Standard Bet Sizes

By Andrew Brokos

I think it’s a big mistake. Having “standard” bet sizes, that is. I see this discussion from time to time in the tournament forums. “What’s your standard raise size at the 120/240 level?” “When there are limpers, I raise three times the big blind plus one big blind for every limper.”

These aren’t quotes from anyone in particular, simply paraphrases of things I’ve heard or seen many times. It’s not my intention to embarrass anyone here. Plenty of good tournament players, far more successful than I, use something like standard bet and raise sizes. I still think it’s a mistake.

The average stack size, and presumably your own stack and those of your tablemates, will be very different at the 120/240 blind level in a tournament with starting stacks of 1500 than in a tournament with starting stacks of 3000, 5000, or 7500. At the very least, you raise sizing ought to take stack depth into account rather than being uniform at a particular blind level regardless of the tournament structure.

The ability to size your bet based on the situation and what you hope to accomplish with the bet is one of the primary factors that distinguishes no-limit from fixed-limit hold ’em. Deliberately forfeiting this option is bringing a knife to a gunfight.

Every bet or raise should have a purpose. You can and should tailor the size of the bet to suit that purpose. When done correctly, you can even balance your ranges for various sizes so that your bet sizing is not exploitable.

Early Stages

Different players have different approaches to the early stages of a tournament. Some people are uncomfortable playing deep-stacked poker post-flop and so adopt a very tight strategy, playing only strong hands and waiting to get more active until the stocks are more shallow relative to the blinds. Others prefer to play many hands when stacks are deep in order to capitalize on the implied odds that weaker players offer.

Your raise sizing can reflect your preferred strategy without revealing any additional information about your hand. If you only play strong hands pre-flop and prefer shallower stacks post-flop, then your default raise size should be large, perhaps four or five times the big blind. This increases the edge that you get from playing a stronger range than your opponents pre-flop, and it reduces their potential implied odds if they happen to outflop your overpair.

If you prefer to play a lot of hands in the early stages of a tournament, then you should choose a smaller raise size of two to three times the big blind. You might even consider making larger raises from early position, when your range is narrower and your strategy more closely resembles that of a tighter player, and smaller raises in late position when your range is much wider and weaker. This reduces the equity you lose pre-flop by playing such a wide range, it gives you more room to maneuver post-flop, and it gives you more options when re-raised.

What About Limpers?

If one or more players has already limped into the pot by just calling the big blind, then you’ll generally need to raise a larger amount than you otherwise would. Adding a set number of BB’s to your normal raise size is hardly the optimal solution to this problem, though. As with open raise sizing in general, it should depend on your strategy for exploiting the limper and on your play style in general.

As before, if you only raise limpers with strong hands, then you’ll generally want a larger raise size. In this case, though, there is a very specific threat you need to protect against. Better plays will only limp and call a raise with implied odds hands like suited connectors and small pairs.

Thus, you would ideally like to size your raise such that your opponent is not getting the proper odds to setmine against you. To do so, you must estimate how much you are likely to lose if you flop a strong hand such as an overpair or top pair with top kicker when the limper flops a set. Then, you should try to charge the limper at least 10% of this amount to reflect the odds that he will flop a set. This isn’t always feasible, and the limper won’t always have a small pair, but you can at least his foil his setmining strategy by sizing a raise in this way.

For example, let’s say that blinds are 25/50. The first player to act calls 50 with 3000 left in his stack. You cover him and are in the Small Blind with AA.

I like raising to 350 in this spot. With these stacks, you will have difficulty folding an overpair post-flop. Thus, you need to be sure you are not offering your opponent enticing odds to call with a small pair. It can be tempting to raise a smaller amount to ensure that you get action, but at least from a good player, it may not be action that you want. If your opponent is holding 22 and will not continue past the flop without a set, do you really want that call? Only if you are charging him at least 10% of the effective stacks, at which point calling only to setmine will be a mistake for him.

If the blinds are 10/20 with effective stacks of 3000, then it isn’t realistic to charge a limper 300 pre-flop. You will simply have to play more cautiously post-flop so that you don’t always lose your entire stack to a set.

Doesn’t such a large raise betray the fact that you hold a big pair? Yes, but I would argue that you are already giving away that information if you only raise limpers with strong hands. I prefer a more balanced raising strategy, which I will discuss in a moment, but if you are only going to raise strong hands, then you should at least select the proper raise size for this strategy.

