Lesson
Protection Bets as Insurance Policies
Protection Betting · intermediate · 8 min
Tyler explains protection betting as buying a small insurance policy against low-equity hands sucking out. Viewers learn why protection bets should usually be very small, how to compare the bet size to the equity being denied, and why an oversized raise can spend more on protection than the protection is worth.
Key takeaways
- When betting or raising for protection, size the bet only large enough to make the opponent's draw or overcard equity unprofitable.
- Do not use a large raise to protect against a small amount of equity; this is like paying too much for insurance.
- Estimate the opponent's equity and the pot they can win before choosing a protection size.
- Against a hand with around 4% equity, a very small bet can be enough to deny its profitable call.
- Small protection bets can be used broadly in some spots, while larger bets risk losing money against stronger parts of the opponent's range.