How deep is deep?

In a no-limit game how many times the big blind would normally be considered deep? How about in pot limit?


When the money is deep how much more should one bet to protect a hand as a general guide?

Depends on the buy and what you can afford. Guys with a big rack of chips can bully guys with smaller racks. If you get top pair with a good kicker or even flop trips it's a good idea to protect it by betting big so noone can draw out on you. Obviously noone on a flush draw or straight draw will want to pay a pot size bet to go for their draw. That's one of the best pros of NL or PL; you can stop people from drawing out by betting big.

maybe a couple of hundred times the big blind. the best sized bet is usually around the pot size. you bet more when the pot is already big and you know you may be going all the way and dont want to give good odds to someone. or when you are happy if they go out. or when you think he will come for whatever you bet. etc.

Say i'm playing no limit 2 from the button and i have about 350 times the big blind. The player in the small blind has me covered, as does the player on my immediate right who has limped. Noone has has more than half my stack (over 3 times the max buyin). I have two black Aces how much should i bet? If i had only 100 times the big blind i would bet about 10-15 times the blind when players have already limped, but i feel betting only this much is asking players to take a shot at my stack.

You may, want to repost your last question as a new thread. People reviewing may not read this deep in the thread if they think the original question has been answered. Plus after ray and others have answered, what's the use :-)

I really don't think how many times the BB you have in front of you has anything to do with how much you should raise preflop, unless you are very short stacked.


Whether you have 100x or 300x the BB is not that relevant, you have enough. What I mean is that you are going to be committed to the pot faster with 100x but you still are not in trouble preflop. You have room to play.


I usually raise 3 or 4 times the BB, more if there are limpers. But not 15x the BB. Say I am playing is a 1-2$ blinds game and I have 200$ in front of me, I would never raise to 30$. To me putting 30$ to win 3$ is not good poker. I would raise to say 6 or 8 and hope I get called. You want to profit with your aces not only win the blinds. With limpers, I'd raise to say, 10-12$. Of course, it always depends on the opponents. And would you raise to 30$ on a steal? If not then you might become predictable if you only raise big with big hands.


What you want to do is raise an amount that will give you a nice profit if you get called and an amount that will cut down the pot and implied odds of your opponent. 3-4 times the BB is the usual rule of thumb.


Also, don't you want anyone to take a shot at your stack when you have aces? That's the whole point of no-limit hold'em; moving in with your aces preflop, or by any extent, with the best hand.


Good luck,


Nicolas Fradet (ThePrince)

I agree but the blinds in this game are very small (ultimatebet 25c/50c game) and many people are raising it between $5 and $10 preflop. What i really want of course is to be able to reraise with my Aces and build a large heads up pot, but noone would comply. And i do also raise the same amount with 67 suited from time to time, but i think raising to only $2 or $3 gives suited connectors too much chance to try and break me. I'm certainly going to bet at least the pot on the flop, unless it is a very scary flop.