Most information at a no limit Texas Holdem poker table won’t be as easily quantifiable, at least not on the spot. But the criteria for value — accuracy and specificity, and allowing for better decisions — are always important. If you are thinking about taking an extra risk to get information, ask yourself how accurate it will be and how you will change your play based on it.

In limit Texas Holdem, though a popular tactic, paying for information is usually dubious. Throwing in an extra raise you otherwise wouldn’t, or calling a bet you otherwise shouldn’t, often doesn’t work out.

We’ve written often that aggressive players in limit Texas Holdem usually respond too unpredictably to allow you to alter your play profitably. Limit pots are usually so large compared to the bet size that the information has to be quite specific and accurate to allow you to fold. And the cost of making a bad calldown is relatively small anyway, so even when you can profit, you don’t profit much.

In no limit Texas Holdem, though, the right information at the right time could save your whole stack. So the potential upside is much greater than it can be in limit Holdem. Also, the information tends to be somewhat more reliable. In aggressive limit games, a flop bet can be almost a dare to raise. If you follow through and actually raise, you’ll often be met with a three-bet, sometimes made seemingly on principle alone.

In no limit Texas Holdem, only the most reckless players would raise and reraise so blithely since the penalty for putting in a "light" raise (with a weaker-than-average hand) can be so much harsher. Instead of being charged an extra small bet in a pot ten times its size, light raisers can be met with enormous reraises that they can’t call.

Also, a mere call transmits much more information in no limit Texas Holdem. In limit Texas Holdem, a flop call can frequently mean almost any range of hands: any pair, overcards, any draw worth discussing, and other holdings so bad we don’t have the stomach to mention them. Such a call is, by no means, a sign of a strong hand.

In no limit Texas Holdem, though, good players call with far more consideration. Typically a call will signify a good made poker hand, a strong draw, or occasionally something weaker. But even the weaker calls often portend an ominous turn of events.

In any event, betting top pair on the flop and getting called in limit is usually a good thing. In no limit Texas Holdem, it’s often a sign of trouble ahead. If the pot’s $150, you bet $120 with top pair, and two good players with $1,000 stacks call, you very likely should give up on the turn.

(One exception to this rule is when the bet and call are small, compared to the stack sizes. If the pot’s $20, you bet $15, and one or two players with $1,000 stacks call, you aren’t necessarily in trouble. They could be "fishing," relying on the implied odds of the deep stacks to reward their speculation on weak holdings.)

Big bets and calls are telling. Small bets and calls aren’t nearly so. Thus, you sometimes have the opportunity to "pay" for information by making a somewhat larger bet than you otherwise might. If your opponents will call $15 with lots of hands, but $30 with only good ones, it often behooves you to bet $30. You don’t do it because the $30 bet makes you more profit; you do it because it helps you to save a large chunk of your stack when beaten.

It’s often cheaper to bet $30 with a mediocre hand and give up if called than to bet $15, get called in two places, and have to follow up for $60 or more, out of position and clouded in uncertainty. So look for opportunities to bet a little bit extra if it will give you reliable and useful information about your holdem opponents’ hands. These information bets are particularly useful when you are out of position, as they chip away at your holdem opponents’ advantage.

An Example

You’re playing $5-$10 with $1,500 stacks. One player limps, and a tight and straightforward player makes it $40 to go from two off the button. You are next to act with A♥ K♠.

You might sometimes call, but you can do something clearly better against this specific opponent. That’s because she’s straightforward in the following way: if you reraise her, she’ll put in the third raise always and only with pocket aces or kings. With any other hand, she’ll either call or fold (depending on the hand and how large your raise is). This is true regardless of the size of your reraise; a third raise always means pocket aces or kings, and she will always reraise with aces or kings. (You could change "always" to "nearly always" and the following logic would still probably hold. But as soon as your holdem opponent mixes her play up to any degree, this play doesn’t necessarily work as described.)

In this situation, it makes sense to make a small reraise, perhaps making it $80 or $100 to go. You are reraising to see if she puts in the third raise. Your reraise is small because you don’t want her to fold ace-queen, ace-jack, or king-queen if she happens to have one of those poker hands. You also keep it small to avoid risking more than necessary to find out if you are up against aces or kings.

Indeed, this reraise doesn’t give you information only about the initial raiser’s hand. It gives you information about all of your other holdem opponents’ hands as well (the button, the blinds, and the limper). Just calling might encourage an enterprising player to call with some unreadable poker hands or to take a shot at both you and the initial raiser by putting in a big semi-bluff raise. By reraising, you all but eliminate that possibility, since you very well could be holding pocket aces. So not only does your reraise tell you about the initial raiser’s poker hand, it also keeps the remaining players’ actions more "pure," allowing you to make better decisions.

Good luck.

Also recommended:

1. Quantifying the Value of Information
2. Imperfect Information and Implied Odds in Holdem
3. Another Opportunity to Gather Information
4. Play Poker Information
5. The Pot Size Philosophy in Texas Holdem