Yes big pots are what ultimately defines a No-Limit Hold’em player’s success. However, you need to know how to win these big pots before you can start measuring your success with them.  But before you can do this, you need to build those big pots. So with that in mind, here’s a look at how to both build and win big pots in Texas Hold’em.  

One of the great things about big pots is that you can actually create them. Of course, you have to be sensible when creating these big pots. For example, betting $200 into a $15 pot accomplishes nothing because it’s going to scare anybody who doesn’t have the nuts out of the hand. And that’s the best case scenario because if someone does has the nuts, they’re going to call you and take your money.

A better strategy for building a big pot is to slowly build the pot over the course of a hand. For instance, if the pot is at $100 on the flop, bet another $100 into it. If the pot grows to $400 on the turn, fire another pot-sized raise out. 

Obviously, the best time to build a big pot is when you have a great hand and are trying to get as much money out of that hand as possible. But there are other good times to build a big pot too such as when you’re trying to make an opponent call with bad odds or when you are bluffing. Here’s a closer look at how to handle each one of these pot building situations.

You have the Nuts: Having the nuts is a great feeling in poker because you can be confident that your hand is going to win no matter what. However, the nuts don’t come around that often so it’s your job to extract as much money from a great hand as possible. As mentioned before, you can’t go betting $200 into a $15 pot, but you can slowly build the pot on each street. The key to pumping up the pot while holding the nuts is to know your opponent and what they’re willing to call. With aggressive players, you can get away with raising more than the pot while tight players will require you to reign in your betting more.

You’re Bluffing: When you’re building a pot while bluffing, you need to avoid making any ridiculous raises. For example, a $400 raise into a $20 pot is a very scary proposition for anyone else to call, and you are likely to make a lot of people fold with a bet like this. Going even further, it will only take another player having the nuts and calling you one out of 20 times for this to be a bad play. Instead, a better move is to wait to be isolated with a tight player in an already big pot. Making a $400 in a $400 pot is much more realistic than the aforementioned $400 raise into a $20 pot. And it’s definitely more likely to make the other player fold.

You’re trying to give an Opponent Bad Odds: If you’ve got a good idea that your opponent is trying to draw, then you can give them bad odds to call by building a big pot. For instance, in a $200 pot it’s a bad move for a player to call on the turn when they’re forced to put more than $50 into the pot in hopes of hitting a flush draw. So if the pot is $150, you can make a $50 raise on the turn to force a drawing opponent into a bad call. Sure the opponent may hit their draw on the river sometimes, but they’ll miss it a far greater percentage of the time. And the good thing about making a reasonable raise such as the aforementioned one is that the opponent will be reluctant to fold.