How To Bet In Texas Holdem

How To Bet In Texas Holdem

Texas hold'em players have a common saying about pre-flop strategy: If your hand is good enough to call with, it's good enough to raise with.
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How To Bet In Texas Holdem Poker
Texas Holdem is one of the most popular variants of poker and has fascinated players for many years. The history of the game is full of intrigue, mystery and full of interest. The popularity of this game has continued to grow and players are flocking from all over the world to get a piece of the action. In Texas Hold'em, betting begins to the left of the dealer button and moves around the table clockwise. At the beginning of a hand, two players must make forced bets, called blinds, in the two seats directly to the left of the button.
This philosophy alludes to how you should come into pots aggressively. Raising pre-flop shows strength to other opponents and sets you up for another potential bet/raise after the flop (a.k.a. continuation bet).
Of course, you need to be selective when making pre-flop raises; otherwise, you'll be spewing chips. And knowing a few crucial factors will help greatly in this department.
Keep reading as I cover the most important aspects regarding Texas hold'em pre-flop raising, including goals, table position, hand strength, bet sizing, knowing opponents, table size, and cash games vs. tournaments.
Why Should You Normally Consider Raising Pre-Flop?Poker is always more fun when you get to see the flop because this gives you more action and extra chances to make great hands.
This is why many new poker players call the big blind (a.k.a. limping) instead of raising. Limping into pots is the cheapest way to see the flop.
But limping is also one of the worst plays in poker because it shows little strength in your hand. Furthermore, you can easily be raised by an opponent acting after you.
You especially want to avoid open limping, where you open the pre-flop betting action by calling the big blind. In addition to showing little hand strength, you also can't take down the pot right away by calling.
Another problem with limping is that you make things easier on your opponents. They can either call behind you to see the flop for cheap or raise and put you in a difficult position.
One more downside to limping is that more players can see the flop cheaply. This gives you less pot equity, or the odds that you'll have the best hand.
Of course, like anything else with Texas hold'em, there are exceptions when calling the big blind that can work. One example is when there are other limpers at the table whom you can outplay post-flop.
But generally speaking, you want to enter pots with a raise, or at least calling another player's raise. The key is to look aggressive from the outset so that you deter other players from raising while representing strong cards.
Pre-Flop Raising Can Accomplish Multiple GoalsOne of the most important things behind raising pre-flop is to have a plan. Furthermore, you want to accomplish specific goals with your raise.
Sometimes your pre-flop raise will check off multiple objectives. Other times, you may be raising with the single goal of stealing the blinds.
Below are some of the most important goals that you can accomplish with a pre-flop raise.
Fold EquityRaising indicates to opponents that you have a good hand, thus increasing the chances that they'll fold marginal cards. And this is where your fold equity comes from.
Another good thing about fold equity is that it allows you to steal pots even when you don't improve on the flop. Of course, you should keep the pot small in these situations in case an opponent calls or re-raises.
Pot EquityHaving the best hand gives you the most equity in the pot. And you want to build the pot as much as possible when you think that you're in the lead.
Isolating a Single OpponentEarlier, I mentioned that raising prevents multiple players from seeing the flop and reducing your pot equity. Ideally, you'll isolate a single player when raising with a strong hand.
Pocket aces, kings, or queens offer a much stronger chance to win when you're only facing a single opponent. The goal here is to raise just enough to where only one player will call.
Table Position Is a Crucial FactorMany beginning poker players focus too much on their hand strength when deciding whether to raise. You also need to strongly consider your table position before raising.
Here are the table positions based on a 9-handed game.
Early position – Small blind, big blind, seat to big blind's left (i.e., under the gun or 'UTG')
Middle position – 3 seats to the left of UTG
Late position – Dealer (a.k.a. button), seat to dealer's right (a.k.a. cut-off), and seat to cut-off's right
Acting earlier in a hand means that you'll have less information on opponents. Therefore, a pre-flop raise from early position means that you're acting before an opponent(s) post-flop.
The general idea is to widen the number of hands you raise with in later seats. This lets you better judge an opponent's hand strength after the flop.
Here's an example.
A tight-aggressive player from middle position raises 3x big blind (bb)
You're in the cut-off with pocket 10s
You re-raise them
They call
The flop comes out Qs-Jh-3d
They make a pot-sized raise into a board with overpair potential. You fold because you're likely beaten
Assuming you were acting in early position post-flop, you'd be left checking and giving the opponent a greenlight to steal. Or you might even bet to steal the pot, only to be called or raised.
But being in position allows you to see that your opponent likely has a better hand and to fold without losing additional money.
