How to keep track of the pot size?

Hi,

Me and my friends play .25/.50 No-Limit regularly and to try to keep track of the pot size I usually just add the total of the blinds plus future bets/calls and that works fine. But sometimes in the heat of calculating pot odds and putting my opponent on a range of hands I lose track of the pot size and I feel that is causing me to make mistakes. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

I'm just wondering if any of you guys who play No-Limit live can give me some tips or advice specifically aimed at constantly knowing the size of the pot. Thank you.

[clutch]

You could discreetly slide chips from your stack an inch or two off to the side of your main stack to help you keep a running count.

[BoxTree]

Practice.

You just need to count and remember how much money is in the pot. I can offer plenty of tips for keeping track of the pot (number of bets) in limit games, but for NL, you just have to remember the dollar amount.

Practice, practice, practice.

[PokerFink]

As BoxTree says, it's something that comes with practice, just like every other poker skill. Just count each bet as it goes into the pot, and eventually it will become second nature. It's like counting cards in blackjack; you start out by counting off each card individually, then you learn to pair them off, and eventuall you don't even have to think about it, your mind does it automatically.

If you lose count, just go back and count through each action. "Ok, it was raised to ten preflop with two callers, so thirty, fifteen and a call on the turn is sixty, now it's forty to me so I'm getting 2.5-1." Sure, you might look stupid doing the math in your head (god knows I do), but it's better than being stupid and making a mistake.

EDIT: I realize my reply doesn't really help you at all, but there aren't really any tips for doing this. Just keep a running count, and over time it will become easier and easier.

[bobbyi]

I agree with others who say it is practice. One good way to practice is by keeping track when you are not in a hand. If you fold preflop, try to keep track of the pot while the hand takes place. This will give you a lot of practice more quickly than if you are only keeping track when you are involved in the hand.

[BigF]

If you need to know the pot size, take time to count all the chips in the middle. You don't need practice on this.

[GrunchCan]

If you want to practice before playing live, which I highly recommend, do what I did. Put a little post-it over the pot and any pot size text on PP so that you can't see anything. You'll be counting pots subconsiously in no time.

[mudbuddha]

# of callers * bet size..
then round off your #'s . just give yourself nice numbers to work with and it should come easily..

you should always have an idea of how much it is.. thats what i find easiest at 1/2 NL