Module 1 · Lesson 3 of 39 · Free
Your options: fold, check, call, bet, raise
Facing a bet of 6 bb, the smallest raise you can make is to 12 bb, not 7 bb. In no-limit a raise must add at least as much as the last bet or raise, here 6 bb on top of his 6 bb. That rule sets how much you can raise, and whether anyone has bet before you decides which of your five options you may use.
The hand
The flop. The Tight-aggressive player bets 6 bb into a pot of 10 bb. You hold Q♣ J♣ with 94 bb in front of you, and it is your turn.
Predict first
Say you raise to 20 bb. If he raises again, what is the smallest raise he can make?
- To 26 bb: 6 bb more, the size of his bet
- To 40 bb: twice your raise
- To 34 bb: 14 bb more, the size of your raise
Show the answer
Answer: To 34 bb: 14 bb more, the size of your raise
Your raise added 20 − 6 = 14 bb to his bet, so his must add at least 14 bb more: 20 + 14 = 34 bb. To 40 bb is allowed, but it is not the smallest.
Working it out
Facing his 6 bb you can fold, call 6 bb, or raise to any amount from 12 bb up to all 94 bb. Raise to 20 bb and you have raised by 20 − 6 = 14 bb, so a re-raise must go to at least 20 + 14 = 34 bb. Before the flop the big blind counts as a bet of 1 bb: the smallest raise is to 2 bb, and after a raise to 3 bb, which added 2 bb, the next one must reach 3 + 2 = 5 bb. Chips you already put in this round count toward a call: the big blind, with 1 bb in, calls a raise to 3 bb with 3 − 1 = 2 bb more.
With no bet in front of you, you may check, putting nothing in, or bet at least 1 bb; folding then would give the hand up for nothing. Facing a bet you may fold, call or raise, but no longer check. You can always go all in, even for less than the call or the smallest raise: you then play only for the chips you have, as the lesson on side pots shows. An all-in smaller than a full raise does not reopen the betting: players who have already acted may only call it or fold.
Formula
Smallest raise = the bet + the last bet or raise: 6 + 6 = 12 bb. Call = the bet − your chips already in this round: 3 − 1 = 2 bb
Check your understanding
Before the flop, with blinds of 0.5 and 1 bb, a player raises to 4 bb. What is the smallest re-raise, as a total in bb?
Show the answer
Answer: 7 bb
His raise added 4 − 1 = 3 bb to the big blind, so the next raise must add at least 3 bb too: 4 + 3 = 7 bb.
You are the small blind, with 0.5 bb in. The button raises to 2.5 bb. How much more does calling cost you, in bb?
Show the answer
Answer: 2 bb
Your 0.5 bb is already in the pot: 2.5 − 0.5 = 2 bb more.
He bets 10 bb on the river, and you have only 7 bb left. What can you do?
- Only fold: you cannot match his bet
- Fold, or call all in for 7 bb
- Call 7 bb now and owe him the other 3 bb
Show the answer
Answer: Fold, or call all in for 7 bb
You can always call all in for less. You play for 7 bb of his bet, and the 3 bb you cannot match goes back to him.