Learn Texas Holdem

No-limit Texas Hold'em poker is all about betting. The size of a bet is entirely up to the player, and different bet sizes can mean different things. There are different types of bets in a no-limit Texas hold'em poker game as well, and one of these is the control bet.

What Is the Control Bet?

As you might guess, the control bet is used to control the size of the pot. The reason to control the pot size is because bets on later streets are made relative to the size of the pot, so if you want to be able to make a large bet on the river, you need to build a big pot. If you are concerned about being bet off the hand with a large bet by an opponent on the river, you'd like to keep the pot small. The control bet is used for these purposes.

The Control Bet in Action

Let's say you hold Kc Qs and the flop comes Kd 8h Js. While there is a good chance you have the best hand here, your hand is certainly vulnerable. Here's a situation where you might put in a small bet to keep the pot small. If you check, an opponent might make a larger bet than you would like, leading to a potentially even larger bet on the turn, to perhaps all-in on the river - and in most cases you do not want to commit all your chips to the pot with one pair, especially with second kicker. If you bet the size of the pot and get called, you won't know if you are facing a bigger king, two pair, a set or a draw, and it will be very difficult for you to get to the river. On the turn, if you check or make a small bet now that the pot is becoming large, you will be read for weakness and possibly face a large bet you cannot call.

But what if the flop comes Js Th Ac? Well now you'd love to shove all your chips in and get called and double up. However, if you were to bet something like $1000 into a $150 pot, no one will call you and you won't get paid off on your monster. On the other hand, if you bet $150, someone with AK will probably call. When a non-threatening 3 arrives on the turn and you bet $300, that top pair top kicker is very likely to call again. Now when the river card comes out, your all-in bet of $550 into a $1050 pot seems an almost trivially easy call for your opponent with top pair. Because you have worked the pot up to a sizeable amount, you have made your large river bet callable.

Other Control Bet Situations

Another time you might want to control the size of the pot is when you are planning to bluff. Say you and an opponent have $1000 each in a $5/$10 blinds no limit game. You have Kc Qc and your opponent bets $50. You know this opponent only makes this type of bet with an ace or a big pair so you call. The flop comes 9h 8s 8h and your opponent bets $50 again. You are pretty sure your opponent missed, but there's only $150 in the pot. An all-in bet here is ridiculous. You're betting $1000 to win $150 so your opponent would only have to have a hand like A8, AA or 88 very infrequently for this to be a negative expected value play here.

A better idea is to raise to something like $200. Your opponent may call, suspecting you are trying to take the pot away or that you have a smaller pair. However, if he checks the turn, the opportunity is now ripe. You've controlled the pot so that it is possible to bluff at it. Now that there's $500 in the pot, your $1000 bet may make it look like you are trying to give an opponent incorrect odds to call on a draw or have a monster and are hoping the opponent is pot committed. Furthermore, now even if you get caught one out of three times you try this you'll break even, and you probably won't get caught that often.