Bully betting
Bully betting is a poker term (especially used in Texas Hold Em Poker) that is used to describe when a player with a big chip count (usually at least twice as many chips as the next highest) bets in a way that has a minimum of risk and which intimidates the opposition, effectively stealing their chips, reminiscent of a schoolyard bully. Bully betting is generally frowned upon in social playing and can lead to players being banned, although in professional tournaments it is virtually expected that for a player to have a chance at the title then they will usually have to have bully betted at some point in the tournament.
Requirements to bully bet[edit]
The main requirement is to have a major chip lead, usually at least twice as many chips as the next highest amount of chips on the table. In theory, you can bully bet without a chip lead, so long as those with more chips are tight players (players who only bet when they have a good hand and pass most hands). If the chip lead is lost, then the bully betting should stop. Continuing to bully bet without a chip lead, unless it is coordinated with someone else with more chips (which is even more frowned upon than regular bully betting) is very dangerous, as you can quickly lose all of your chips. This method can only work reliably with a chip lead.
How to bully bet[edit]
The main premise of bully betting is that you can afford to lose a lot more than your opponents. If you bet pre-flop a bet of $1,000 out of your stack of $10,000, for you this is a small bet, while for your opponent, who only has $1,200 chips, it is almost their entire stack of chips and they are likely to fold, unless they are absolutely certain that they have the best hand. Players will fold almost every time, even though they might have had a better hand than you did, because they cannot risk going out of the competition/losing their last bit of money/etc. Bully betting is not simply betting big when you have a big hand - it is betting big whether you have a good hand or not. The bets are not simply aimed at stealing the blinds, or whatever bets had been made thus far - they are also designed at stealing the ALL IN bet which you will call if you actually have the best hand. The bully bet does not need to always be made pre-flop. Indeed, some of the best bully betting is made at the flop - after a lot of people have already committed to the hand - or at the turn or even at the river. Bully betting should mix it up a bit when the big bets will come, and even have a few hands where they don't bet big (although they should bet big most hands). The aim isn't simply to steal the blinds but to intimidate the opposition and make them feel like there is nothing that they can do, like it is not worth playing. Indeed, if done correctly, there is nothing that they can do.
What is and what is not bully betting[edit]
If you have a chip lead and bet normally then bet ALL IN on either a bluff or a good hand, doing so when you would be doing it normally, then that is not bully betting. Betting ALL IN pre-flop either as a bluff or with a genuine hand, when you do not have a chip lead is most certainly not bully betting - although it can be a good counter to bully betting. While these strategies can work, they are an entirely different thing to bully betting because they carry an element of risk and they are not designed to intimidate. The whole concept of bully betting is that you are acting like a bully - there is absolutely no risk involved and your aim is to intimidate the opposition through your betting. Betting where there is risk, or betting in a fair way which is not aimed at intimidation might well be good tactics but it is not bully betting.
Countering bully betting[edit]
There is no guaranteed counter to bully betting. If done correctly, it will work every time with no serious risk involved. Ultimately, the only way to counter bully betting is with a lot of courage and with an awful lot of luck.
The best way to counter bully betting is to limit yourself to 2 bets - fold or ALL IN. If you have $2,500 chips compared to their $10,000 and they are consistently betting $1,000 chips whether they have a good hand or not, you cannot call that unless you have a good hand, and if you do then you should go ALL IN.
There is an obvious risk to this, because you will be going ALL IN early in the hand, often at pre-flop or at the flop itself. Even if you do have the best hand to that point, you might not have the best hand at the end.
You should not call a low bet pre-flop, even if they tempt you with a lowish bet of $100 or so, because you know that they will come out with a $1,000 bet later on which you have to pass, effectively stealing your chips. There are only 2 bets - fold or ALL IN.
The ultimate aim in countering bully betting is not to take all of their chips but rather just to take enough that they cannot bully bet anymore. Once they are down to the same chips as everyone else - even if they do still have a slight chip lead - they cannot bully betting anymore and normal play can resume.
The ethics of bully betting[edit]
Bully betting is generally frowned upon in social poker players but in professional tournaments it is perfectly accepted as a normal and sensible way to play. It is accepted in a major tournament that once you have a major chip lead, you will bully bet to guarantee that lead and hence have a shot at the title. Few major championships are won without some degree of bully betting. Bully betting, effectively, is said to be just reward for having won a number of good pots early on and establishing a chip lead.