HOW MUCH TO BET
In pot-limit there is little to be said for the pot to the nearest dollar. For example, if the pot stands at $110, then $100 is more sensible than squeezing out the last drop of blood. In the middle of the hand this slows down the action, because everybody calling will require change. Within this parameter, there remains considerable sense in betting or raising the whole pot. Then it is easy to keep track of its size. A pot is $1200, and a player before you bets $1200; it is easy to know the raise is up to $3900. Thus, for a dealer or player, knowledge of the three-times-table is an asset. With two people in the pot prior to your action, it is the four-times-table.
It is extremely useful to carry the precise size of the pot in your head at all times for two quite different reasons. I have played in games where certain dealers might palm a chip. By announcing the size of the pot, I have been able to inhibit this action. No matter that it wasn’t may money I was saving directly. Any money remaining with the players is potentially mine. The other reason is that it enables you to bet a sum other than the pot for reasons which are then unclear to the opposition.
If you have a monster of a hand, you may want to offer apparently good odds to your opponents. If you are putting through a bluff, betting less than the pot means you are giving yourself better than even money. If you play with me, you’ll find I often bet less than the whole pot. It is impossible to tell whether I am strong or weak from this.
Sometimes it is you to act and you don’t know whether or not you have the best hand. Now it makes sense to bet considerably less than the pot because you don’t want to give a free card to a drawing poker hands. Unfortunately, if this ploy is obvious, your opponent can pick up on it and raise as a good bluff.
Other times you may be so strong you don’t want to bet the pot because your opponent is much worse than a 2-1 underdog. Again, your opponent could realize this and pass a hand he would have called if you had bet the whole pot.
Sometimes you have what looks like a monster, but in fact is rather weak. For example, at seven card stud poker, holding (3♣ 7♥) 7♠ 9♠ A♠ 10♠, facing a board which is nothing much. A bet offering 3-1 now looks like you are crying out to be called. If he does call, bet an even smaller fraction of the pot on the river. Now a good player may well reckon you really do have the flush. If he does call, well, it was relatively inexpensive. Remember, don’t get fancy with a weakie!
Similarly, in Omaha on fifth street, with the board showing 7♣ J♦ 8♦ 9♦ 4♦, your opponent bets out on the end. Now with the bare ace of diamonds, you may have a better chance of securing a pass with a small raise than a large one.
In Omaha particularly, it sometimes pays to give an opponent better odds than he thinks he needs because you have more information. For example, you hold Q-J-8-8; the flop is 10-9-2. An opponent bets and you call. The pot is now two-handed and stands at $1000. On fourth poker street, the board is (10-9-2)-8 with no open two-flush. Your opponent checks. If he has 10-10-?-? then he thinks he is 3-2 to 1 against filling up. You know he has only 7 outs, so that he is 5-1. What is more, the case eight will devastate him. Bet $350. This offers him4-1 from where he stands. You many lose the pot, but you must take risks in order to win big. It is no different from checking the nut flush on the flop. A strong player may guess what you are up to, but he is powerless.
This being Omaha, he may have K-Q-10-10, and you are giving him the odds he needs. What is more, you may find it hard to pass a bet if a jack pops up. For this reason, you are much more in danger holding 9-8-7-7 with a board of J-10-2-7. This needs a pot bet because there are so many potentially larger straights to destroy your hand. In fact, the whole situation is so ugly, your poker hand should have been mucked on the flop. You had 12 straightening cards, but only two of them were the nuts. In out first example you had 16 straight cards, of which 10 were the stone-cold nuts.
In half-pot you are much more likely to want to bet the absolute maximum in order to squeeze the last drop of advantage from the pot. At Omaha you hold the straight. You are virtually certain he has trips and you have no defense. It is essential to bet the maximum because, having done so, he is now receiving 3-1 for his money and is only 3.2 to 1 against. Also, he must call, as there is some chance you are bluffing.Where there are three or more players in the pot and one has a fairly short stack, there are opportunities for some fancy plays. But you must be fast and accurate. It is no good asking how much the player has left; you are going to have to take your action apparently innocently. For this reason it is better if only chips are used; then it is easier to count an opponent down. For example, suppose there is $5K in the pot. You are first to speak with unlimited funds (what a dream), Sid follows with unlimited funds, and Dave is last to speak holding $8K. If you are very strong, you should bet more that 4K. This way Sid knows that if Dave raises all-in, you will not be able to reraise. He is thus more likely to call. If you are weak, then the better play is less than $4K. Now Sid may pass, knowing he may have to face two raises. Consider London lowball. Dave follows you. Currently you are winning but would dearly like Sid to stack. The correct play is to bet $2K into the $5K pot. Dave raises $8k. Now Sid must call $8K to win $15. You have shaded his odds down below 2-1, whereas a pot bet would have given him 21-8. Moreover, you threaten a reraise of $$29K, so that he is then risking a fortune. He is likely to back off. Dave may not cooperate and pass or just call. That isn’t so terrible, Sid has been given a cheap ticket to seventh street, but the pot is smaller, and there is less to worry about. It may seem a check would have done the job even better, but you want Sid out, and a check-raise always gives him 2-1.
Naturally now you know this, provided the opposition has also read this book, you can use reverse psychology in these coups and play the hand the other way round. That is why I put so much emphasis on knowing the precise pot size, disguising your knowledge, and knowing how deep the money is. Then it is impossible for the enemy to know your motive for betting that precise sum of money. Keep them guessing and off-balance.
You can see from the preceding discussion the dreadful effect on play when the dealer announces the pot size, either because of a foolish house policy that he do so, or by simply volunteering information that was not asked. Both your bets and those of an opponent take on a different meaning when it is obvious that both of you are aware of exactly how much is in the pot. For this reason (and other) we big-bet players much prefer the dealer remain silent unless the player makes a direct inquiry about the pot size. For more on this see “Dealing Big-bet Poker.”
Where there are still several players to act, the chance of running a bluff successfully diminishes sharply. Also, having bet, as each opponent calls, the odds are improved for the next player. This is a little understood double-edged factor. IF there is a pot bet and four players have called in front of you, then you have meaty odds of 6-1. But you have to fight five other players for the pot. Your probability of winning goes down. Clearly, in flop games, where, if you make your hand it is less likely the opposition can win, the more the merrier. In stud or draw games, you may indeed make your hand, but be devastated by one of the other players.