Ed Miller's October 2014 video for Red Chip Poker

1. BET SIZING TELLS By Ed Mi l ler
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2. WHAT ARE BET-SIZING TELLS?
 Bet-sizing tel ls are one of the most impor tant tools I use in
l ive no- l imit games.
 I found out fairly recently by watching students play that many
d o n ’ t n ot i c e o r u s e t h em we l l .
 Learning to use bet -sizing tel ls correctly by itself can probably
help you move up a level. (They are very useful. )

3. WHAT’S THE IDEA?
 In no- l imit h ol d ’ em, players choose their own bet sizes. Most
people choose their sizes either by rote, on a whim, or for a
reason that can be deduced by logic.
 When players use logic that causes them to use two or more
di f ferent bet sizes in a given situation, they are giving away
tons of information.
 I t is extremely hard to balance ranges using multiple bet
sizes. In real l ive games, practically speaking, al l such
scenarios are exploitable.

4. MULTIPLE BET SIZES ARE EXPLOITABLE
 S ay i ng i t a g a i n, b e c a use i t ’ s wo r t h t h i nk ing a b o u t . I f yo u r
opponent uses multiple bet sizes in a given situation, he is
exploitable.
 In practice, players are not merely exploitable, but extremely
so. These players would be much harder to play against i f they
chose a single bet size for each situation.

5. WHAT BET-SIZING TELLS AREN’T
 Bet- s i zing te l ls are n’ t wh e n a p l ayer h as ad j us ted a b et s i z e
for the action. For instance, i f he raises to $25 af ter one
l imper, but $40 af ter three.
 Bet- s i zing te l ls a re n’ t j u s t a c omp a riso n o f b et s i z e to p ot s i z e .
“Oh t h a t ’ s l e s s t h a n h a l f p ot . We a k!”
 Bet- s i zing te l ls a re n’ t 10 0% re l i abl e.

6. HOW TO SPOT POSSIBLE TELLS
 Think of situations where a player wi l l try to accompl ish
di f ferent goals with di f ferent hand types.
 Fo r example , t h ey mi g h t wa n t to “ p rote c t” c e r t a in h a n d s , b u t
“ g e t ma x va l u e ” fo r ot h e r s .
 Or, t h ey mi g h t wa nt to “ s e e wh e re t h ey ’ r e a t ” wi t h c e r t a i n
hands, but proceed with confidence with others.

7. CLASSIC TELL #1
 You raise preflop and someone cal ls out of the bl inds. The
flop comes, and the bl ind player bets roughly hal f pot or less.
 Wh a t’ s g o i n g o n ? I n t h i s s i t u at io n , t h e b l i n d p l aye r wo u l d
assume that i f he checks, you wi l l l ikely bet. And i f you bet, it
wi l l probably be more than hal f pot.
 With a truly strong hand, he would either want to check to let
you bet—o r i f h e ’ s wo rri ed yo u ’ l l c h e c k b a c k h e wo u l d ma ke a
normal -to- large bet.
 He ’ s t r y i n g to “ f r e e ze ” t h e a c t i o n fo r c h e a p.

8. CLASSIC TELL #1 (CONT.)
 Typically you wi l l see top pair, no kicker or a unimproved
pocket pair or perhaps middle pair or a draw af ter this bet.
 Most impor tantly, there wi l l be few nutted hands in the range.
And the smal l bet usually indicates some wi l l ingness to fold.
 This imbalance continues throughout the hand, since you
c a n ’ t a d d b a c k t h e nutted hands.

9. CLASSIC TELL #1 EXAMPLES
 You open for $20 from MP and the BB cal ls. Flop comes and
BB bets out $10-$25.
 Flop comes AsQd4s. The bet wi l l usually be Ax, mid pair l ike
99, or possibly Qx, 4x, or maybe a gutshot .
 Very unl ikely to be 44 or AQ (or AA or QQ) . Also unl ikely to be
A4 or Q4 because most people would check or bet bigger to
“ p rote c t ” o r “ g e t va l ue ”

10. CLASSIC TELL #1 MORE EXAMPLES
 Flop comes 7d5c2s.
 Yo u ’ r e g o i n g to s e e a l ot o f 7 x a n d 6 6 a n d 4 4 . A l s o p o s s i ble
are AJ, 5x, 2x, and some gutshots.
 T h i s i s a p u r e “ s e e wh e re yo u ’ r e a t ” b e t mo s t o f t h e t ime . T h e
b l i nd c a u gh t a p i e c e a nd i s t r y i ng to s e e i f h e ’ s g o o d c h e a ply,
b e c a use h e ’ s wo r r i e d a b o u t wi n n i n g a l i t t le o r l o s i n g a l ot .

11. CLASSIC TELL #1 FINAL THOUGHTS
 In each case, a closer to pot -sized donk bet would make me
more worried about nutted hands. In par ticular, a pot-sized
donk bet on 742 could easi ly be two pair -plus.
 I t ’ s h a r d to b a l an c e a donk- b e tt in g s t r a te g y. I t ’ s v i r t u a lly
impossible to balance a donk-betting strategy when you are
using two or more bet sizes.

