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Being Balanced by Avoiding Predictable Patterns With Your Play

You occasionally hear poker players commenting on hands use the term "balancing" when discussing a player's action on a postflop street.

"If he's going to bet half the pot here with the nuts," they might say, "he also needs to bet the same amount when he doesn't have it if he wants to be balanced."

The concept is perhaps easy enough to follow when watching a hand play out and hearing someone else talk about it, but what's the practical value of being "balanced" with our actions in no-limit hold'em? How much do we really need to be concerned about it?