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When playing no limit ring games or tournaments, it is important to keep your bet sizes the same. By raising pre-flop the same amount each time, it becomes difficult for your opponents to put you on a hand. If you end up raising less with your premium pocket pairs, your observant opponents will be more likely to accurately put you on a hand.

Typically, most good players will raise pre-flop three to four times the big blind. They will make the same size raise if they have pocket aces or 76 off-suit. This keeps your opponents guessing if the flop helped you or not.

It is also important to maintain consistency with your bet sizes post-flop. If you end up varying the size of your bet based on whether or not you were helped by the flop or not, your opponents will have a huge advantage. It will be almost as if your cards are face up. A bet on the flop after you were the pre-flop raiser is called a “continuation bet”. Post-flop bets are typically measured in relationship to the pot size.

A typical continuation bet is at least half the pot. Sometimes it is advisable to bet three quarters of the pot or a bet that equals the pot. Bet any less than that and you are giving your opponents the proper pot odds to continue with the hand. Betting more than the pot will most likely result in your opponents folding, and you not getting paid off on your strong hands.

Obviously the size of your continuation bet should depend on the characteristics of your opponents. When up against calling stations, you will need to bet a little more and likewise, against tight passive players you should probably bet a bit less.

Another factor to consider is the number of opponents. In a hand against multiple opponents, your bets need to be a little larger because there is a greater chance that at least one of your opponents is on a draw. If you are up against a single opponent, you will likely be able to protect your hand with a smaller bet.

The nature of the flop is also important when determining how much to bet. If you have top pair or an overpair and the board appears safe, you should make a smaller continuation bet as you want your opponents to call with hands like middle pair. If the board has obvious potential straight or flush draws, then you will want to bet more in order to protect your hand. You want to charge your opponents more, in order to hit their draw.

There are many factors in determining how much you should bet. There is a fine line between getting value out of your strong hands while protecting your hand against your opponents’ draws. Being consistent with your bet sizes will give you a big advantage over your opponents because you will be tougher to read.

The semi-bluff is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal of poker tricks. You can win pots without hitting your hand. When you are semi-bluffing, you may hit part of the board, but you are typically raising with some sort of draw like a flush draw or an open ended straight draw.

The idea is to win the pot right there, but if you are called you have a number of outs to win the pot.

Ideally, you would want to attempt a semi-bluff against tighter opponents who are more likely to fold their hand. The fewer players in the pot, the more likely you will be successful. It is generally not worth it to semi-bluff at very small pots, but the chances of success are much higher.

The larger the pot, the less likely you will be successful, but when you are successful, you will win more money.

Here is a good example of an opportunity to semi-bluff: You are on the button in a limit ring game and it is folded to you. You raise preflop with AQ of clubs. The small blind folds, and the big blind re-raises with pocket nines. You call and see a flop of 10 of clubs, 6 of hearts and 2 of diamonds.

The big blind bets, you call, and you both see the turn which is the Jack of clubs. The big blind bets again and now you raise. You don’t have the best hand here, but the big blind doesn’t know that. He very well might fold his pocket nines, which don’t look so good with you showing aggression on this board. Even if the big blind was to call, any club, a queen or an ace will now give you the best hand and allow you to win the pot.

To recap, when you semi-bluff, you are hoping your opponent will fold their hand right then. The semi-bluff is a more powerful weapon than a pure bluff, because even if your opponent calls, you have a decent shot at outdrawing them. By adding the semi-bluff to your arsenal, you will find yourself winning pots without necessarily hitting your draws.

I prefer to play shorthanded poker. I like it when there are six or less players at the table because I am dealt more hands per hour than at a full ten person table. I can exploit my opponent’s mistakes a lot more, therefore, I make a lot more money playing shorthanded.

While playing shorthanded is my preference, there are times that you might find yourself at a shorthanded table. You might have a few players sitting out; a couple of players might have left the table; or a table with your preferred limit might open up and you join that table hoping for more players to sit down.

When you are playing at a shorthanded table, try to imagine that you are playing at a full ring game and the first four players have folded. This strategy will help you adapt your game without becoming too loose, which is a common error.

To understand this concept, in a full ring game you should probably fold KJ off-suit from under-the-gun, but you should raise with that hand from middle position if you were first to enter the pot. If you are playing in a shorthanded game, you could raise KJ off-suit from under-the-gun (because it would be the equivalent of middle position in a full ring game.

When you are playing shorthanded poker and you are the first to enter the pot, you should raise. Aggressiveness is absolutely key to you having success in a shorthanded game. Since there are fewer players, high cards (even unsuited) go up in value, while smaller suited connector cards go down in value.

The reason is because there are fewer players involved in every hand, therefore you often do not have the pot odds to play draws. Hands like top pair are worth much more in a shorthanded game than in a full ring game.

Many players become too loose and aggressive when they are playing shorthanded. They will bluff a lot more and quite often raise the turn when they are on a draw. Since there are fewer players at the table, it is much easier for you to see the patterns in your opponents’ play.

You really want to adapt your game to the tendencies of your opponents. As with any form of poker, position is important.

Just remember, even though shorthanded and weaker hands usually win the pot, if an extremely tight passive player is raising you on the turn, you should fold all but your very strong hands.

That part of poker never changes.