It’s very common for amateur online poker players to struggle with properly sizing their bets when they are first learning the game. If you’re not able to make bets of the correct size at each stage of a hand, you’ve got a huge problem that can lead to others taking your money. Following these basic tips can help you take better control of your game through proper bet sizing.

How big should your bets be? The size of any bet made at the table should be made in relation to the current size of the pot in front of you. Before making any bet, you should look at the money that’s currently in the pot and then pot odds come into play. Every bet made shifts the pot odds for every player and being on the right side of that equation (the proportion of amount of money you’ve contributed to the pot versus the amount you gain by winning the pot) is crucial for any player. Every time an opponent makes a call with bad odds, you are taking one step closer to winning money at the table.

A quick role for no limit betting and the size of your bets is that if you have a solid hand and feel your opponent is playing with weaker cards, you should be willing to bet between 75% and the entirety of the pot when your turn comes around. If you feel you have the best hand in a no limit holdem game and the pot is $50, bet between $38 and $50 each time it’s your turn.

An advantage of making bigger bets when you have a good hand is that you are immediately putting the other players in a tenuous position and their subsequent calls, checks, and raises will tell you exactly how strongly they feel about their hand. We can use this information against them in the next round. It can be daunting to bet 3/4 of a pot, but it’s a fantastic way to get the tactical knowledge you need to become a truly great poker player

Finally, a good rule of thumb when it comes to pre-flop betting is to raise around three or four times the size of the big blind. It’s aggressive, true, but it can easily shake down other players and sometimes you end up collecting their blinds and early bets without actually having to play the hand and as much as we love playing poker, getting people’s money with no work is even better!