Poker is an intriguing mix of skill, strategy and chance that requires both skill and psychology. Betting rules differ among games; however, certain fundamental rules remain consistent across them all.

Probabilities and odds are at the core of poker math. Many players ignore this aspect of the game in favor of trusting their intuition – an inadvisable approach.

Betting intervals

Betting intervals in poker may differ between games, but certain fundamentals remain the same. An ante is one type of forced bet made prior to the cards being dealt and knowing its rules can help make you a more adept player and reduce losses and lead to more victories!

At each betting interval, each player must either match their predecessor by placing in at least as many chips, or drop out. They may raise a bet by more than the specified limit determined by game stage and player count; these limits vary based on what stage and number of people are in the pot.

Limits

Poker games feature various betting structures that can make a significant impactful difference on how much profit is possible for you to generate. Each structure varies in terms of risk-taking and strategy considerations; therefore, selecting one that suits both your bankroll and skill levels is of utmost importance.

Fixed-limit games provide players with several choices when placing bets: they may call (match the amount of their current bet or limit), fold, or raise. Raising equals increasing your previous bet by an amount equal to its plus the governing limit.

Fixed-limit games typically allow only a maximum number of raises per street; however, raises and re-raises may continue indefinitely until someone goes all-in. When betting against opponents who call often, an ideal bet sizing would maximize expected value (EV), which we will cover further in subsequent lessons.

Side pots

Side pots in poker are a regular feature and help add excitement. A side pot is created when one player goes all-in and all other players call – those contributing can only win it if their hand beats that of the all-in player who initiated it! While this concept might initially seem confusing, once you learn some basic betting rules it becomes much simpler.

Understanding all-in rules is paramount to successful poker play. Each player should match their all-in bet to their chip stack to ensure that each all-in player can only win the pot or pots they contributed to, starting with side pots before moving up towards the main pots – dealers may make mistakes when creating side pots so make sure to closely observe and do your own calculations!

Bluffing

Bluffing can be highly profitable in poker. Your exact strategy depends on the situation and betting patterns of opponents; to keep them guessing by switching up your bet sizes or changing up your pattern. Doing this will make it harder for them to read you and increase the chance that your bluffs succeed.

Idealistically, bet sizing should correspond with the strength of your hand; in practice however, this does not always follow suit. Therefore it’s also essential to understand how bet sizing interacts with both the board and opponent hand ranges.

Many weak opponents possess inelastic ranges, meaning they call all bets with equal frequency. To take advantage of this situation, bet fewer value hands and increase bluffs – especially on the river – while betting less value hands than expected, such as 75% value hands against 25% bluffs (for instance).