do you vary your bet size?

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i was reading the responses to the 'theory of top set' post. some very interesting comments there. one that stuck out was "first, try and do whatever is consistent with what you would do with a lesser hand." that is, don't give away the strength of your hand by doing something unusual.

that got me thinking about another topic that has troubled me lately. after reading HOH i tried to start varying my bet size for awhile, but it didn't seem right to me. i've always been inclined to make the same size bets in most stituations because i think it's harder to read, and i think the comment from the other post(made by Tilt) supports my thinking.

if you always make a half pot size bet on the flop how can your opponent ever know if your leading out with top set or making a continuation bet with nothing? further more, if you make the same play as a semi-bluff with a strong draw it makes it even mroe difficult for opponenets to put you on a hand.

on the other hand, if i vary my bets i feel that i can't make them random enough to not give away info. that might be paranoia on my part but i always think "he knows i'm trapping because i bet less,' or 'he knows i hit my TPTK and i'm trying to defend it by betting more.'

what do you guys think? do you stick with a standard bet or do you try to mix it up?

last, is this a read dependent thing(most things are)? do you bump your bets up or down based on what you think your opponenet will or will not call? if you do that don't you give away info to players that aren't in the hand?

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To me it depends on who I am playing. Normally I like to mix up my bet! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]


http://www.darkwars.org/index.php?a=click&id=89707

[mudbuddha]

why do you put that crap on the bottom of your post
whats wrong with you ??

I find that 3-5x BB is my typical preflop raise and I will always do it, unless there are limpers, in which case I will typically raise more. Comments?

[Abbaddabba]

As was already said, if you're playing in games where the competition is so tough that you fear the way you randomize your bet size may be interpreted by players, find another game.

Don't be so concerned about being read. Be more concerned about interpreting what they do. The amount of information that they get from you betting half the pot as opposed to 3/4 of the pot is negligable. If you're varying the bets effectively, they're more likely to misinterpret it than they are to correctly interpret it. Deception isn't the key though. Value is much more important. Don't be scared to bet big when you have a big hand because you think they'll be able to read you like a book. You'd be suprised at how often people use the rationale "if they wanted me to call, why would they bet so much?" as an excuse to call huge bets with marginal hands.

[Zetack]

[ QUOTE ]
i was reading the responses to the 'theory of top set' post. some very interesting comments there. one that stuck out was "first, try and do whatever is consistent with what you would do with a lesser hand." that is, don't give away the strength of your hand by doing something unusual.

that got me thinking about another topic that has troubled me lately. after reading HOH i tried to start varying my bet size for awhile, but it didn't seem right to me. i've always been inclined to make the same size bets in most stituations because i think it's harder to read, and i think the comment from the other post(made by Tilt) supports my thinking.

if you always make a half pot size bet on the flop how can your opponent ever know if your leading out with top set or making a continuation bet with nothing? further more, if you make the same play as a semi-bluff with a strong draw it makes it even mroe difficult for opponenets to put you on a hand.

on the other hand, if i vary my bets i feel that i can't make them random enough to not give away info. that might be paranoia on my part but i always think "he knows i'm trapping because i bet less,' or 'he knows i hit my TPTK and i'm trying to defend it by betting more.'

what do you guys think? do you stick with a standard bet or do you try to mix it up?

last, is this a read dependent thing(most things are)? do you bump your bets up or down based on what you think your opponenet will or will not call? if you do that don't you give away info to players that aren't in the hand?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like to keep my preflop raises very similar, but even these vary depending on my position, whether I'm opening, how many people have come in already, whether there's a raise in front, the size of the stacks I'm playing against, the size of my stack, the size of the blinds compared to the average stack, and how close we are to the money and how my opponents have been reacting to my raises(Some of these apply only or mostly to tourney play).

Post flop there are even more factors that can affect my bet size and I don't make nearly as much effort to keep my bet sizes the same as I do pre-flop.

--Zetack

[Ricardido]

I try to think i do, but for an experienced player i probably am like an open book in terms of readability

i do if i'm playing well. no, if i'm tired and everybody sucks.