Common Monster Betting Patterns

Betting patterns refer to all the actions a player takes when it is his turn. This means that not just “bets” count as a part of a betting pattern but “checks,” “raises,” and “folds” count as well. In this article I will discuss three of the common betting patterns opponents take when they have monsters.

Signs of a monster hand:

1. The cold call. Let’s say there are three opponents to the flop with you in late position. Player A checks, player B makes a bet, and you, in late position, make a raise with TPTK. Player A calls the raise. Player A’s call represents a very strong hand because he is stuck between both a better and a raiser. He’s not scared of the potential re-raise from the original better (Player B) because Player A probably has a very strong hand.
2. The turn check-minraise. Say you raise preflop and get one caller. He checks to you on the flop, you bet $7, and he calls. Ok, no problems there so far. But if he checks again, you bet $15 and he check-raises the minimum to $30 then you need to be wary. This is a sign of trouble. His minraise would be a poor one to bluff because he’s giving you good odds to make a call so he is probably not trying to scare you off. Many times this is a bet made to build the pot for your opponent. Let’s say you call the turn raise and the river card comes and that opponent then leads into you with a nice pot-sized bet. That is the first actual bet he has made all hand and it puts you almost all in. Often times, this is a line taken by opponents attempting to slow play a strong hand from out of position. Be very careful when you see someone take this line.
3. Another line players take to build the pot from out of position is to check to you on both the flop and turn and call both bets. When the river comes, the opponent suddenly makes a large bet. This is usually either a slowplayed hand from the beginning, a draw that hit, or a bluff on a missed draw. Again, be very careful when you see this line. Look for potential draws, see if they hit, and then carefully consider your final call or fold.

Notice all of these lines were taken when the opponent was out of position? This is one of the many examples of the power of position. It is much easier to recognize common betting patterns when you have position on the opponent.

Also, don’t go around looking for monsters under the bed. Opponents make strange plays and you can’t always assume an opponent has a certain hand based on his betting pattern alone. You need to take into consideration your history with that opponent, how he views you, how you think he views you, the board texture, and any other bits of information available to you about the opponent. Only after you have considered every bit of information available to you can you make an informed decision, and even then you won’t always be right. But as long as you can be correct more often than incorrect then you will be making good money at poker.