What Hands Are Good for Raising Pre-Flop?No two poker games are exactly the same, and there's no uniform way to play every hand in each situation. But there are some generalities that work with certain hands.
One example is when you have a premium pocket pair in a pot where nobody has raised. Outside of rare limp/re-raise opportunities, you should almost always raise in this situation.
For the most part, though, you want to use specific situations to decide when you do and don't raise. Here's advice for playing different pre-flop hands in a full-ring game, based on your table position and the actions before you.
AA and KK – Raise in every situation from any table position. If somebody raises you, re-raise (a.k.a. 3-bet) them.
QQ – Raise in every situation from any table position. If somebody raises you, be willing to call up to 20xbb or 25xbb.
AK – Raise in every situation from any table position. Fold if anybody re-raises you.
JJ – Raise in every situation, except when somebody has raised before you (call 20xbb). Also, call up to 20xbb if somebody re-raises you.
TT and 99 – Fold in early position, but raise from any other spot in unopened pots. Call up to 20xbb if somebody raises beforehand or re-raises you.
88 through 22 – Fold in early position, call in the blinds and middle position, and raise from late position in unopened pots. Call (20xbb) in other situations, including when loose-aggressive players raise, since you have position.
AQ through AT offsuit – Fold in early position and when anybody raises or re-raises you. Raise in unopened pots from middle position, late position, and the blinds. Call from middle position and the blinds if there are other limpers.
A9 through A2 suited – Fold in early position and when anybody raises the pot or re-raises you. Raise in unopened pots from middle position, late position, and the blinds. Call from the blinds if there are other limpers.
KQ, KJ, KT, QJ, QT, JT unsuited – Fold in early and middle position. Raise in late position and from the blinds in unopened pots, but call from these same positions if there are other limpers.
JT through 54 suited – Fold in early and middle position. Raise from late position in unopened pots, but call from middle and late position if there are other limpers.
Any other cards – Fold/check in every situation.
Again, there are exceptions to any hand based on your opponents and the overall table dynamic. But this guide will get you started when figuring out how to play hands pre-flop.
Bet Sizing with Pre-Flop RaisesBet sizing is another area of pre-flop play that varies based on the situation. But a good guideline is to enter pre-flop pots with a 3xbb or 4xbb raise.
The goal is to bet enough to where most players will be deterred from calling, while isolating a single player. Anything less than 3xbb usually draws multiple callers and defeats the purpose of raising pre-flop in the first place.
Sometimes you'll find that even a 3-4xbb pre-flop raise doesn't discourage players from calling. This is especially the case in the micro stakes, where low blind sizes encourage more players to see the flop.
In these situations, you'll need to consider entering pots with a 5xbb raise or higher. This is something that you'll just have to feel out after playing some hands and studying the table dynamic.
Study Opponents Before Raising Pre-FlopKnowing individual opponents is crucial to making good pre-flop raises because it helps you better accomplish your raising goals.
Here's an example.
You have AJ on the button, and everybody has folded
Normally you'd raise in this situation
But both blinds are major calling stations and bad post-flop players
You instead limp in while looking to outplay your opponents post-flop
You should stick with the pre-flop hand advice discussed before when coming onto a new table. But also watch for opportunities to break out of ABC poker based on whom you're playing against.
Keep in mind that reading opponents and adjusting your pre-flop raising strategy accordingly requires experience. The last thing you want to do is burn through chips by making fancy moves against players that you don't have any info on.
Table Size Affects Pre-Flop RaisingThe pre-flop hand advice that I covered before works as a general guideline for 9- and 10-player tables. But when you're playing with 6 people (6-max) or fewer, you need to open up your starting hand requirements.
One reason why is because winning hands aren't as strong on average due to fewer players. Secondly, you'll see the blinds more often per hour, and you don't want to miss out on extra opportunities to win money and cover these blinds.
How wide you increase your starting hand selection depends upon the number of players at your table.
In a 6-max game, you could open your early position raising range to include 9s, 8s, and AQ. At a 3-handed table, you can even add 7s, 6s, AJ, offsuit, ATo, A9 suited, and A8s to this range.
The general rule of thumb is that you need to expand the number of hands you're willing to raise with on a short-handed table. Likewise, you should be more selective in full-ring games because winning hands will be stronger.
3-Betting Pre-FlopA 3-bet is simply the third bet of a round. Here's the basic sequence of how 3-betting works in pre-flop play:
1st bet = Small and big blinds
2nd bet = Open-raise
3rd bet = Re-raise
3-bets have become more common in poker these days, as players look to turn up the aggression on their opponents. Unfortunately, this move is overused by players who blindly show aggression.
