Sizing in Poker

 

This article is entirely dedicated to size and its different meanings both in offline poker and online poker. We will explain in detail what size is, as well as the importance of using size correctly in a poker hand.

 

While amateur players will reveal the strength of their hand through sizing or simply will not give importance to the size of the bet, professional poker players will place a lot of importance on the correct choice of sizing in the games. hands.

 

What is sizing?

 

Sizing is the bet size chosen by the player in each play and that is used as a strategic element of great importance.

 

In some poker games, the size of the bet, or sizing, is limited, this is what happens in Limit games such as Texas Hold'em Limit (during the 90's and early 2000's it was very common to play Texas Holdem in Limit mode), Razz or Seven Card Stud.

 

On the other hand, there are games in which the maximum bet size is determined by the size of the pot, such as Pot-Limit Omaha, or Pot-Limit Omaha Hi / Lo, while in No-Limit games such as In No-Limit Texas Hold'em, there is no limitation to the maximum bet size (we can bet it all, go all-in, at any time).

 

It is precisely in No-Limit games, since there is a great variety of possibilities when it comes to betting, where choosing the perfect bet size becomes the best strategic ally in our way of facing poker games.

 

From here on we are going to talk about sizing exclusively for the No-Limit Texas Hold'em modality.

 

Strategy and size of bets

 

To measure the size of bets, the size of the pot at that moment is taken as a reference. In fact, poker software allows players to set frequent betting buttons like 1/3 pot, ½ pot, 2/3 pot, ¾ pot, pot, ...

 

Normally, players who play at several tables at the same time, will place 2 or 3 bet buttons at most to speed up their movements. But the point is, bet size is about not revealing too much information.

 

Recreational or inexperienced players make many mistakes with the size of the bet. In order not to get too long, we could indicate two of these errors:

 

- Bet more or less depending on the strength of your hand. It's something that amateur players do all the time and should start to stop doing. It is common to see how these players make heavy bets when they have something big, as a way to protect their hand, at the same time that they want to get a great value from it. In the same way, these players are going to make very weak bets when they have nothing attached as a protective measure against bluffing in case of bluffing.

 

To correct this error, try to bet the same, having linked or not so as not to be so predictable to other players. Some amateur players abuse all-in as a desperate resource to try to bluff the opponent while other over-cautious amateur players will only go all-in with the best possible hand, the nuts.

 

- Bet only paying attention to whether you have a game or not. When betting we not only have to look at the strength of our hand but we must also pay attention to other variables such as the strength of the opponent's hand, which community cards have fallen and who presumably these community cards should have helped more. The image our rival has of us and the texture of the board (it is not the same to bet on a dry flop than on one that offers many draws) also influence the choice of sizing.

 

So, when betting we have to take into account at least all these factors:

 

• - the size of the pot.

 

• - the size of the stacks of the players participating in the hand.

 

• - the number of players participating in the hand.

 

• - the image we have on the table.

 

• - the image of rivals.

 

• - the texture of the flop.

 

The sizing or optimal bet size

 

You have to consider that in live poker (offline) you usually bet bigger than in online poker.

 

The usual sizing between players can differ between different times, between different levels of bets and even between different online poker rooms or casinos.

 

Although in the postflop game the reference to determine the sizing is the size of the pot, in the preflop, since it is the first round of betting and there is not so much money in the pot, the reference in the bet is given by the BB (number of big blinds).

 

Why is the correct size of bets important?

 

The correct size of bets

 

At this point we are going to collect some of the reasons why bet size or sizing is so important. And why the great players had to first adapt to control aggressive movements according to the correct size and their bet range.

 

• Using proper sizing you will get information about the opponent's hand. If the sizing is too small, the information that can reach us can be very ambiguous (they can follow us with almost anything) while if we bet too big we are not going to throw to the big projects or to the hands that beat us on a flop dry or dry.

 

• A suitable bet size protects our hand at the same time that we gain value. The fact of betting little or not betting would be equivalent to granting our rival a free card.

 

• Betting too big with play can give us problems in later streets in the event of a dangerous card falling. Having bet so much before, if we now check or bet small, we expose ourselves to an opponent's bet if we check or a re-raise, while if we bet hard so as not to show signs of weakness, we would be turning our hand into a bluff.

 

• As we have said before, some players make the mistake of associating their betting pattern to a behavior. If you manage to decipher the meaning of the bets on your most common rivals, you will be playing against rivals with the open cards.

 

• For example, there are players who when they bet half the pot on the river, they do so with hands with which they would not pay a re-raise but at the same time they do not want to check and stop drawing a little more value. Other players may have the 'tell' to go bust with a lot of play in the set and bet small on the turn, that is, play their monsters slowly.

 

Sizing, or size of bets, is a very important element in a poker player's strategy. Good poker players will read, read or choose the optimal sizing in order to get the most out of their hand. By choosing well the sizing, the player can better hide his hand, at the same time that he protects it from draws, gets value from the bets and is less exposed to bluffing from the opponent.

 

To choose the best sizing at each moment, certain variables must be taken into account, such as the size of the pot, the stack of the participants, the number of players in the hand, the image they may have of one, the image of the other rivals and the texture of community cards.

 

 

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