Four Bet Sizing in Poker

When you four-bet in Poker, you either have a very strong hand or you are reacting to another player’s tendencies and are playing the hand as a bluff.

Players who are prime candidates for a four-bet bluff include those that three-bet excessively, and who show a propensity to fold a high frequency of the time against the four-bet.

Next, you have to figure out what your bet sizing is going to be. The most common form of four-bet is 2.5 times the size of the three-bet.

For example, if the player in the big blind three bets to 10BB, you should four-bet to 25BB. The reason this bet size has become vogue numbers in reasoning.

If you are incorporating four-bet bluffs into your range, then by betting only 2.5x the size of the three-bet, you are risking less.

In 100BB poker, you are only risking less than a third of your stack, whilst forcing your opponent to play for his or her entire stack.

If your four-bet is for value, then you may encourage weaker hands to call that would have otherwise folded to a shove, or even get them to five-bet light.

If you make your four-bet any bigger than 2.5x the size of the three-bet, then you are risking committing too many chips to the pot.

If you are going to put more than 30BB, of a 100BB stack, into the pot, then you will end up calling a shove with the weaker end of your range.

Last Updated 22 May 2014
Four Bet Sizing in Poker