Betting takes a lifetime to get right and even then you still get it wrong sometimes… but I will try to give you a little more on betting…

The best way to learn about betting is to actually do it.  You can read every poker guide there is and study all the poker strategy, but when you are faced with the real situation then you have to make a quick decision and that only comes with experience.  So the best way to learn betting is to just do it!

When I was young boy there were two influences I had that helped me learn about betting.  I used to spend some time with my grandparents, they enjoyed their horse racing and playing bridge.  At first I used to think these hobbies of theirs were boring, but then I started to take more interest in them.

My grandparents taught me how to bet on the horses.  I took more of an interest and learnt about odds and the different bets you could make.  It was fun, we didn’t take it seriously, it was always small amounts of money that they put on the horses.  Sometimes they won, sometimes they lost but a lot of fun was had backing the horses.

The other thing I learnt was how to play bridge.  It took a while to master the bidding – which is really like betting to see how many hands you will win.  My grandmother told me it was all about signals that you gave to your bridge partner.  So if you said “two hearts” that meant you had a medium strength hand with hearts and you thought you could win a total of eight hands out of the thirteen etc etc…

Well betting in poker is the same – whatever you do, whether it is raising, calling, checking, folding… you are giving a signal to the other players.  And, importantly the other players are giving you signals or information.

The amount that you raise is a key signal – and it takes a while to master how much you should raise by.  Too much, and you scare people off, or they think you are bluffing.  Too little, and they think you have a weak hand or trying a bit of slow play to lure them in…

My best poker guide is remember that betting is an art form, not a science!!   An art form is practiced over and over to become a master, a science is learnt!