Title speaks for itself I guess. A standard squeeze for me is about 2x pot when facing 3+ limpers, and 1.5x pot when facing when I'm attempting a re-steal (3 bet)...obv this is all pf. I'm having a hard time determining if I'm spending too much time thinking about x * pot instead of x * initial bet

As for post flop play, does raising in relation to current pot size have a place in poker? I have never really done it, but I'm sure that in some spots it's better than raising 3x.

well I always size my bets according to pot size since thats what you're after, the pot. If some fish leads into me for $2 on a $40 pot and I have an overpair, I'm not going to raise him to $6, I'm going to raise him to $30, primarily so I dont give him correct odds to draw to anything if he's on a draw.

At the end of the day it's all about raising the pot and giving your opponents the price you want to induce the behaviour you want.

Most of the time calculating by big blinds preflop is convenient because it allows easy calculations for common betting patterns. But even preflop I personally find it more convenient to switch to %pot and %stack thinking quite quickly if the pot starts to get large or some unusual betting happens, because it helps me think about odds and future betting.

For example, considering a 4-bet I wouldn't be worrying about big blinds. I would be thinking about what % of the effective stack I want to bet right now to leave enough % behind to be effective on the flop, turn and river. So I'm thinking chips rather than blinds, as I like to be in a post-flop mindset at that stage.

But maybe that's just me.

Thanks dude, that's a great way to look at things. What makes you determine what % of the effective stack you want to leave on the flop?

Your opponent... his range and tendencies.... and your cards, range, and tendencies.

But dont foget, despite what you want to win from your opponent, odds are odds. Just because you think someone will only call 1/10th pot sized bet on a flush draw doesnt mean you should bet 1/10 pot for value.

I don't mean to be nit picky, and I'm appreciate your response, but could you specify an exact example?

ie...if the opponents is 15/12 and calls 3 bets 60% of the time, that should leave x amount of an effective stack left in relation to the pot...etc

Usually you want to leave yourself enough behind to make credible bets later on.

Here's an example...

You all start with $100 in a $0.50/1 cash game.
You raise to $3 in the button, big blind 3bets to $10 and it's back to you. You're confident of your hand and decide to reraise strong to $40 and your opponent calls.

The pot is now $80.5 and you and your opponent both have stacks of $60.

You're now in a situation where you have only one option for betting - all-in. You haven't left yourself with any flexibility. Even worse, if you go all-in your opponent is risking 60 to win 140, which is great odds to call knowing that there's no risk of further bets. They only have to win 30% of the time for calling to be profitable, so you're probably not going to get them off any decent hand.

If you'd 4bet instead by a smaller amount, say $25, then the pot would be $50.5 and you'd both have $75 behind. Now you've got the ability to bet half pot and if your opponent calls (100 in pot, 50 behind) you can follow up with another half pot bet on the turn or river, or you have enough to make a decent raise to your opponent's c-bet. More flexibility to play post-flop.

When good players and books talk about "pot control" what they're really concerned about is the ratio of the pot to the effective stack, rather than the absolute value of the pot in terms of cash, because it is this ratio that provides or restricts room for play in the rest of the hand. This is actually a key concept that is often misunderstood by less experienced players (and quite a few experienced ones).

You can use this knowledge both ways - by making sure you give yourself enough flexibility when you want it, and also by limiting it to put your opponent in impossible positions (eg, if you want them to call light when you have the nuts). Depends on situation and reads.

Hope that makes sense.

By the way, a lot of the "standard" Xbb patterns taught in books are designed to give the most flexibility in most common situations, without the new player having to think about proportions of effective stacks, etc. So in most situations these are the right things to do, at least for the novice. But making these same Xbb raises won't work the same when the effective stacks are bigger or smaller than 100bb.

The fact that you're clearly thinking for yourself about this and questioning it rather than slavishly following guidelines is a really good sign for your poker career.

I really can't express how grateful I am for your examples + insight...I'm definitely looking at poker through a new perspective now. Thank you

as I consider myself a novice player gothninja i thought your advice made sense and was super easy to comprehend thanks sir