betting small in cash games very often. The stacks are usually far too deep for this in cash games, and you will find that making a big 3-bet will work better in most cash game situations. In tournaments, stack sizes are generally not as deep, so there is more logic in making small 3-bets. The fact that players cannot just rebuy when they lose is the biggest difference between these two formats. This is one reason why 3-betting small is good for tournaments, because players will be more scared of a 3-bet no matter what size it is, since they have one life to live in a tournament.

4-Betting Strategy

Throughout the course of any given poker session, you will have a plethora of opportunities to 4-bet other players. The hard part is to know when, where, why, and how much to 4-bet in order to maximize your profits. A single 4-bet has the potential to turn an entire tournament around, so it is extremely important to learn how to use them.

When deciding if you should 4-bet, there are a number of variables to consider, much like when you were deciding whether you should 3-bet or not. These variables include how often the person 3-betting has been targeting you, your image at the table, the effective stack sizes involved in the hand, and what position you are currently sitting in. If you try to wildly 4-bet without considering these variables, you will essentially be lighting your money on fire.

Who Should You 4-Bet?

Before you start 4-betting at any given poker table, you should first decide which players at the table you are going to target. If you mentally select these players before you look at your hand, it will be easier to pull the trigger once it is time to start the 4-betting party.

The first group of players that you should consider targeting is those who appear to be 3-betting quite often. In order to know how much “often” really means, you first need to know the range of 3-bet percentages that most players usually have. A tight player will normally 3-bet between 2%-5%, an average player will 3-bet between 5%-10%, and an extremely aggressive player will 3-bet between 10%-15% of total hands on average.

Whenever you encounter one of these players that 3-bets in the 15% range, this is going to be a player that you should 3-bet with an extremely wide range of hands.

If you consider the fact that 15% of hands includes weak holding such as nine-ten suited and queen-jack off-suit, it is easier to see why the act of 3-betting these aggressive players is such a profitable move. It is extremely tough to play against 3-bets when you have a mediocre hand because the 3-bet usually represents such a strong range of hands.

Another type of player that you should consider 4-betting are players who make 3-bets with a very small sizing. The fact that they size their bet so small means that it has to work less often to be a profitable move. Therefore, in order to counter this advantage, you must resist more often than you normally would feel comfortable with in order to make their small 3-bet not as profitable.

When Should You Avoid 4-Betting?

Even though 4-betting is a very profitable move, there is a certain time and place where it will be the most effective. If you try to go against the grain and 4-bet when the variables are stacked against you, you will have a hard time making a profit from this advanced strategy.

One example of a time when you should not be 4-betting lightly is at the very beginning of a tournament. It is rare for players to play scared early in tournaments due to the fact that they are so far from the money bubble. It is also true that you should not be looking to play big pots early in a tournament.

Another time when 4-betting is bad is when you have a history of 4-betting with weak hands against the players at your table. Since most 4-bet bluffs only need to work about 50-60% of the time to be profitable, it is perfectly fine to 4-bet bluff against players you perceive to be weak. However, if you have taken this too far in recent hands with your table, then you should hold back from 4-betting anymore until you get a good hand.

One of our favorite times to avoid 4-betting is when you have an amazing hand like pocket aces. This is especially true when you are facing players who are extremely aggressive after the flop comes. You are guaranteed to induce at least one additional large bet from this type of player if you conceal the strength of your hand by just calling their 3-bet before the flop. Chances are good that this same player who is aggressive after the flop also has a wide range of hands in their pre-flop 3-betting range. Therefore, we do not want to 4-bet our big hand against that wide range, because it would allow him to fold all of his weak hands. Instead, it is good to sometimes let them bet themselves into a corner, which is quite easy to do in today’s aggressive poker world.

Why Should You 4-bet?

4-betting has a ton of great uses, but the main use is that it is your only weapon against a player who 3-bets extremely often. Some players have this thought in their head that they have no fold equity over anyone’s 3-bet, but this is almost never going to be the case. You need to get over the jitters that come from 3-betting other players without premium pocket pairs if you want to experience real success.

Even the tightest players who only 3-bet about 5% of the time will still fold around half of the time to a 4-bet. These players might even fold premium hands because they assume that everyone else plays as tight as they do!

Betting Strategy Poker Texas Holdem Tournaments

4-betting aggressive players will normally not get them to fold their premium hands, because they are aware of their aggressive image and they are ready to fight back with a wide range. However, their range of 3-betting is so wide that they do not have to fold premium hands in order for you to get enough folds to make 4-bet bluffing them a profitable play.

Betting In Poker Texas Holdem

One of the best arguments for 4-betting with a wider range than just high pocket pairs is that you will receive more action with those high pocket pairs in the future. Once people realize that you are capable of having weak hands in these 4-bet pots, they will be more likely to widen the range of hands that they give you resistance with. Once you realize that this is happening, you can simply go back to only 4-betting with the best hands and catch everyone off guard.

Texas Holdem Poker Betting Rounds

What Size Should You 4-bet To?

Texas Holdem Betting Strategy Chart

Much like 3-betting, 4-bets come in all shapes and sizes. Each size has a certain time and place for proper use; the trick is finding out when the right time and place has arrived.

Texas Holdem Betting Strategy

One example of a time when you should not make a small 4-bet is if your stack is too small to comfortably make this bet and still continue in the post-flop portion of the hand. For example, let’s assume you have 35 big blinds and you open-raised to 3 big blinds before the flop. A player to your left then 3-bets you to 10 big blinds, and the rest of the table folds.

At this point, you have 32 big blinds left in your stack, and you are facing a bet of ten big blinds. The minimum 4-bet that is allowed in this spot according to the rules of No Limit Hold’em is 17 big blinds. However, this is more than half of your remaining stack. This is a great example of a spot where a regular 4-bet is not going to make any sense.

A basic rule of thumb is that you should be 4-betting all-in if making a smaller 4-bet raise commits more than half of your stack. If the smallest legal 4-bet size only accounts for 20-30% of your stack, you should probably just do a regular-sized 4-bet of about 2.5 times their original 3-bet size. However, if making a smaller 4-bet raise only commits 20-30% of your stack, you can still shove all-in some of the time with hands that you are not comfortable playing post-flop with.

The Wrap-Up

Now that you are familiar with the who, what, when, where, and why of 3-betting and 4-betting strategies, you should be able to apply this knowledge to your actual gameplay. These moves are extremely useful when playing No Limit Hold’em, and they are quite dangerous when the players who are making them are utilizing profitable 3-bet and 4-bet sizes and frequencies.