Nothing gets the heart pounding like a good old fashioned all-in-pre-flop move. On the other hand, nothing feels worse than an early exit from a long awaited tournament. So many beginners try to copy the gutsy all in moves that they see on television, but what they often fail to realize is that these are only the highlight reels, so to speak. The players at the later stages didn’t get there by going all in as often as the televised broadcasts might make you think. Oftentimes, the tournament is edited so that you only see the gutsy moves and the knockout hands. Seldom do you see the long steady stream of consistent bets and small victories necessary for players to advance to the middle and later rounds of the tournament.

Types of Bets

In order to win on a fairly consistent basis, a player needs to understand a number of betting concepts. First, the size of the bet and the position from which the bet was made should be strategic. A player in early position may want to claim or establish his or her dominance or presence in the pot by making a large bet, roughly 2 times the size of the big blind. This bet will indicate that the player is not limping in. Anything larger than a bet of this size, pre-flop, would indicate a lack of rational behavior, and many players that haven’t committed one single chip into the pot yet, will simply fold.

Value Bet: A value bet is a bet that a player makes in the hopes of being called. The idea is to make a bet that is reasonable enough that an opponent can call the bet without feeling as though he or she is overpaying to stay in the pot and at the same time you are giving your opponent good enough odds to call with a marginal hand or a drawing hand.

The Semi Bluff: The semi-bluff is an act of betting at a pot in order to “buy time.” It is usually done when a player wants to continue drawing. By making the bet on the flop, you might get a few calls, which would payoff well if you do catch your outs. Another benefit of the Semi Bluff bet is that it sometimes carries over into the next round of betting, because your opponents might anticipate another bet from you, and will check to you, as opposed to raising to you. At this point, you might
just check to the river.

Continuation Bet: If you are going to learn how to bet in poker, the continuation bet, or c-bet, is used as a means of demonstrating to the opponents that the flop did not phase you, miss you completely, or cause any damage to your odds of winning the hand, and that you continue to believe that your hand will hold. Caution is required when making a continuation bet. Some players have come to expect that the one who raised pre-flop will continue to bet on the flop and the turn. This is where aggressive players steal pots. Players tend to use this method until they get caught.

Challenge Bet: The challenge bet, or probe bet, is often used by a player hoping to gain a tell or some information about the strength of his opponent’s hands. In particular, if one player led with the betting but checked after the flop or on the turn, his opponent might fire a challenge bet or probe bet at him, as a means of testing him.

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