How To Bet In Poker

4/2/20224/2/2022

In pot-limit poker, the amount you can bet when it's your turn is limited by the size of the pot.

Betting is the crux of poker. The game of Texas Hold’em consists of a series of bets based on the perceived strength of your cards – without betting, it would simply be a game of who got dealt the best hand and players would just wait to have the best possible hand before wagering money. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. To avoid this, cancel and sign in to.

Because it's a little bit more complicated than a standard Limit of No-Limit betting structure we've put together a specific article on How to Calculate the Pot Bet to help you understand how it's done.

Bet The first person to put money in the pot starts off the betting. Other players must then decide whether to call, fold or raise. Call When someone starts the betting, you have to at least match.
Fixed-Limit Poker In fixed-limit poker, the size of each bet is fixed in advance. In Hold'em and Omaha, the first two betting rounds use bets and raises the size of the big blind (called the small bet). In the following two betting rounds, bets and raises are twice the big blind (called the big bet).

The simple rule for making a pot-size bet is:

You can raise the amount that is in the pot after you have called the previous bet.

Here are a few examples to make things clearer.

How to Make a Pot Bet in Poker -- Examples

Pot Bet Example 1

Situation: There's $10 in the pot. You're first to act.

How much can you bet? You can bet $10.

Simple, right? Now we'll make it a little harder.

Pot Bet Example 2

Situation: There's $10 in the pot and a player has bet $3.

How much can you bet? To calculate your maximum bet, first pretend that you call that last bet. The total pot then contains 10 + 3 + 3 = $16.

This is your maximum raise. With the $3 call your total maximum bet would then be $19.

Still with us? Now let's make it a little more complicated.

Pot Bet Example 3

Situation: There's $10 in the pot, one player has bet $3 and another player has raised to $10.

How much can you bet? First, pretend that you call the last bet of $10. The pot then contains 10 + 3 + 10 + 10 = $33.

Your pot raise is $33 and your total bet is $43.

Got it? Even if you're struggling a bit to get your mind around it, don't give up. There are a couple of smart tricks you can use to make it even easier.

If you want to play Pot-Limit poker (like, say, Pot-Limit Omaha) live, you should definitely learn them as you'll need to calculate your pot bets on the fly with a table of other players watching.

If you play your Pot-Limit Omaha online, though, you'll get some help with the betting functions.

How to Make a Pot Bet - Tips & Tricks

If you're playing Pot-Limit poker on online poker sites, the poker client will tell you exactly how much you're allowed to bet. In live poker, the common way to do this is to just say the word 'pot' out loud before you bet.

This establishes that you intend to bet the maximum. Then you can take your time to figure out how much that is.

The Simple 3x Rule for Pot Bets in Poker

Here's another really helpful trick that you can use to calculate the correct size of a pot bet:

To get your maximum bet, multiply the last bet by three and add all other bets, including the original pot.

Does that sound insane to you? That's probably a sane reaction. But the truth is, it actually works!

Let's go through the same examples from above again, this time applying the 3x Rule.

Example 1

Situation: There's $10 in the pot. You're first to act.

How much can you bet? So, 3x the last bet is zero (no one has bet yet). Add the rest of the bets including the pot, which amounts to $10.

Example 2

Situation: There's $10 in the pot and a player has bet $3.

How much can you bet? 3x the last bet is 9 (3 x 3 = 9). Add $10 from the original pot and you get $19.

Example 3

Situation: There's $10 in the pot, one player has bet $3 and another player has raised to $10.