Choose your bet size

[barongreenback]

A hypothetical question.

You're playing in your normal game (most players 100BB stacks or so). Before you start you have to choose ONE bet size relative to the pot (eg pot, 1/2 pot, 2/3 pot etc.). This will be the only size bet you can make on the flop and turn. Preflop, river and all raises and reraises are normal. Your opponents have no restrictions. They don't know that you are doing this.

1. What size bet do you choose?
2. How much do you think this limitation costs you compared to normal play?
3. What situations does this hurt you most?

If you think some aspect of your game (shorthanded, whatever) is relevant then please say so.

I know this scenario is totally hypothetical but i'ts just a way to start discussion about bet size, play balancing and information leakage so feel free to talk generally.

Thanks in advance,
James

[BobboFitos]

easy, half pot.

protects my hand majority of the time while allowing you money on the river when you're hands arent tied.

this hurts me most when i want to go all in and have more then half pot left [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[9cao]

2/3 pot. 1/2 does not protect pot when ahead versus multiple opponents and bluffs are pointless. This restriction hurts me the most when I miss my draws and when you hit a disguised monster against big hands.

[edge]

I go for 2/3-pot. A lot of the time I 2/3-pot the river anyway, so it's not a huge loss to take away other betting sizes. I'd like to bet more on the flop most of the time (90%-pot or so), but 2/3 isn't too large of a difference. 1/2-pot is too small to build for good hands or chase weak draws away.

[soweak.]

I think Mike Caro had an article that posed this exact same question. He also chosed ab about 2/3's of the pot because it cut out draws and also gives us value on our hands. I do not know his exact reasoning, but I think it may still be on his website.

[rwperu34]

1. I go with 2/3 of the pot.
2. That is pretty much how I play anyways.
3. Where it would hurt the most is when 2/3 commits me to the pot and I;

* A) Don't want to be commited
* B) Need the extra folding equity that comes from a push
* C) Would leave them implied odds to draw out on me.

[barongreenback]

Some thoughts wrt pot building.

Say pot = 1 on the flop. If I then bet and get called on the flop and turn then the pot on the river is as follows for different bet sizes:

1/2 pot = 4
2/3 pot = 5.4
3/4 pot = 6.25
1 pot = 9

Compounded the bet sizes makes quite a difference to the pot. Potting it on each street is difficult to beat as a way of getting money in without making it easy for your opponent to get away. Problem is I want to bet less with most hands but this will leak information. I don't know which area is more important to get right. Inducing raises with smaller bets may be an alternate method to get money in but won't work with all opponents.

James