WSOP Deep Stack Mistake #7: Betting Too Small
There is a critical skill in NLHE that Howard Lederer, in the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, calls leverage. Lederer describes leverage as a bet that implies “the potential and threat of more bets on later streets.” A pot-sized all in bet on the flop may be scary, but a pot-sized bet with five times as much left in the remaining stacks is even scarier.
When you are bluffing, you would like to threaten as much of your opponent’s stack as possible. And when you have a very strong hand, you also want to threaten your opponent’s entire stack in order to maximize your winnings.
With shallow stacks, you may be able to get all the money in by betting ¾ or even ½ of the pot on every street. In that case, a ½ pot flop bet carries plenty of leverage. Assuming 100 BB stacks and an 8 BB pot on the flop, a ½ pot flop bet can realistically threaten only about 2/3 of your opponent’s stack (4 BB on the flop, then 16 BB if you pot the turn and 48 BB if you pot the river, for a total of 68 BB). Thus, your standard bets will need to be larger to insure that you get sufficient fold equity for your bluffs and build a pot worthy of your monster holdings.