Comments on: Small Ball Strategy – Pre Flop

By: Small Ball Strategy – Flop Bet Sizing « Counting The Odds

Small Ball Strategy – Flop Bet Sizing « Counting The Odds — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:03:46 +0000

[...] a previous post, I looked at this example from TrueGamble, and studied the preflop action; concluding that the [...]

By: Derrick Kwa

Derrick Kwa — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:03:13 +0000

Hi, Thanks for dropping by. =). I'm kind of the opposite of you, I guess. My weak spot is in observing the players at the table, gaining reads and adjusting to it. And I definitely need to find a way to improve on that. Maybe we can help each other out?

As for the raise, I think the analysis demonstrates that 2.5 to 3 times is a good bet size if you're the first in the pot. With more players, it might be a good idea to raise slightly more.

I haven't exactly done the math on this, but essentially, the probability of you winning the hand decreases as more players are in the hand, and so the expected value from playing the flop decreases. Also, the pot odds you are presenting to your opponents would be higher (because of the larger pot size from earlier callers), and as such there will be less folds. Intuitively, I would think that a larger bet size would cancel out those factors.

Oh, and the design is actually a free WordPress theme. Got it from http://www.poker-themes.com/poker-style/ There are some errors in the code, though; I might have to either fix them or change it soon.

By: Derrick Kwa

Derrick Kwa — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:03:13 +0000

As for the raise, I think the analysis demonstrates that 2.5 to 3 times is a good bet size if you're the first in the pot. With more players, it might be a good idea to raise slightly more.

By: stevebrogan

stevebrogan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:35 +0000

When ever I hear a discussion of a hand using math to evaluate it, my eyes start to glaze over and I go into a zen like trance. Math is my weak point and I am going to have to embrace it and use it if I intend to be profitable at this game.

In answer to your question, I come into an un-raised pot with a bet of the pot size as my bet. In a .25/.50 game with .75 already in the pot, my post size bet amount to a raise of $1.75 3.5 times the size of the big blind. This appears to be a standard practice at the tables I play at. And I am not sure if just betting $1.50 would be as effective. Your point is well made.

I like your blog design, by the way.