You should always have a plan when 3-betting pre-flop. The two reasons to use this play include 3-betting for value or for a bluff.
A value 3-bet means that you're in the lead (e.g., with AA, KK, or QQ) and building the pot while isolating one player. The purpose of a bluff 3-bet is to steal the pot from an opponent who's likely in the lead.
A good bet size, in either case, includes 2x to 3x the pot, depending upon the table dynamic, opponents, your cards, and your position.

If an opponent raises 3xbb (4.5bb in pot), you would re-raise them with between 9bb and 13bb.
I recommend sticking with value 3-bets until you can fully identify situations where bluff 3-bets can work. Here are different things that you need to consider before bluffing with this play.
Your opponents, including ones who'll fold to a 3-bet in a specific situation
What range of hands the open-raiser likes to play
Knowing who's likely to 4-bet
Knowing what 4-bettors will have the nuts and which ones won't
Stack sizes (in tournaments), because shorter stacks are more likely to 3-bet to steal blinds
Your table image and if opponents will think you actually have a strong hand
Table position. You generally want to avoid 3-betting from out of position until you master hold'em
Cash Games vs. TournamentsAnother important distinction in pre-flop raising involves whether you're playing a cash game or tournament.
The main reason for this distinction is that you have a finite number of chips in a tourney. Therefore, you can't just reload when playing speculative hands that don't work out.
Experienced tournament players usually have a tight pre-flop style. This keeps them from wasting blinds while chasing drawing hands with long odds.
Of course, you never want to play too many hands in cash games or tournaments. But the latter requires an even tighter style to avoid blowing your limited chips.
Texas hold'em tournament players are often very aggressive when they raise pre-flop, especially in the later stages of a tournament.
At this point, the blinds begin taking away a player's chip stack. And you need to steal blinds and small pots to stay alive.
Cash game raising differs, though, because you're always looking at plays that offer the maximum expected value.
Cash game players will rarely find it profitable to raise with pocket 3s in middle position. But tournament players are often forced to make decisions like this because of the rising blinds.
You'll also find more opportunities to set mine with lower pocket pairs in cash games.
In contrast, it's almost never a good idea to set mine in tourneys. You have a really low chance of actually flopping your set (11.8%), meaning that you'll waste valuable chips chasing these draws.
5 Common Texas Hold'Em Pre-Flop MistakesOne more important topic I'd like to cover in this discussion is the most common pre-flop mistakes by Texas hold'em players.
Some of these blunders were covered to a degree beforehand. But it's worth reiterating everything just so that you don't fall victim to these mistakes.
Mistake #1: Not Taking Your Position into Account When RaisingPoker players lose the most money when playing out of position. And while there are times when you do need to play in front of opponents, you should work to minimize these situations.
One of the worst things you can do out of position is make frequent raises. You leave yourself open to a large number of re-raising opportunities in these cases.
Even if you're not re-raised, open-raising from early or even middle position puts you at a disadvantage post-flop. You should only open up the range of hands that you're willing to raise with in later seats.
Mistake #2: Raising with Too Many Hands on the ButtonWhile late position gives you important information on opponents, don't overvalue the button by raising too often.
Some players get overconfident on the button and open their raising range too wide. You can get away with this on passive tables, but you'll eventually bleed out money by being too optimistic with your hand range.
Remember that just because you have position doesn't mean a strong hand will automatically fold to your raises.
Mistake #3: Raising Just to Mix Up Your Playing StyleIt's always nice to remain unpredictable to your opponents. But this can go too far when you're making unconventional moves just to mix up your play.
Sure, you might throw off an open-raiser by flatting them with pocket kings, but chances are that you're just giving away value by not 3-betting in this situation.
As you become more advanced, there'll be situations where mixing up your playing style produces good results.
But you're better off in the long run by making conventional pre-flop raises and re-raises, rather than worrying too much about mixing it up.
Mistake #4: Raising Too Often with Offsuit Broadway CardsIf you're going to chase a straight draw, there's no better way to do it than with broadway cards. But you also can't raise with broadway cards too often, especially when they're not suited.
Suited connectors like JT often play better than KJ offsuit because your hand is unlikely to be dominated when you hit a flush or straight.
Meanwhile, the only thing you have to fall back on when your KJ combo doesn't connect is a high pair. Kings could be dominated by aces, while jacks can be beaten by three different high pairs.
Mistake #5: Failing to Have a PlanHow To Bet In Texas Holdem No LimitAs I touched on before, you want a plan when raising before the flop. This is especially crucial when your raising goals don't work out exactly as planned.
