Bet leveraging is a technique used by many of the top poker professionals to initially imply that they have a good hand, and then follow it up with hard chips if they have to. It is a strategy that will add incredible value to your game, as it should win you a lot more hands whilst reducing the potential risks that you may have to take.
The basis of any leveraging is to gain the maximum advantage by using the least effort, and in No Limit and Pot Limit poker your lever is your “post-flop raise”. The way it works is straightforward.
Assuming that you have cards which meet your opening hand criteria, you would call to flop with a minimal call/check. Thereafter, your post-flop bet would be a modest one (say $10) and, depending on the number of players that called you, you would raise again after the turn by your initial bet ($10) multiplied by the number of players remaining in the hand (let´s say 3 including yourself) plus 1. So, your bet after the river would be $10 x (3+1) = $40. Assuming that the two players with you in the hand called your bet again, your raise after the river would be $40 multiplied by the three players still in the hand plus 1 – $160.
What you have done here is to bring players into the pot who felt that a $10 call was fair to carry on and see the turn, but who then had to pay $40 more to see the river, and a further $160 to go to showdown – in all $210 – when they only valued their hand at $10 (They would have raised you after the flop if it was better than that!). Not only that, but initially you only risked $10 to get them involved on what you considered to be a good hand, and if either of your opponents had caught on the flop, they would have re-raised you and you had the option of folding (if you felt it wise) with little collateral damage to your chip stack.
Once you develop a reputation for using this strategy, you will find players folding to your modest bets more often. It also facilitates the option to successfully bluff more frequently with a minimum amount of risk. It will certainly make your opponents think twice before calling your bets! Bet leveraging is one of the easiest principals to master when it comes to raising and bet-sizing, yet a concept that few players are familiar with. It is useful to know how this technique works, not only for your game, but in case somebody else tries using it on you!
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