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Bet that we make in poker can make a profit or ruin us. It is important to clearly understand the purpose for which we deposit money into the pot. In addition, the better we know the opponent and imagine his range, the easier it will be for us to choose the right line of the draw.
1. bet objectives
Bet can be divided into three groups depending on the goals they pursue:
| Group | Purpose |
| Velha bet value | We expect to get a weaker call from hands |
| Bluff bet | We force the opponent to fold his hands harder |
| Bet to win dead money | We want to knock out weaker hands that have a good chance of gaining or that can put a bluff against us and make us throw off a better hand as a bluff |
2. Velha bet
When betting on a vellya, you expect that in the opponent's bet there are enough weaker hands with which he will answer with a call.
Example: you have a top pair
on the flop
.
You assume that there are enough top pairs,, 
and other hands worse
, in the opponent's range 
, 
with which he will equalize your bet. If in the same situation you have on your hands
, and the villain is not inclined to call with a large number of weak hands, the bet will not belong to this group. Your equity against the range of the opponent's stake should be more than 50% – then this bet on the vellya.
3. Bluff bet
When we make a bluff bet, we assume that we can knock out combinations better than ours.
Example: we opened from the middle position with
and received a call from the button.
On the flop, we 
have a great opportunity to bet on forcing the opponent to fold pocket pair 
, , 
and other hands older than ours
, 
so in the eyes of the opponent, we will often have a top pair or better. If you have a pair of ladies on your hands
, this will not be considered a bluff bet, as it will force the opponent to fold his hands weaker and continue with the combinations that defeat you.
But it will not be a value bet, such a bet is usually called “for information”. It is made for a simpler further drawing of this hand. Sometimes you will meet opponents who find it difficult to part with even the weakest combinations. Bluff bet against them will not be effective, but bet on vellya will bring a lot of profit.
4. Hand protection equity
Quite often in poker there are hands in which we have the best (at the moment) hand, but the cards open on the flop or turn contain a large number of draw, that is, not ready-made, potential combinations. Such board are called dynamic. The peculiarity of dynamic board is that the runouts coming out on the remaining streets can greatly change the whole character of the distribution. A similar situation arises if we play with a low ready combination (pocket pair, small match, etc.) against the opponent's overcards, to which a pair defeating our hand can come on the subsequent streets. In such cases, the equity of our hand is vulnerable, which means it needs protection. We do not want to give opponents free cards that can tip the hand in favor of the opponent, so we need to make a bet to protect.
5. bet TO win dead money
Dead money is a pot that is supposedly easy to pick up. Such pots usually consist of money deposited by mandatory bets on blinds, ante, limps, as well as money from players who have defolled. For example, on preflop in late positions, you have the opportunity to pick up a small pot or "steal" blinds with a bet. On post-flop, we will most often use this bet, having a weak ready hand in our hands to knock out combinations weaker than ours, but having a lot of outs for gain or a chance to knock us out of the pot.
Example: we opened from the middle position with
and received a call from the button.
In our opinion, the supposed range of the opponent's call consists of Broadway combinations, medium and weak pocket pair, suited connectors. On 
a bet flop, we can try to knock out a significant part of the Broadway that did not hit the straight draw
, ,
. Having played the check, we give the opponent the opportunity to get into their outs for free, as well as squeeze us out of the bank with a bluff pot.
6. How to choose the size of bet on the flop, turn and river
The size of the sizing is of great importance both for the optimal draw of a particular hand and for increasing the profit on the the long run. Both too big and too small bet do not allow players to achieve their goals, and sometimes lead to loss of profits or insulting losses.
To understand this issue well, we recommend that you carefully study the article on our website: What bet sizing to use in MTT poker.
7. Common Newbie Mistakes
In general, the main mistakes of novice poker players are caused by the lack of basic poker education and experience of a thoughtful game. One of the common mistakes is the inability to determine what type of post-flop game this or that situation is. This, in turn, is due to the poor development of the skill of thinking by ranges in poker. In addition, beginners rarely have an understanding that in the course of distribution, the type of post-flop game can change, which means that their strategy also needs to be rebuilt.
All this leads to:
- to deposit money to the bank in inappropriate, obviously losing pot situations;
- to the absence of bet when it is absolutely necessary for a profitable game;
- to choosing the wrong bet size, which does not give results in a particular situation and is expensive at a distance the long run.
In poker, we need to clearly understand the meaning of all our actions. This can be compared to shifting gears in a car. We must clearly understand why this or that transmission is needed, and not include them chaotically and thoughtlessly.
