Purpose of Betting

There are a number of common situations in no-limit Texas Hold’em when you should be betting. Sometimes you’re sure you have the best hand, so you bet in order to try to make more from those still in the hand with you. Other times you think you might have the worst hand, so you bet as a bluff to try to get opponents to fold. Recognizing spots when you should be betting is important to becoming a skillful player.

Why Bet

First and foremost, whenever you make a bet, you should have some reason for doing so. Remember, when the action is on you, you never are required to bet -- sometimes you check, or you fold to another’s bet. But there are times when you choose to bet, and you should do so to accomplish a specific goal, or even multiple goals. What is your strategy?

The four key reasons to bet are to gain value, protect your hand, bluff, or gain information. Let’s talk about each of these purposes.

Betting for Value

When you have what you consider to be the likely best hand, it is generally good to make a “value bet” in the hopes that an opponent you believe holds a worse hand will call. Let’s say the board reads K-6-3-9-2 and you hold 6-6 for a set of sixes. Action on the previous streets suggests to you that your opponent probably has a  pair of kings, or maybe even two pair, and cannot beat your three of a kind. Thus, you bet here to gain value, hoping for a call so you can win both what is already in the middle plus a few more chips on the end.

Protect your Hand

Betting to protect your hand generally happens prior to the river when all of the community cards have yet to be dealt. For example, you raise before the flop with A-K from late position and the player in the big blind calls. The flop comes Ah-9s-8h and your opponent checks. You’ve made a pair of aces and probably have the best hand at the moment, so a bet here could be called a bet for value. But you are also betting to protect your hand against possible straight and flush draws. Not betting would probably be a mistake, since you’d be letting drawing hands (e.g. Jh-10s or Kh-Jh) see another card for free.

Bluff Betting

A bluff, meanwhile, is any bet that is made with the intention of causing your opponent to fold since you believe the value of his or her hand to be better than yours. For instance, the river has come, the board reads Ah-9s-8h-2s-Kd, and you are holding Jh-10h. You missed your draws, but your opponent checks to you. If you check behind, you know there’s little chance you can win, so you bet as a bluff, hoping to encourage your opponent to fold.

Bet for Information

Finally, you may bet to gain information -- that is, to learn more about what your opponent might have by the way he or she reacts to your bet. Let’s say a player on the button raises before the flop and you call from the big blind with a pair of tens. The flop comes K-9-6. If you check, your opponent will frequently bet here as a “continuation-bet.” Thus you won’t really learn much about what your opponent is holding by checking. Your opponent was probably going to bet no matter what the flop was.

But if you make a bet here instead of checking, your opponent has to decide whether to fold (which would be fine), call the bet, or raise. A call might mean your opponent doesn’t like that flop too much. Meanwhile, if your opponent responds with a raise, your tens might not be best. In any case, your bet certainly gets you more information than just checking.

Whenever you are about to make a bet, ask yourself “Why am I betting here?” If you can’t come up with a reason(s), then you probably shouldn’t be betting.