No Limit Hold ’em - The Art of the Overbet
The overbet - which we define here as a bet that’s wildly disproportionate to the size of the pot - is a play that frequently comes under fire from sophisticated no limit players. They think its crude, often unnecessary, and generally the hallmark of poker noobs who are making their first foray into the cash games after having watched countless hours of WPT and WSOP action on their televisions. “What kind of clown makes a $100 bet into a $15 dollar pot?” they declare. In fact, you’ll often hear them use words to that effect while at the tables. “Save that stuff for the jokers on television”, they may say. Or, “Brilliant play - make a bet so big that nobody can call’.
This, in my opinion, is a flawed perspective. Yes, the overbet is frequently not the best play. Yes, it’s a play that has serious limitations. But against certain players the overbet can produce profits that are far in excess of those one can expect to accrue by ‘milking the cow’ with a series of moderate sized bets spread out over each round of betting.
Against certain players the overbet can produce profits that are far in excess of those one can expect to accrue with a series of moderate sized bets spread out over each round of betting.
So, what kinds of players should you consider making the overbet against? There are at least two types, and we will discuss them here. First, you should always at least consider going for the overbet if your stack is significantly smaller than your opponent’s. This is particularly true if he’s built up his stack by winning pots, instead of having bought in for a large amount. A player - especially a mediocre player - who’s on a rush will often casually call a big bet from a small stack simply to have the opportunity to feel the rush that comes from catching a bluff. They figure they’re already ahead for the night, and can therefore afford to speculate now and then without doing much damage to their earnings. If the player making the big overbet is short stacked then that makes the proposition even more tempting, since they don’t have to worry about facing another large bet on a later street.
Secondly, the overbet is often nails against players who either
a) have lost a couple of big pots to you earlier in the night (preferably on hands where you caught a card on a later street to beat them), or
b) have recently been bluffed out of a couple good sized pots. The power of the innate human desire to ‘even the score’ simply cannot be underestimated at the poker tables. A lot of players don’t think of poker as a moneymaking venture; they see it as some kind of improvised morality play where they are the valiant - but maligned - hero, and their opponents are unscrupulous and cowardly villains. If a player has a tendency to think of the game in these terms then a couple of nasty beats, or a couple instances where they’ve been ‘outplayed’, can really bring it out in them.
As a final note, the overbet should never be eliminated as a possible play against opponents who just play terribly. If there’s one sure way to go broke - and go broke quickly - at no limit hold ‘em it’s to assume that your opponents are bluffing every time they make a big bet. But many new players make this very mistake, and you should never hesitate to punish them for it.
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