A Better Way to Exploit Limpers

Denying limpers the implied odds they need is one way to exploit them (or more precisely to prevent them from exploiting you), but it is hardly the best way. Whether playing a small pair, a suited connector, or something worse, most limpers plan to call a small raise and then check-fold any flop that doesn’t help them. The best way to exploit this strategy is to raise them with just about anything and then make a small bet on the flop. More often than not, they will miss the flop and fold to a bet, meaning that you will show an immediate profit no matter what your cards are.

The size of your profit will be a function of the pre-flop pot size. In other words, the larger the raise that the limper calls pre-flop, the larger the pot you win when he check-folds to your continuation bet. Thus, your ideal raise sizing pre-flop is the largest amount that the limper will reliably call with a wide range. This amount varies by opponent but is generally larger the deeper the effective stacks. You can also pay attention to how this limper responds to various raises from you and other opponents to get a better feel for his range and how much he will call.

Post-flop, your plan is to bet all or most flops, depending on how well you feel they connect with your opponent’s range. The purpose of this bet will be to find out whether your opponent likes the flop, so you should generally bet the smallest amount that will give you an answer to that question. Roughly half-pot is generally a good choice, though on very dry flops even smaller bets can be effective.

Notice that so far we’ve said nothing about your hand. Your bet sizing is based entirely on your strategy for exploiting your opponent and not at all on the hand that you actually have. If you make the same pre-flop raise and flop bet with weak and strong hands, then you are revealing nothing.

Depending on how observant your opponent is, you may be able to get away with an even more exploitive strategy that is based on your actual hand. In this case, when you have a strong hand, you will still raise as much as possible post-flop, but you may choose to check strong hands on the flop. This is because you know that your opponent will check and fold more often than not. That’s a good thing when you yourself missed the flop, but not so good when you have a strong hand. Just be careful: this is an easy strategy for your opponent to exploit if he realizes what you are doing.

Note that when playing this strategy, you don’t need to worry about charging your opponent any specific amount pre-flop when you have a strong hand. Your entire strategy is designed to foil his setmining, since he will often check-fold the best hand, and when he does flop a set, you’ll rarely play a big pot with him. Even if you lose your stack every time you have an overpair, you’ll so rarely have such a strong hand that your opponent is making a mistake by setmining.

Late Stages

Unlike in the early stages, where multiple raising strategies are viable, late game tournament play is primarily about winning pots pre-flop. The size of the pre-flop pot is so large relative to the stacks that even with strong hands, there is tremendous value in winning the pot immediately and without showdown. This means that your opponents will re-raise or fold more often than they will call when faced with a raise.

Under such circumstances, the optimal raise size for you is the smallest one that induces a raise/fold response from the players behind you. Here’s an example to illustrate this point:

Blinds are 500/1000 with a 100 ante. The action folds to you on the button. The SB has 17,000 chips, the BB has 15,000, and you cover them both. Both of these players are cookie cutter tournament grinders who prefer to move all-in any time that playing a hand will mean putting more than 10% of their stacks in the pot pre-flop.

No matter what your hand is, there is no reason to raise anything more than the minimum, 2000. This minimizes the amount that you risk while still forcing your opponents to risk their entire stacks if they like their hands. From there, you can make a decision about how good of a hand you need to call a shove, but there is no reason to invest more money in the pot than you have to with your initial raise.

If the BB had 24,000 chips, then a raise to 2500 would be better, as this would be the smallest amount that would threaten more than 10% of the BB’s stack and thus induce a raise/fold response from him. On the other hand, if you think that BB is a weak post-flop player and you want the chance to play a wide range against him in position, then you should raise to 2000 in order to make a re-raise less likely and a call more likely. Once again, this sizing has everything to do with the stacks and the situation and nothing to do with your actual hand.

Conclusion

While taking maximum advantage of an opponent’s mistakes requires bet sizing that is itself exploitable, it is generally possible and desirable to vary your bet sizing in non-exploitive ways. That is, you can choose bet sizes that better advance your strategy at the table without revealing anything about your hand. Such a bet sizing strategy is strictly better than employing a generic size for a given blind level or a generic percent of the pot whenever you continuation bet.

Finally, note that these are only the most common situations. Hopefully they will serve as examples that will help you to make more intelligent decisions about sizing bets in all situations.

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