How much to bet on the flop in no limit hold em
Bet the right amount for the situation
Simplistically speaking when you have a strong made hand you want to get as much of your money in the pot as possible without your opponent folding. What this amount actually will be will vary on a number of factors, not least of which are who your opponent is, how strong your hand is and how vulnerable your hand is.
Bet big with good but vulnerable hand
Say you have 77 on a flop of As 7s 8c. You would want to bet this hand strongly making pot sized bets and raises. Why? Well you have a very string hand, a loose player with Ax may very well give you a lot of action, you are also vulnerable to straight and flush draws so getting as much money as you can in on the flop makes your opponent pay a hefty price if they are actually drawing and also allows you to commit you to the hand in case a scare card does actually come on a later street.
Being scared can ruin the hand
Also remember there’s a good chance that a scare card for you might also be a scare card for your opponent, so it might get them to shut down with an inferior hand that they would have paid you off with prior to the scare card as they now fear that you made your draw.
Bet for value
On a less potential scary flop, i.e. one without any flush draws or straight draws you might want to bet a more ‘normal’ sized flop bet of say 2/3rd the pot. Here again you are primarily hoping that your opponent holds an Ace and is sticking around for the ride.
Semi bluff with good draw
On a flop where you have a strong drawing hand such as Kd 9d on a flop of Ad Th 4d. Then you should definitely bet this flop, but don’t overdo it. You are in effect semi-bluffing, looking to drive away any hand that doesn’t contain an Ace.
Don’t overbet your semi bluff
A half pot size bet is normally enough to accomplish this, anymore than this could be costly, as there is not usually much point to betting too much, although a higher bet amount will increase the chance that you can get your opponent to fold, it usually won’t do sufficiently enough to make it worth while to bet much more.
Semi bluff to slow down the action
What you are really looking to achieve with such a strong draw against someone holding Ax is to keep the betting small by discouraging them from making the pot big while you look to hit your hand. Quite often your initial half pot sized bet will stop them from betting or raising, someone facing a bet may think twice about raising you back with their good but not great hand. They may even be afraid to bet the turn and end up giving you a free card. In such a manner controlling the size if the pot allows you to draw cheaply and perhaps earn a big pot should you hit your flush.
Be cautious that you don’t leak information with your bet sizing
One word of caution in regards to your bet sizing, when players become more familiar with your game, especially in regards to your more astute opponents, you will need to mix up your bet sizing so as not to leak out too much information in regards to what your actual hand might be. 2/3rds the pot size is a common amount people use to bet with both their genuine hands, their drawing hands and pure bluffs, better again if you simply randomly vary the amount you bet in such circumstances.
