CHAPTER THIRTEEN

OVERBETTING

What condition has to be“present for an overbet to

be a possibility? You have to have your opponent’s
range as being very, very strong—except yours is
slightly stronger.
“

MASTE RCL ASS

 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

overbetting

SUBCHAPTERS

• PRICE OVERBETS ACCORDING TO
YOUR OPPONENTS’ RANGES
• CONDITIONS FOR OVERBETTING
AS A BLUFF
• MAKE SURE YOU DON’T BLOCK
THE HANDS YOU NEED TO CALL
• BLOCKERS AND OVERBETTING AS
A BLUFF
• OVERBETS AND FOLD FREQUENCY
• IF IT’S TOO CLOSE TO CALL, FOLD
• DON’T OVERBET IF YOU’RE A
BEGINNER

TERMS

dry board (n.): When the sticky player (n.): An opponent

table’s shared cards do not present many who usually doesn’t fold marginal hands in
opportunities for drawing hands. For the hopes of completing their draw.
example, a “rainbow” flop with three
different suits, which does not open up
the possibility of a flush draw.

CHAPTER REVIEW

n overbet is a bet that is larger than the
A current pot size. Traditionally, bet sizes are between
33 and 100 percent of the pot. Changes in strategy, driven
by high-stakes players, have made the overbet a common
weapon among skilled players with the knowledge that it
puts their opponents into tough situations.
You must factor in your opponent’s range when you make
an overbet. If you have a nutted hand and want to get
maximum value, you must be sure your opponent has
a strong range so they can call the large bet frequently
enough. (If their range isn’t strong, they’ll just fold to
your overbet.) When overbetting for value, make sure that
you don’t have a hand that would block the hands your
opponent is more likely to call with. With a hand such as
top set on a dry board, you block top pair combinations,
making it more likely that your opponent has a second
pair type hand that cannot call any large bet on the river.
When you are bluffing, always consider whether your
opponent has many nutted hands in their range that
they are unlikely to fold to any bet size. If this is the case,
then your overbet bluff might get called too often to be
profitable. Blockers are also important when overbetting
as a bluff. Ideally, you want to overbet when you block the
strong hands that your opponent can consider calling
with.
Your overbet range should always be balanced with value
hands and bluffs to maintain the maximum profitability
of this bet type against good players. You can make adjust-
ments against bad players when overbetting for value as
they are likely to pay you off more frequently.
When playing against opponents you know to be balanced,
use the folding frequency formula—Bet / (Pot + Bet)—to
assess how often you must call when facing an overbet
yourself. Keep in mind that at low stakes many players
will only ever overbet for value. If in doubt, err on the
side of folding too frequently rather than paying off your
opponent with a worse hand. Because overbetting is a
complicated strategy with a lot of potential for expensive
mistakes, making overbets should be reserved until you
have mastered the fundamentals of poker.

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MASTERCLASS
 CHAPTER THIRTEEN / OVERBETTING / DANIEL NEGREANU

UP YOUR GAME

Watch a skilled player on Twitch.tv and practice

assessing all ranges involved when an overbet takes
place. Overbets have the potential to turn into an
expensive mistake when used at the wrong time, so you
must learn to assess ranges accurately before attempting
the concept yourself. Both you and your opponent must
have a strong range, but yours must be stronger.

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MASTERCLASS