Try to think about pot sizes over numerous streets

Pot Limit Omaha / Marcus Bateman / 02 March 2010 / Leave a Comment

It is not always necessary to start firing pot size bets the minute you flop a hand in big bet games if you could get someone's stack with two of three smaller bets.

One of the most obvious leaks you see amongst weak big bet players is a failure to think about a hand in the context of all of its streets. As in big bet games you can adjust the size of your bets, it gives you the invaluable tool of being able to force multi street mistakes from opponents who only look at the bet in front of them at each point.

A flop bet in pot limit Omaha for example, is not really just one bet. It is extremely unlikely that if you call you will be able to get to showdown without calling another bigger bet, and as a result you have to consider this into your equations when thinking about calling with marginal hands. Conversely, when thinking about bet sizing, it is not always necessary to start firing pot size bets the minute you flop a hand in big bet games if you could get someone's stack with two of three smaller bets.

By giving a bad player a better price, you increase the chances of them sticking around, and although occasionally they will draw out on you, more often than not you will just give them enough rope to hang themselves. Sucking people into hands is frequently a much better tactic than just trying to win it all on one street, and also means that you can use a smaller bet size to bluff with - always useful in saving money when it backfires.

The hand is never over in poker until you reach showdown. Factoring in the likely route your opponent will take in getting to showdown is an essential skill in extracting value when ahead and saving money when behind, and one it is crucial to master. A weak passive fish will be much easier to get to showdown against than a hyper loose aggressive opponent who seems to fire at every street, and you have to adjust your hand ranges and betting patterns accordingly in order to take maximum advantage of this.

Always think about the actual cost of getting to showdown when making decisions - it may be a whole lot more expensive than it appears.

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