tips for calculating exact pot size

[FredJones888]

Does anybody have a simple method for figuring out the exact pot size? I have never played NL or PL live. Obviously there is no "bet pot" button to press. Just wondering how you know exactly what size the pot is.

[Dov]

keep track of the bets. It gets easier with time.

[smartalecc5]

If you're onine theres always an option to have the current pot size displayed somewhere on the screen.

[schwza]

do it by streets, ignore little stuff.

e.g. "4 x 12 = 48 pre-flop, round up to 50 for blinds, 2 x 40 on the flop, so there's 130."

if there's a limper who folds, don't worry about it. if you get a seat in front of the dealer, you can count the small pots. practice when you're not in a hand.

it's a good habit b/c it'll help you remember the action, as there's no "scroll up in the chat window" bailout if you can't remember who raised pre-flop.

[jonnyUCB]

Easiest way to keep potsize in your head: do the betting yourself [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] . Seriously though if you control the action it will be retained in your head in future streets.

Before the flop is a simple multiplication problem: size of bigbet (or raise size) times amount of people in for flop. If some people drop out to a raise forget the deadmoney since its a marginal addition to the potsize.

On the flop and onward you should be paying attention to all betting going on anyway since you need to be reading betting patterns (when and where they bet particular amounts) as well as controlling your own betting (charging right amount for the draw).

[FredJones888]

Yes, I became addicted to this display and now I need to know the pot size when playing live.