12. CLASSIC TELL #2
 In a multiway pot, on the turn, with draws on board, a smal l
out of turn bet.
 T h i s o n e i s mo r e s p e c ific , b u t i t c ome s u p , a n d i t ’ s q u i te
rel iable.
 Why is this player betting out of turn? And why is the bet
smal l? I t almost never adds up to a strong hand.
 Can be a draw, top pair with a weak kicker, or another hand
t h a t wa n t s to “ f r e e ze ” a c t i o n .

13. CLASSIC TELL #2 EXAMPLE
 A player l imps, and you make it $25. A player cal ls on the
b u t to n , b ot h b l i n d s c a l l , a n d t h e l imp e r c a l l s. T h e r e ’ s $ 1 2 5 i n
the pot and 5 players.
 Flop is QdJd6h. Checked to you, you bet $80, and the BB and
l imp e r c a l l . T h e re ’ s $ 3 6 5 i n t h e p ot a n d 3 p l aye r s.
 Turn 9c. The BB checks, and the l imper bets $80.

14. CLASSIC TELL #2 EXAMPLE (CONT.)
 Board is QdJd6h9c and the l imper has just bet $80 into $365
out of turn.
 This is a cheap ploy to freeze action, which al l but rules out
straights, sets, and strong two-pair hands.
 It could be that he has a queen and wants to avoid giving a
free card without real ly committing to the pot (with a big bet) .
 I t could be that he has a draw of some sor t and wants to set
his price at $80.

15. REVERSE TELL?
 You might wonder how of ten players reverse these bet -sizing
tel ls. Not of ten, for a simple reason—they usually work.
 Players use these bets to freeze action because the ploy of ten
works.
 Since a player rarely wants to freeze the action with a strong
h a n d , i t ’ s g e n e r ally j u s t a b a d i d e a to r eve r s e t h e te l l.
 Better is just to avoid the tel l-sized bet completely.

16. ANOTHER TELL I DO REVERSE
 Mentioned in a previous video.
 In a multiway pot, an extra- large bet into a multiway pot.
 This usual ly represents an attempt to protect a fairly strong
hand.
 I reverse this tel l by betting extra- large into these pots with c-bets
and semi -bluf fs.

17. EXAMPLE OF THE REVERSIBLE TELL
 A tight reg opens for $20 and gets two cal ls on the button and
one in the big bl ind.
 The flop is QhTh6s. The bl ind checks, and the reg bets $100
into the $82 pot.
 This wi l l mostly be AQ, KK, or AA.
 With stronger hands, they tend to bet a l ittle less—maybe
$60—to encourage action.
 With weaker hands, they tend to be much less—maybe $40 or
$50—to protect themselves against getting owned.

18. SPOTTING TELLS IN THE WILD
 Yo u r o p p o ne nt s’ b et s i z i ng i s a h u g e s o u rc e o f i nfo rma t io n.
They get to choose any size they want, which gives them just
enough rope to hang themselves with.
 E ve r y t ime yo u r o p p o n e n t b e t s , t h i n k a b o u t b e t s i z e . T h i n k , “ I s
there any type of hand this player would bet a di f ferent size
wi t h ?”
 Very frequently, the answer is yes—between draws and
marginal made hands and monster hands, most players wi l l
choose di f ferent sizes with some hands.

19. SPOTTING TELLS IN THE WILD (CONT.)
 This information is nearly always useful. Even if you can
e l imin ate j u s t a s i n g l e c l a s s o f h a n d s f rom yo u r o p p o n e n t ’ s
r a n g e , t h a t ’ s o f te n e n o u g h to t i p yo u r s t r a te g y o n e way o r t h e
other.

20. A NOTE OF WARNING
 I k now a l ot o f p e o p le s ay, “Do n’ t wo r r y a b o u t yo u r b et s i z e s.
Choose the ones that suit you best, because your opponents
a r e n ’ t p ay i n g a t te n t io n . ” I ’ ve s a i d i t .
 Be very careful with this advice. My view now is that
experienced l ive regs—at l e a s t t h e o ne s wh o a re n’ t d e g enera te
and hal f-braindead—use bet -sizing tel ls. They identify them,
and they act upon them.
 In fact, many l ive regs play such a bad fundamental game that
only their abi lity to pick up on these tel ls (and other l ive
reads) keeps them in action.
 Be careful who you expose your tel ls to.

21. PRACTICE TELLS
 Whi le you play, chal lenge yourself to decode opponent bet
sizes, and hold yourself accountable.
 I n h a n d s yo u ’ r e i n , o r n ot i n , wr i te d own t h e a c t i o n fo r a ny
pots with unusual bet sizes. Then try to guess what the bet
sizes mean.
 I f t h e r e ’ s a s h owdown , c h e c k yo u r wo rk a g a i n st wh a t yo u s aw.
 Learn from it.