Here are some different factors to consider.
What hands are you willing to open-raise with? 3-bet with?
What will you do if an opponent 3-bets your opening raise?
How will the player to your left react to a raise?
When is it best to limp in or call another raise?
ConclusionA Texas hold'em hand features four streets, and it's important to master each street on your way to becoming a great player.
But you should fully learn pre-flop play before anything else because this sets the tone for the entire hand.
Coming into pots aggressively with a raise shows strength and forces opponents into more-difficult decisions. It also gives you a chance to win the pot with the best cards, or by forcing your opponents to fold.
Again, consult the advice I gave on what hands are good for raising pre-flop. This will give you a reference point to work off of in the beginning.
But you should adjust your starting hand range as you learn your opponents and table dynamic. Also, keep in mind that the table size will play a large role in what cards you raise with.
The more Texas hold'em you play, the better you'll be at making pre-flop raising adjustments.
Poker is a lot like sex. Everyone thinks they are the best, but most don't have a clue what they are doing. — Dutch Boyd 
It is very true, but hopefully by and reading our Texas Holdem Strategy section you will at least have a clue how to do well at one of them!
One of the great benefits of poker is that it is quite easy to learn the basics. The rules are quite simple and allow easy access for beginners. However, on the other hand, it is a tough game to master; there's always something to improve upon or learn.
The basic strategy below should provide you with the groundwork for developing a dominant poker game. We link to some more advanced material throughout for anyone that is further ahead of the trend.
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Table Of Contents
Preflop Texas Holdem StrategyStarting Hand Types
Postflop Texas Holdem Strategy
Texas Holdem Strategy: Betting and Raising
Preflop Texas Holdem StrategyYour preflop poker strategy forms the foundation of your game. Your first decisions will be made preflop during a hand, so it is important to get these decisions right. Thankfully this is one of the easier areas of the game to understand.
So to help you understand let's take a quick example (click the picture to see the full replay):
We have JTs (J = Jack, T = Ten and the ‘s' after JT means both cards are of the same suit. An ‘o' after the JT would refer to off-suit)in the first position under the gun (UTG) on a six-handed table with $1/$0.5 BB and SB. We have to decide what to do: we can raise, call (otherwise known as a limp) or fold. There are a huge number of factors which we need to take into account, and unfortunately, I won't be able to cover them all. But I will try to cover the most fundamental factors in the coming paragraphs.
Firstly, it is very common to see new players play too many hands. They believe that they can outplay their opponents post-flop and turn a profit even with the weakest hands. This belief isn't the case and often is the main reasons a new player loses money when starting out.
Only Play A Small Percentage Of The Hands You are DealtThus the first preflop poker strategy tip is to play only a small percentage of the hands you are dealt – the type of hands to play will be discussed further on in the text. Players who play a small selection of the hand they are dealt are referred to as tight. Conversely, players who play lots of hands are known as loose.
The vast majority of winning poker players are relatively tight, and for the most part, losing players are loose. Therefore, the first important poker strategy tip:
Preflop Poker Strategy Tip 1: Only play a small percentage of the hands you are dealt.
Luckily, JTs is in the top 12% of hands and therefore is a hand we would want to continue with, in this case. We can determine ‘how strong' a hand is using a program called Equilab. So our options are now to raise or to call because our hand is too strong to fold.
This result leads onto a second reason new players are unsuccessful – frequent limping
Limping is defined as calling the big blind instead of raising or folding. For example, you are first to act after you have been dealt two aces (AA) or like our example with JTs and instead of raising, you just call – this is called a limp.
Limping: Flawed ReasoningOften, new players limp to see a cheap flop with speculative hands or to trap with strong hands such as AA or KK. Good winning players very rarely limp and there are many reasons why:
You give the other players a chance to beat you with their weak holdings. For example, if you limp with AA and your opponent in the big blind checks behind he will have a chance to outdraw you to three of a kind or two-pair. Do not give people a free chance to improve and beat your strong hands.
Raising with good hands builds the pot. A big hand deserves a big pot! Typically the only way you will win an opponent's whole stack (all of their chips) is by raising preflop; winning their entire stack is what you want when you have AA or KK, right?
It allows you to better understand what your opponent may have. If we limp in and our opponent is in the big blind, he could have every possible hand; however, when we raise our opponent will fold some of the worse hands and the type of hands he can have become more defined. Experienced players use this to their advantage.
Playing speculative hands (hands which could potentially, but infrequently win a big pot) such as 64s (s = suited, o = offsuit) and T2s just is not profitable in the majority of cases, whether you raise or limp, and no matter how good you are at poker.
