The Bonus Factor when playing poker

The bonus factor in poker is the added bonus a player receives when betting.

Whenever a player has an option of either calling, betting or raising it is important to consider the bonus value in each of these decisions.

Many poker experts and authors have discussed playing aggressive poker; but have seldom stated the value or basic theory behind aggressive play.

To fully understand the value of a bonus factor, lets take a look at the many basic betting decisions every player makes each time they play. In understanding the importance of the bonus factor in poker, just realize that the opportunity to collect on the bonus factor occurs more often in poker than any other action. Every time it is your turn to act, you have an opportunity to collect a bonus.

So, you might say, what is this mysterious bonus factor and how come I haven't heard about it?

Actually, you probably have heard about the bonus factor virtually every time someone talks about playing aggressive or winning poker. It just happens to be disguised under such words as aggressive, strong, solid, or winning poker.

The Bonus Factor is simply stated, "the added bonus a player gets from making a bet, a raise, a re-raise or a check raise".

Most decisions in poker involves actions such as betting, raising, re-raising, calling, checking or folding. Of these six choices, only betting, raising, re-raising or check raising can get the player a bonus.

The Bonus Factor consists of the player receiving something, a bonus, for making certain decisions in poker such as a bet, a raise, or a re-raise. The bonus factor of is that percentage of times opponents will fold to a bet, raise or re-raise. This is especially important in those instances when an opponent folds a better hand than yours, or a hand that would likely improve to a better hand than yours. Even better, using the bonus factor when you think the only way to win is by having your opponents fold.

To help you evaluate the values of each action you can take when it is your turn to act, we have listed the bonus factor as follows:

Re-raise= The highest bonus factor, as in most cases, a re-raise will indicate to your opponents that you have a very strong hand, which will give them the most incentive to fold.

Raise= The second highest bonus factor, as a raise, will indicate a strong hand, but not quite as strong as a re-raise.

Bet= The lowest bonus factor, as a bet, can indicate either a strong hand or a hand that could become strong.

Check= No bonus factor, as opponents will not, of course, fold to a check.

Fold= No bonus factor as you can no longer collect a bonus.

Check Raise= Bonus factors can vary from none to very high depending on how and when it is used. The downside of a check raise is that your opponents may not bet, leaving you with just a check and consequently no bonus factor. The upside is that your opponents may be lulled into thinking you have a weak hand and bet a lesser hand allowing you to complete the check raise. A successful check raise can be a strong psychologically weapon and can rank very high on the bonus factor, as more opponents will consider a check raise a sign of you having a very strong hand and you have trapped them into betting, then come over the top of their bet with your check raise.

The bonus factor can also make some hands that are average or less, into profitable hands. These are hands that would normally lose for you, or at best break even, without the bonus factor. An example might be when you figure on your hand having a 50% chance of winning if shown down. However, if you estimate your opponent will fold to a strong bet, raise or re-raise 20% of the time, you can now expect to win 70% of the time (your original 50% chance of winning plus the 20% of the time that your opponents will fold). Naturally, the exact percentages will vary, as you might be under or over estimating your opponents ability to fold and of course, some of the time that they fold, you could have won. However, in most cases, it is preferable to win pots immediately with mediocre hands than to risk winning or losing a larger pot later, as you would by just calling.

If you are not already enthusiastic about the bonus factor, try looking at it this way. Suppose you are playing at a casino where anytime a player bets, raises, re-raises or check raises, the player yells "Bonus" and someone comes by and gives them a cash bonus. We imagine this would enthuse most players to collect the bonus as often as possible and probably turn even meek players into aggressive players, as they now can see where the money is in poker.

The Bonus Factor.... You might consider how you could use it to improve your play.

Senior Poker Columnist
Janice Carroll
www.headsuppokerchampion.com

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