Poker overbet. What is it and when should you be overbetting

Overbetting in poker is a bold play, which puts your opponents in a very tough spot. In this article we explain wat an overbet in poker is and good spots for overbetting.

What is an overbet in poker?

An overbet is a bet or raise which is bigger than the size of the pot. For instance, if you are betting $200 in a pot of $100, you are overbetting.

Overbetting is therefore possible in No Limit poker variations, such as No Limit Texas Hold’em. Overbetting is not done frequently and pot odds are relatively bad for caller(s). Consequently, it is a play that puts a lot of pressure on your opponent(s) and often puzzles them.

When to overbet in poker?

A good spot for overbetting is when your opponent doesn’t have a very strong hand and when your range is polarized. A polarized range means that you either have a really strong holding or a bluff.

You don’t want to overbet if your opponent has a really strong hand. You have therefore to be certain that he has a mediocre hand. If you for instance have cards in your hand that prevent your opponent having the nuts, then this increases the chance that your opponent has a mediocre holding.

You should overbet with either a nutted hand or bluff. For being balanced, you should overbet a bit more with your nutted hands than with your bluffs. Against calling stations you should balance even more to valuebetting.

If you are facing an overbet it is good to realize that in low stakes cash games overbets are often valuebets and not bluffs. Also be aware of metagame implications. If your opponent calls your overbet while you are valuebetting, this might put him on tilt.

Overbets in professional high stakes cash games

In televised high stakes cash game overbets are often very entertaining hands to watch. Therefore we have listed some overbets from popular high stakes poker games.

Dan Colman overbets Daniel Negreanu in high stakes poker tournament

Phil Laaks overbets Brain Rast

Daniel Cates (Jungleman) is overbetting against Dominik Nitsche

Doug Polk overbet bluffs Kaufman in Poker Night in America