Bet sizing and calling frequency

Beginner Tips / Dave Allan / 25 February 2010 / Leave a Comment

Poker is a game where you need to adjust your behaviour constantly in line with what your opponent is doing.

Beginner players often seem to completely fail to understand this point, both in terms of making betting mistakes themselves, as well as failing to change their calling frequency when confronted with it. The point is a very simple one, and one that is purely to do with pot odds.

The smaller a bet in poker relative to the pot size, the more often you have to call. If you are getting ten to one on a call on the river, you only have to be right one time in ten to call, odds which can make a hand like ace high or bottom pair quite attractive. On the flip side, a bet that is double the size of the pot requires a vastly stronger hand to call, as you have to be right a much higher percentage of the time to show a profit, a point which can make even quite strong hands look good candidates for the muck.

Over the long run these mistakes can really cost you a lot if not adapted to. As poker is a game where you are perpetually trying to get on the right side of bets, failing to understand the importance of the bet sizes being fired at you, or the size of the ones you make, can seriously affect your game and turn you into a losing player.

Against players who habitually bet too little, you simply have to call more often - otherwise they will end up being able to bluff you off far too many pots for far too cheap a price - a technique that worked very well amongst some live tournament pros for a long time, but has started to back fire on them as fields become more skilled. Conversely, a player who habitually fires big bets at the pot leaves themselves open to simply losing huge pots when you have a hand. Although these players will win a few small pots as they over bet or shove all in, it does not take long for someone to find a hand and take all of it in one swoop.

Poker is a game where you need to adjust your behaviour constantly in line with what your opponent is doing. This is as true for your bet sizing and your calling frequency in the face of other's bets as anything else, and being able to understand how and why you should be making certain moves is critical to success in the no limit games.

More beginners articles

Beginners Tips: How and why to play freerolls
Beginners Tips: How and why to play rebuy tournaments

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