Preflop poker strategy Tip 2: Never limp preflop
Example: JTs Under the gunSince limping (i.e. just calling) is not an option our only option is to raise. That poses the question of how much? In this case, we will raise to 3x the BB, so $3 and one player calls our bet as shown. We will cover the reason we use 3x later in the article.
Three times the BB is a standard raise size which we will go into later in this article under the heading 'Texas Holdem betting strategy'. But first, a little more on aggression to drive home the point:
You should only raise or fold your hands when first entering the pot. However, calling with some hands after someone else has raised is fine. There are some situations where open limping is a good idea but they are so few and far between that never limping is a good starting preflop poker strategy – especially for a beginner.
This leads to another generalization of how people play poker:
Aggressive vs. PassiveIn poker, an aggressive opponent is a player who bets and raises frequently. A passive opponent is a player who calls and checks often and very rarely bets or raises.
Aggression is one of the keys to success in poker for one simple reason: When you bet or raise, you have two ways to win the pot – either your opponent folds or you get to showdown with the best hand.
Unfortunately, when a player is passive there is only one way to win the pot – by having the best hand. This difference is hugely important and is the reason all big winners are aggressive poker players; while most losing poker players are quite passive.
Preflop poker strategy Tip 3: Take the initiative and be aggressive. Bet and raise your strong hands frequently and don't rely on others to do the betting for you!
The four playing stylesIn total there are four player styles:
Tight-Aggressive (TAg) – This player type which makes up the majority of the winning player pool. They wait for strong hands and bet and raise them hard, punishing other players who play weaker styles.
Loose-Aggressive (LAg) – successful loose aggressive players are few and far between. They play lots of hands and play them very aggressively. It is a tough style to play but also a tough style to combat!
Tight-Passive – this player type does not play very many hands and when they do the play them by calling and checking frequently. These players lose their money slowly but surely.
Loose-Passive – these player types just don't like to fold. Loose passive players play lots of hands – sometimes over 50% of the hands they are dealt. They are the complete opposite of tight-aggressive. This player type is the biggest loser and where the big winners make their money.
So what hands should you play? That is a difficult question to answer since it depends on many factors – what position you are in, how many opponents are on the table, how likely your opponents are to raise, the equity of your hand, how many BB you have and how many hands you have been raising recently.
Starting Hand TypesHowever, there are some basic starting hands that you should almost always be playing:
Premium HandsThere are very few premium hands in poker but when we do get these hands we should be trying to build a pot as big as possible and as quickly as possible. These hands are:
AA, KK, QQ, JJ, and AK – the top pocket pairs and Ace-King. AK is considered to be a powerful hand because:
It dominates all other strong non-paired hands (e.g. AQ and KQ),
Against a pair, it's nearly a coin flip with approximately 45% pot equity (will win the pot 45% of the time if we are to go all-in preflop)
It blocks AA and KK which are the only two hands which have a significant equity advantage.
These hand should always be raised and often re-raised to begin building the pot.
Strong HandsStrong hands are hands you should also always be raised when first entering the pot. These hands should be called when someone has already raised before you. These hands include:
AQ, AJ, AT, KQ and 99-TT. Large suited and connected hands such as QJs, JTs, are also considered strong hands. Suited hands derive their strength from being able to make flushes. However, do not overestimate the value of suited hands. Don't play a hand just because it is suited. The value of a hand is derived from the combination of the ranks of the two hole cards. Example: AQ is much stronger than Q5, AQ is still much stronger than Q5 suited.
Preflop poker strategy tip 4: Do not overestimate the value of ‘suitedness.' Evaluate the strength of the hand from the rank of the two hole cards.
Medium Strength HandsYou need to be careful of this hand type. These hands can make you a big winner if correctly played, but when incorrectly played can cost you lots of chips. These hands include:
KJ, KT, QJ, JT and 22-88. Medium suited connectors such as 87s are also considered to be medium-strength hands.
You will play different hands from various starting positions. Details on this require a separate section – for more on the differences in the positions read position is king which will provide a 'beginners starting hand chart.
Summary Of Preflop Texas Holdem StrategyIn summary, preflop you should:
You should play a small percentage of the hands you are dealt.
Never limp.
Take the initiative and be aggressive. Raise and Reraise your strong hands frequently and don't rely on others to do the raising for you!
Do not overestimate the value of ‘suitedness.' Evaluate the strength of the hand from the rank of the two hole cards.
If all you take from this section is these four points you will still have significantly improved your chances of winning.
