Tight Poker

[mewsiclovr]

This is not deepstacked holdem, not even close.

[neverthink]

FWIW, I would never make a raise designed to win the pot outright here. I would make a small pot building raise (2.5x to 3x the blind).

Besides, why would I want to force out weak opponents who don't respect position with a hand like this one?

And, uh, hello? Everyone already in the hand has 50 BB at least. I don't see any short stacks?

The other argument I hear people make is that "your raise is transparent, everyone knows what you have". Totally wrong. All you know is that I don't have jacks or better. I might have AK for all you know, or a middle pair, juicing for my set. The point is: No, you really don't have any idea what I'm holding, and you are blinded by your own arrogance to think you do.

Besides, raising to a small amount let's me control the betting on the flop. If it checks around to me, I am in no way obligated to make a continuation bet. Why would I? I've invested 3 BB in the hand and if I have no interest in it, I'll just check behind. I can make moves when I want, because I have no obligations to bet and I have the button.

Everything about this hand points to advantage: me. I have absolute control over where I stand in the hand. I'll know second pair is never good, I'll have the ability to grant myself a free card, to c-bet or not to c-bet, to raise or fold whenever I want.

Making a big preflop raise designed to thin the field is frankly retarded. It doesn't accomplish any of my goals. I want to build a pot with a big pot hand. I want to keep as many players in to maximize my implied odds. It lets my opponents get out of the hand with hands I want them to call with (AJ, maybe. Imagine an A86 board. So many possibilities).

So, in the end, I think making a large raise is a bigger blunder than folding, but not making a small raise, is a bigger blunder than calling. In my head:

Small raise > Calling >>> Folding >> Big raise.

Small raise is horrible, and yes it does give away the strength of your hand unless you are misplaying others. AK should never be raised so small, and neither should TT or any pair higher. It´s fine as it will make a slightly bigger pot postflop and may sometimes earn you a free card if you flop a draw, but if it is a line inconsistent with other hands you´d play then it´s not good play. Even eliminating only QQ+ has narrowed down your range too much.

And what if one of those guys was limping in with a big pair and you´ve reopened the betting? Now you don´t get your cheap flop with a nice hand and position. Also, there are no better implied odds here than just limping in behind. The only reason I ever raise marginal hands preflop is to try and keep them at break even by continuation betting into 1, 2 at most opponents with some fold equity until they hit big and my opponents misread me, not for pot building. The point of a raise is to protect your hand and get money in the pot when you have the best of it, so a small raise either means a lock hand that the next card cannot harm, or its air making moves. There are no lock hands preflop, so that kind of narrows it down.

You don´t have to pot it, but you should make it bigger than a standard opening when you have real hands with guys ahead, and you must do the same with moves as well. Post flop is different and you can mess around if you think it´s +EV, but preflop is very clear cut so all of these baby raises are silly.

[caffiend]

The only reason I ever raise marginal hands preflop is to try and keep them at break even by continuation betting into 1, 2 at most opponents with some fold equity until they hit big and my opponents misread me, not for pot building.

You can extend that to at least two more situations you'll rarely encounter:

In a true deep stack game with no straddle you don't mind juicing the pot a bit. You're unlikely to stack anyone in the first place, and you're miles away from the cap. Of course, this is pretty unlikely online.

In a tough game you don't always dislike it either. You are getting about 8:1 back on the small raise, so it's not awful with a pair. You do have position, which lets you represent any set you want too. (<- Why playing against people who understand and respect position comes into play) The problem is, how often do you see a tough game with that many limpers?

[ugignadl]

How did you guys write so much, with your fingers and the typing and all the words...