Pot-size bet - calculations

Question: Is the way that Ultimate Bet calculates the maximum allowed bet in pot-limit games, is it the same way it's calculated in casinos?


Here's how UB calculates the max bet. This is from the UB website:


"To see how the calculation of the raise limit would work, let's assume you are playing in a game where the blinds are $1-$2. The next player to act can fold, call the $2, or raise by placing any amount between $4 and $7 in the pot. If the player bets $4, he has raised the minimum, because the previous bet was $2, and he is doubling that. If the player bets $7, he is betting the maximum, because he is first calling the $2 blind bet, creating a total pot size of $5, and then raising the size of the pot. The $2 call plus the $5 raise yields the $7 bet."


So in a $1-$2 blinds pot limit UB holdem game, the UTG player can bet a max of $7.00


In the same situation in a casino, the UTG player would also be able to bet $7.00 ?

I've played in casino games where the small blind was rounded up to the size of the big blind so you could actually open for $8 in the sitaution you stated. There are also games where the opening amount is specified like '1-2 5 to go' where you can't limp for 2 or 'action open' for an amount less then 5.


If you are playing in a casino its usu. best to ask what the opening amount is and if the size of the pot is rounded up before you start playing.

UB takes the pot limit rules a little too literally. I believe in most U.S. casinos, at least in the ones I've played in, you can open for 4x the big blind. So for example if the blinds are 5/10, you can open for $40. Basically this is the same as if it were a 10/10 game - you're calling for 10 to make the pot 30, then raising 30.


TRLS

yes, allowing some multiple ( such as 4 or 5) of big blind is common, perhaps more so than the exact limt used by UB


like their limit on chips you can buy at any one time, this exact pot limit is for THEIR benefit...keep it small so players $$$ last longer, so game lasts longer, so RAKE lasts longer.


one reason that some players would rather play P/L or N/L is that they have a chance to protect their hands by bigger bets...the UB limit of the 1st raise just means that at that point (after the flop) it is more like limit than N/L.

Yes, the UB method is the classical way of calculating pot limit maximum raise size. If you want to raise the max in a pot limit live game, just say "I raise the pot". Then, as for the mechanics, you put out enough money to just call, add up everything out there, and then put in that much more for your raise.


This is always the way it works everywhere I've ever played for postflop betting. The stuff everyone else is talking about only applies, if at all, preflop. As they say, some casinos round up the SB to the size of the BB when calculating the maximum preflop raise.


OK, I just remembered something. Some casinos, maybe most, round up the size of the pot to the nearest even small chip amount. For example, I used to play PL HE with 3,5 blinds in Oceanside, CA. If the pot was $63 postflop, you could bet anywhere from $5 to $65. Similarly, if the blinds were 10,25 and the pot contained $110, you could bet anywhere from $25 to $125.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)