For a summary of preflop poker strategy see the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNgcJ4AmjGA
Postflop Texas Holdem StrategyOnce you understand right preflop Texas Holdem strategy, the postflop poker strategy becomes significantly easier. When you play weak hands from poor positions poker is quite difficult; nobody likes to play Q7 from out of position (Out of position means you act first, so your opponent will have more information than you)! However, if you play only a narrow range of hands from good starting positions, as is recommended, poker will become a much simpler prospect.
Postflop, there are many factors which we must take into account before we make a decision. The number of variables makes each decision quite complicated for a beginner. However, there are a few guidelines and concepts which can be understood which will help you in the decision-making process.
Postflop Poker Strategy – The BasicsOne of the most important considerations is if we are in position (IP) or out of position (OOP). We will cover this in more detail in Position is king.
Secondly, we should be considering what our opponent may be holding. Does our opponent have only strong hands if he is a tight player? Does he play lots of hands meaning his ‘range' of hands will be quite weak? See more on how to hand read.
A whole book could be written on hand reading, so I won't go further into it. But it is important as a new player to begin thinking about what your opponent may have. Do not only consider the hand you are holding.
Postflop poker strategy Tip 1: Always consider what your opponent could be holding. 
Next, we should consider the board texture. For example, is the board likely to have improved your hand or your competitors? Is the board likely to change very much on the turn or river? These considerations will be detailed further on in this guide.
Another consideration is how many players made it to the flop. If the flop is heads up (only you and your opponent) the strength of each hand is much better than if five or even six people made it to the flop. The more players that see the flop, turn, and river the less likely you are to win a showdown with a weak holding such as one pair. For more information on the differences between multiway and heads up pots, head over to pokernews.com.
Postflop poker strategy Tip 2: The more players there are in the hand, the less likely you are to win and the weaker your holding. 
Finally, we need to consider how many chips are in the pot, how much we have left behind in our stack and how many chips our opponent has.
After these considerations, we can make a decision on how we are going to proceed in the hand.
So first let's have a look at board texture:
Postflop Poker Strategy: NotationBefore we discuss post-flop poker strategy and board composition in detail, we need to make sure the notation is clear to everyone.
In some cases, pictures will be used to show board textures, but often just text will be employed. When describing the board with text (i.e. letters and numbers), each card rank is represented by either its number or the first letter of its name. To take an example, the board:
This texture is described by 5♥ K♣ 5♦ and is often shortened to 5hKc5d. It is sometimes shortened further to 5K5r. Here the ‘r' means rainbow (the flop is all different suits). When the flop has a flush draw (i.e. not a rainbow board) the board could be represented by 5K5s. Here the ‘s' represents suited.
There are many types of boards, but in general, they can be broken down into two types: dry board textures and wet board textures.
Dry Board TextureDry board textures are ones which the players in the hand are less likely to have connected with the community cards. Also, dry also means a board which the strength of your holding is unlikely to change over the course of the hand.
Examples of dry board textures are:
Why are these boards considered dry? Well on the K55 board there are not many hands that will change the strength of your opponent's or your holdings. If for example, you held KQ, then the only way your opponent can now beat you is if he has:
Well on the K55 board there are not many hands that will change the strength of your opponent's or your holdings. If for example, you held KQ, then the only way your opponent can now beat you is if he has:
If for example, you held KQ, then the only way your opponent can now beat you is if he has:
An Ax (e.g. Ace-Queen or Ace-Seven) hand and hits an ace on the turn or river.
A pocket pair such as 77 which hits his set on the turn or river (unlikely).
A hand such as QJ which hits a runner-runner straight (two cards in a row – for example, the turn is a Ten, and the river is an Ace resulting a straight Ten to Ace) or runner runner full house (two Queens or two Jacks).
The most important factor is that neither of these two board has many straight-draw or flush-draw possibilities. The lack of draws means that if you have a hand like A5 on the K55 board or 44 on the 742 board you are very unlikely to be beaten by your opponent if he is behind on the flop.
Additionally, dry flops are inherently difficult to hit and hence makes continuation betting as the pre-flop raiser (you raised first, and someone called your raise) especially useful on dry boards. Continuations bets will be detailed further on in this section.
Wet board textureOn the other hand, wet board textures are boards where the board is very likely to change over future streets.
Looking at the QT9s board, there are many cards which will modify the strength of many hands. If we have AQ or TT on this board we have a strong hand; but on many turn cards such as a K, J, 8 or any heart, the strength of these hands will significantly degrade. Also, there are many hand types that your opponent may have hit this board with:
Any 8 or K is an inside straight draw (4 cards will complete the straight).
