Betting or raising in a hand is going to change the dynamics and pot size. It’s imperative you remember this because a majority of the hands that you are involved in need to be small pots, not big ones. You are only looking to play deep pots when you have monster hands, and we all know how rare that can be.

It is important therefore to look at your actions during a hand and be able to comprehend what the potential result may be. To clarify, even though you might have the best hand when you bet, you may very well be behind when on fifth street. In order to manage pot size, you also need to understand the real strength of your hand based on what community cards are out there, and also the profile of your opponent.

Reckon also if you are going to make a raise or re-raise, that the style of opponent you are playing actually has the experience to fold – when they really should be laying it down. I’ve seen many players in online tournaments look at a fair strength draw on the flop, and resolve to just let it ride. Of course, that’s going to be a large pot and even though you’re ahead, you will oftentimes get drawn out and find yourself losing a big hand, or even worse. You really want to avoid this, particularly in the early tournament levels when there is no reason to become short stacked save for a huge suck out, when the blinds are so low.

When the pots are small, your opponents also tend to become simpler to read because they are also thinking about what you may have. The simple reality of your opponent wanting to be in a hand gives more credence to a distinct range of hole cards he may be playing. If they also seem concerned about the size of the pot you have more chance to turn a losing hand into a winner by taking the pot down with a bluff bet.

Now that leads to the most significant advantage of controlling the size of the pot, which is that you get to see all the community cards before you really decide what to do in terms of your hand strength and your opponent’s propensity to make an error. Possible draws or paired boards expose themselves to critical situations but could either turn into monster for you or help you fold and save you some tournament chips.

Managing the pot size requires emotional discipline, good profiling, and an experienced understanding of community board texture. Alternatively, it is one of the biggest mistakes your adversaries will be making, and presents a profitable opportunity for you to stack up.