It's not enough to decide whether you bet: how much you bet changes your profitability. Size is measured as a fraction of the pot.
Sizes and what they're for
- Small (25–40% pot): bet with your entire range on dry flops where you have the advantage. Cheap and hard to attack.
- Medium (50–66%): the standard for balanced value and bluffs.
- Large (75–100%+): for polarized pots — strong value and bluffs — where you want to maximize or generate fold equity.
The golden rule: balance value and bluffs
If you bet big only with good hands and small only with bluffs, an attentive opponent reads you. Good players use the same size with value and with bluffs in every situation, to be impossible to exploit. The bigger you bet, the fewer bluffs you need to be balanced (an opponent has to fold more to a big bet).
EjemploYou bet the full pot on the river: the opponent needs to win 50% to call, so to balance yourself you carry ~2 value hands for every bluff. If you bet half pot, the opponent needs 25%, and you carry ~2 value for every bluff too, but the pot grows more slowly.
⚠️ Error común: Betting small with your monster hands “so they'll call.” With the best hand you usually want to build the pot: bet big and let the opponent make the mistake of calling.
💡 Clave: Size isn't random: choose it based on the texture, your range, and whether you're going for value or fold equity.