Any J is an open-ended straight draw (8 cards will make a straight)
The majority of opponents plays Queens, Tens, and Nines.
Therefore, your opponent is likely to continue with a large proportion of his hands on this board.
We can directly translate all these points to the 432s board; except for the last as this board has cards of lower ranks. On the 432s board, however, every Ace has an inside straight draw. Aces will be played quite frequently by most opponents.
Every other board type will be somewhere in between the dry K55r and the wet QT9s. Understanding how wet or dry a board is and adjusting your strategy correctly is the key skill at play in this scenario. For more information on board textures, see this excellent article.
Continuation bettingA continuation bet, as its name suggests, is when you follow up on your previous aggressive action with another bet. For example, you raise pre-flop and then continue to bet on the flop. Continuation bets are extremely useful postflop poker strategy for two reasons:
It is tough to connect with most board types; therefore player who bets first will often win the pot
The player who last raised pre-flop will typically have the strongest hands; thus will get the benefit of the doubt when he bets again.
The rate at which you continuation bet should be, on a very basic level, determined by the wetness of the board.
The dryer the board, the less likely your opponent hit and therefore the more often we will want to bet so that we can take down the pot.
But we should also be more prone to bet when we have a chance to win the pot when called. In other words, we have pot equity in the form of a draw or overcards.
Postflop poker strategy Tip 3: The dryer a board texture, the more likely we are to win the pot by continuation betting (cbet). 
Example 1: A Good Spot To CBetSo let's take a few examples of good examples of continuation bets. Continuation from our previous example of JTs from UTG (click the picture to see the full replay):
We opened to 3bb from UTG and got one call from the Button. On the flop of 9h7s3s, we have an inside straight draw and two overcards. This board is ranked medium for wetness and how the opponent connects; our opponent can have a few straight and flush draws as well as top pairs.
JTs is a good hand in this situation as we can make robust pairs on the turn and river and also can make the nut straight. Thus this is a good spot for a cbet as a bluff. We expect him to fold hands which are better than ours. However, if he does continue, we have a good chance of making a stronger hand with a J, T or 8.
We should keep bluffing to a minimum when playing small stakes and especially at play money poker. But in this case, it is almost a perfect situation for a bluff.
Example 2: Another good spot to CBetAnother situation for a good cbet is below:
We raised with 22 from the Button and got two callers from the SB and BB. Both check to us on the flop. This situation is a clear spot to value bet (value betting and bluffing are discussed in the next section). The flop is relatively wet, and two players can draw out us with straights and flush draws. Therefore, we want to charge them to see them next card.
Also, we have a robust hand (the second or third strongest depending on whether our opponents will re-raise KK preflop). We can get lots of value and win a big pot by betting; thus this is an excellent spot for a value bet.
Cbetting for value is a fundamental aspect of our postflop poker strategy and is one of the primary sources of profit at small stakes. Ensure you understand and utilize continuation betting fully by reading our in-depth article.
Example 3: A bad spot to CbetBelow is a dangerous situation to continuation bet:
We raise a limper with 98s and get a call from the BB and the player who limped. The flop is terrible for us as we have a small amount of equity and this board is likely to have hit one of our opponents. Thus it is not a good spot to continuation bet (cbet), and we should check behind and fold to any future bets.
Postflop poker strategy Tip 5: Do not cbet on board textures where your opponent is likely to call, and you have little chance of improving on later streets 
Continuation bets can also apply to the turn and the river. For example, we refer to betting the flop, turn and river as a continuation bet.
Continuation bets are how a significant proportion of your winnings will be generated at small stakes and free money poker. People often give up when they do not hit anything so take advantage of this fact.
Best Way To Bet In Texas HoldemStack sizesThe number of chips you have bought in for or currently have on the poker table is known as ‘stack depth.'
If you are playing ‘short stack' poker, it means you are not playing with very many chips on the table – for example, 40bb. We do not recommend shallow stack play. Shallow stack poker means we have fewer chips on the table and hence we can win fewer chips from the weak poker players at the table.
Conversely, deep-stacked play means you have a lot of chips at the table – e.g. 200bb deep.
The shallower your stack depth, the more likely you should be to go all in. In poker terms going all-in is called ‘stacking off.'
Stack depth has a profound effect on your preflop and post-flop poker strategy so ensure you are aware of your stack depth at all times.
For example, it would be appropriate to allow yourself to get all in with post-flop with top pair good kicker such as KQ on K72 if you had a stack depth of 40bb; however, not if you had a stack depth of 100bb or greater.
