A Probe bet is a small bet used to seek and obtain information. A probe bet typically comes after an out of position raiser preflop checks the flop. By checking behind you do not gain any insight as to the strength of your opposition’s holdings. A probe bet is often utilized to figure out the opposition’s hand strength in instances such as this.

How to Probe Bet

We push out a probing bet to figure out where we are in the hand, relative to the opposing player or players. A probe bet is used after an opponent has raised and before he bets. We want to know if the player is checking as a sign of weakness or to set up a trap. To determine this, when action is checked around to us, we put out a probing bet.

Relative to the pot, a probe bet should be about a third of the pot in size. A party poker bet of this nature will typically be raised if the opposition is setting a trap. Other times, the bet will merely be called, and the opposing player will fire on the next street, in a trapping manner. Sometimes, a probing bet will fold if they are weak.

Keep in mind, this bet is an information-seeking bet. While we want to know where we stand in the hand, many players make the mistake of asking for information and then ignoring said info. This can be costly over time to poker players, as the purpose of the probing bet is to probe or seek out information. Failing to process the information such a bet provides is not using this strong tool to our advantage.

The probe bet is designed to extract information prior to continuing in the hand that merely checking will not provide. Proper understanding of the probe bet is fundamental to poker playing success.