You need to bet the correct amount when your playing Texas Hold em Poker because if you don't it tips off to your opponents what cards you have.

When playing Texas Hold em Poker, deciding how much to bet and when is an extremely important decision you have to make pretty much every hand. Even if you are deciding not to bet, zero is still an amount, so in fact this decision impacts the game aswell. The other players see this and another 'He folded' gets added to their tally on info about you.

Betting is an art. Because there is so much variety in the amount you can bet in No Limit Texas Hold em every different amount sends just a slightly different message. Three times the blind is different to five times, and much different to ten times. The sliding scale of impact continues, seemingly exponentially. Combine this with comparing your bet to your stack, and then against every different players stack, and then against the most obvious opponents stack for that hand, and betting starts to get almost too complex to grasp.

But you can grasp betting and learn to how effectively bet, just read a few tips and you'll be on your way. Heres one: if you the first one to enter the pot, you are better off to either raise or just fold. Do not enter the pot by calling. This is a rule of thumb ok and it works pretty well, especially if you are not a poker professional. So if your new to poker, and your the first one to enter the pot, raise or fold, its that simple. When you do this, raise about the same amount every time. It doesn't matter if your packing pocket aces, or bluffing a 7-2, raise between three and five times the big blind.

This strategy works because the bet is big enough to force your opponent to have some sort of fairly good hand in order to atleast call and play with you. When you are consistent - remember I said raise about the same amount every time - you opponent cannot put you on a hand. They don't know if you playing a premium pair or just middle suit connectors. Maintaining this mysteriousness in Texas Hold em Poker is vital if you are going to survive. The amounts you bet when you raise, or if call or fold, will provide everyone with tell tale signs of you, your style, your type, your cards, what you have, everything. Remember, whenever your are the first player in a pot, follow the general guideline and bet three to give times the big blind or just fold em.