Postflop poker strategy tip 5: The greater your stack depth, the stronger a holding you need to stack off. Always be aware of your stack depth before entering a pot. 
Before playing a hand pre-flop, you should be checking the stack depth of you and your opponents. Checking stack depth ensures you understand how many chips are at play.
One mistake often made by new players is not considering effective stack size: if you have 100bb and your opponent has 40bb then the effective stack size is 40bb; this is because your opponent can win no more than 40bb from you. Hence your effective stack size can vary from hand to hand, and you must adjust your post-flop poker strategy accordingly.
For a summary of post-flop strategy see this video below:
Texas Holdem Strategy: Betting and RaisingBetting is the fundamental aspect of poker which makes it an exciting game to play. The ability to wager money as a bluff inducing your opponent to fold is one of the biggest selling points of the game; it is the first thing people think of when discussing poker!
But it's not all about bluffing as Hollywood has led you to believe. A lot of a winning Texas Holdem strategy just involves getting your bets in when you have a better hand than your opponent.
Poker betting strategy: reasons to betThere are three reasons why one would want to bet:
For value – to get worse hands to call meaning we will win a bigger pot. For example, you value bet AK on an Ace high board (such as A72) to get AQ, AJ, etc. and worse pairs to call.
As a bluff – to get better hands to fold so we can win the pot with a poor holding. For example, you may be QJ on the A72 board to get hands such as non-paired Kings (KQ, KJ) to fold.
As a semi-bluff – A semi-bluff is much like a natural bluff only that when we are called we will still have a good likelihood of winning the pot. With a semi-bluff, we have a lot of pot equity. An example of a semi-bluff would be betting or raising with a flush draw: a weak non-made hand which has the potential to make a robust hand. See more information on semi-bluffing.
Before betting, consideration should be made as to why a bet is being made. Can worse hands call our bet and provide us with value? Can we get better hands to fold? If neither is the case, you typically shouldn't be betting. This concept is integral to correctly implementing a solid poker betting strategy.
Poker Betting Strategy Tip 1: Always consider when betting, will your bet either get your opponent to fold a better hand (bluffing) or call with a worse hand (value betting).
This concept can difficult to grasp as a new player. But generally, you should be just betting with your strong hands; and if you are playing small stakes or especially free poker, keep bluffing to a minimum. People at low stakes or even play money poker do not fold; thus bluffing at these stakes is a complete waste of money.
Poker betting strategy: Bet sizingBet sizing is one of the most complicated parts of NLHE and is one of the most challenging aspects to grasp for a new player. For simplicity sake there a few rules to stick to which won't lead you too far wrong:
Preflop raise to 3 times (3x) the BB with all hands you are opening. Do not vary your bet sizing depending on your hand strength. Changing your bet sizing based on your hand strength is a sure-fire way to let your skilled opponents what you are holding.
The same applies when re-raising another player preflop, make your raise three times the initial raise. For example, a player in a 100Nl game might open to $3. In that case, when you re-raise him with your strong holdings such as AA or KK, make it $9.
Postflop bet between 1/2 and full pot size bets. That means that if on the flop, the pot is $10 you should be betting between $5 and $10. Any smaller than that and your opponent can easily call with a lot of hands. Allowing your opponent to call with lots of hands means you miss value with strong hands; also, your opponent isn't likely to fold when you are bluffing. This is a bad result either way!
How To Bet In Texas Hold'em PokerFor a more advanced guide on poker bet sizing see: Pokerlistings.com
A big mistake new players often make is using the same bet size as the pot grows on each street. For example: betting 5$ into a $10 pot on the flop and then betting $5 into a $20 pot on the turn. Your bet sizes should be relative to the pot! As the pot grows so should the size of your bet. Think fractions, not dollar amounts!
How To Properly Bet In Texas HoldemPoker Betting Strategy 2: As a general rule always raise at least three times the previous bet or raise. When betting post-flop bet between 1/2 to a full pot-sized bet. 
These bet sizing rules aren't optimal; they are approximations. However, they should provide you with solid groundwork to get you off to a good start in your poker career.
Once you begin to understand the merits of betting and raising and develop a more comprehensive poker betting strategy you can start to see when it is appropriate to deviate from these rules.
See this video on value betting for more information.
Further ReadingThat's it for Texas Holdem Strategy. If you are really keen on learning poker quickly, we would suggest you check out our home page for more information to accelerate your poker learning.
There is still a lot to learn so here are some further reading:
Common poker mistakes.
Or return to poker 101?
How To Bet In Texas Holdem PokerLast updated: 26 October 2020