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Poker Betting Strategy for No Limit Hold Em
Sep 24th, 2007
Jason | 
No-Limit Hold ‘em intimidates many players just starting out in poker because they are not sure of the proper betting strategies that should be used. The truth is in NL there are no proper betting strategies. Your bet sizing should usually depend on the blinds, your opponent, and the cards you are holding.
Normally when coming in for a raise pre-flop you should raise about three to four times the big blind. Be extremely careful not to size your raises to your specific hand, but notice when an opponent does it. Many beginning players reveal the strength of their hand by the size of their pre-flop raise. If you always raise the same amount, no one will ever be able to get a read on your pre-flop betting.
When playing the flop in NL, you should frequently switch up your betting techniques so that your opponents can't get a good read on your play. Sometimes you will be betting with a big hand and sometimes you will be checking. Mixing up your play will force your opponents to make mistakes against you, because you won't be playing all of your hands the same way.
A continuation bet is a follow-up bet to a pre-flop raise. When you have raised pre-flop and get one or two callers, you should usually be making a continuation bet if the flop is non-threatening, even if it doesn't help your hand. A good size for this bet would be about half the pot, because your opponents only have to fold one out of every two times for you to break even. If your opponents are overly tight you can make a lot of money with continuation bets.
You should also be betting the same amount when you do hit the flop and you think you have the best hand. By making this half pot bet, you are giving straight and flush draws incorrect odds to continue, because barring a scary turn card, you will be betting again. The turn is where you should be freezing out the draws (betting too much for them to continue).
On the river you should only be betting if you think you can get a call from worse hand, or if you are bluffing. When checked to in a heads up-pot on the river, even if your hand appears strong, it is important to ask yourself whether a worse hand would call you or not. If the answer is no you should probably just check it down. When you are first to act on the river you should also ask yourself that question. If you hold a toss-up hand, you may want to make a bet. By betting (even a relatively small amount as compared to the pot), you force your opponent to define his hand. If he is strong, he will be forced to raise and you can confidently fold, knowing your hand is probably no good. There are very few opponents at the lower to middle limits who will bluff raise (raise with nothing) on the river.
NL betting strategies can seem confusing at first but using these guidelines should give you a strong foundation as a beginning player. Many players that are used to Limit will make a lot of minimum raises when starting out in NL. It is important that you do not fall into this trap, and that you bet your hands aggressively because that is the way to win at No-Limit Hold ‘em. | |
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