What's a standard preflop raise size?

2 to 2.5 big blinds online, often 2.5 to 3x live where players call wider. Sizing up further from early position or against loose limpers is common to discourage multi-way pots.

Should bluffs and value bets be sized the same?

Yes, in a balanced strategy. Using a bigger size only for value and a smaller size only for bluffs is easy for observant opponents to exploit — call the small bets, fold to the big ones.

Why do c-bet sizes vary so much by board texture?

On dry boards where few hands improve, a small bet already puts the same pressure a big one would, and risks less. On wet, draw-heavy boards, a bigger bet is needed to charge draws their correct price and deny equity.

Poker Bet Sizing Guide

Standard sizing conventions by street, and why they vary the way they do.

Preflop open-raise

2-2.5x the big blind (2.5-3x in live games)

The standard opening size in most modern games. Sizing up slightly (to 3-4x) is common from early position or against known loose limpers, since a bigger raise discourages cheap multi-way pots.

Preflop 3-bet

~3x the original raise in position, ~4x out of position

3-betting bigger out of position compensates for the positional disadvantage by making it less profitable for the original raiser to continue with speculative hands.

Flop continuation bet

33-75% of the pot, board-texture dependent

Smaller sizes (25-40%) work well on dry, disconnected boards where few hands improve; larger sizes (60-75%+) are more common on wet, draw-heavy boards where charging draws their correct price matters more.

Turn bet

50-75% of the pot

Turn bets tend to run a bit bigger than flop c-bets on average — by the turn, ranges are narrower and a bigger bet extracts more value from hands that have already committed on the flop.

River bet (value)

50-100%+ of the pot

River sizing with a value hand should be built around what a realistic bluff-catching portion of the opponent's range would call — too small leaves value on the table, too large gets calls only by hands that already beat you.

River bet (bluff)

Similar to your value-betting size for the same line

Using a different size for bluffs than for value bets is one of the most exploitable habits in poker — balanced players size bluffs and value bets the same way so opponents can't simply fold to big bets and call small ones.

Deciding whether to call a bet sized like these? Use the implied odds calculator to check the math.

FAQ

What's a standard preflop raise size?: 2 to 2.5 big blinds online, often 2.5 to 3x live where players call wider. Sizing up further from early position or against loose limpers is common to discourage multi-way pots.
Should bluffs and value bets be sized the same?: Yes, in a balanced strategy. Using a bigger size only for value and a smaller size only for bluffs is easy for observant opponents to exploit — call the small bets, fold to the big ones.
Why do c-bet sizes vary so much by board texture?: On dry boards where few hands improve, a small bet already puts the same pressure a big one would, and risks less. On wet, draw-heavy boards, a bigger bet is needed to charge draws their correct price and deny equity.