general betting strategies at the .5/1 pp tables

[Dommer]

Been going over my game, and one of the areas I think I can improve on is extracting the most money.

One of the things I notice I do a lot is min. raising... I think that could be a problem. When is the correct time to use a min. raise? The min. raise seems to be useful to get more information from the opponent or to get a free check on the turn (with a draw for example), but I think I far too often try to build the pot with min. raises. Sometimes I do it because I only think I'm ahead but I'm not sure, so I get a bit weak, other times I do it because I think the opponent is too weak to call much more.

So... once you've decided you most likely have the best hand, what is generally the best approach? How important is your read on the opponent, or do you just bet the strength of your hand? Should I just bet very strong and expect to be called? Is min. raising ever correct?

Sometimes I'll make a crazy bet and it gets called, and I see people calling huge bets all the time. I generally bet less than the pot unless I'm sure the other person is strong and I know I have better, but sometimes these guys call huge bets with just about nothing. I often find myself betting half the pot or 2/3rd the pot which I have a feeling may be a bit weak.

I realize this is all very general so I'm not expecting anything much, just some general tips you guys might have on betting when you are ahead. I'm mostly wondering if I'm on the right track here, studying this part of my game. If it is I'll try to dig up some hands to show you guys.

Thanks,
Dommer

[excession]

When is the correct time to use a min. raise?

When you want to represent yourself as a bad player? /images/graemlins/blush.gif

Or you want to annoy other players at the table who really hate min-raisers.. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously there hardly ever an excuse to min raise pre-flop (unless you happen to get position on a BB who is so tight he'll fold to one as often as to a 3xBB raise).

Just make your standard raise 3-4x BB - in the long run you will make more money.

Post-flop min raises if you think you are ahead are truly dreadful - you are just giving anyone with a draw perfect odds to call. If you think you are ahead you must bet enought to make a call from a guy on a draw a mistake.

If you are on a draw or just don't know where you are and want to slow an opponent who is betting into you down then perhaps a min raise has some use.

[swolfe]

[ QUOTE ]
Post-flop min raises if you think you are ahead are truly dreadful - you are just giving anyone with a draw perfect odds to call. If you think you are ahead you must bet enought to make a call from a guy on a draw a mistake.

If you are on a draw or just don't know where you are and want to slow an opponent who is betting into you down then perhaps a min raise has some use.

[/ QUOTE ]

except that if you only min-raise when you're on a draw or have a weak hand, then it'll be easy for opponents to fold to your real raises and push you off your min-raises.

[Ghazban]

When making a bet or raise, ask yourself the following questions:

1) What do I want to accomplish with this bet/raise?
2) What amount is most likely to acheive this?

In answering these make sure you consider all information available to you including, but not limited to: your hole cards, what your opponent(s)' hole cards are, what they think you have, what they think you think they have, stack sizes, table image, and metagame considerations.

[etgryphon]

I almost never use the minraise, but there are exactly two situations that I will use it:

1. In a very loose, very passive game in LP with lots of limpers when I have a deep stack with suited connectors.

2. In a hyper aggressive game with loose player who get pissed at the minraise and try to go in over the top because you have advertised yourself as "weak-tight" but have switched gears and now you hold the nuts.

Situation #1 I am not completely sure is the best strategy, but I have had a good run with it lately in a weekly home game that I play. Situation #2 rarely comes up but is ultra effective for doubling up.

So in short there are VERY few times that a minriase should every be used and if you never use it you won't be losing much advantage at all. Reread Ghazbans post if you ever feel the urge to do it.

-Gryph

[PinkSteel]

[ QUOTE ]
2. In a hyper aggressive game with loose player who get pissed at the minraise and try to go in over the top because you have advertised yourself as "weak-tight" but have switched gears and now you hold the nuts.

Situation #2 rarely comes up but is ultra effective for doubling up.


[/ QUOTE ]

Situation #2 rocks. Very rare and very, very, very satisfying. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[excession]

Yes but you are overcrediting most opponents :0 -

A min re-raise is most often seen as saying - 'I have a good hand (often TPTK) - are you really strong?' It is much less often that it means 'I'm on the nut flush draw' or 'I'm setting you up for a big bluff on the turn'.

That said - as I stated above - I almost never min raise for any reason at all.'

[steaknshake925]

[ QUOTE ]
When is the correct time to use a min. raise?

When you want to represent yourself as a bad player?

Or you want to annoy other players at the table who really hate min-raisers..

[/ QUOTE ]

awesome.

the only time i minraise is when i suddenly have too much action at many other tables and i need to raise this one but dont have the time to type the number in, so i just hit the raise button which is a minraise to save time.

[Dommer]

[ QUOTE ]
When making a bet or raise, ask yourself the following questions:

1) What do I want to accomplish with this bet/raise?
2) What amount is most likely to acheive this?

In answering these make sure you consider all information available to you including, but not limited to: your hole cards, what your opponent(s)' hole cards are, what they think you have, what they think you think they have, stack sizes, table image, and metagame considerations.

[/ QUOTE ]

What are metagame considerations?

Also, to the people who notice I have a very very tight image, I just about never bluff past a continuation bet. If I do, its just sort of experimenting, its not something I try to have as a part of my game, I might do it once a week or something (once every 10k hands). To anyone paying attention I'm quite predictable, I might try some sneaky betting but only when I think I'm ahead. How would that image affect my betting?

Dommer

[Ghazban]

The metagame is the overall flow of the table. For example, if you got dealt AA the past three hands, raised all three times, and nobody ever called, you would probably not raise with pure trash on the next hand in an attempt to steal as the table would perceive you as trying to run them over. On the other hand, if you haven't played a hand in the past 37 orbits, you could probably raise any two cards and pick up the blinds. When people talk about mixing things up or being deceptive, they are talking about the metagame-- if you play every hand the same way every time, your opponents will pick up on your patterns and play around them. Therefore, you must occasionally play hands differently than you usually do to keep opponents off-balance.

[edge]

I pretty much only minraise on the river. I haven't seen a lot of other good places to use it.

[Siawyn]

I use the min raise vs poor players when I hold a powerhouse and know they will call it down. i.e. turning a straight, flopping a full house.

Sometimes you can use it with a pocket pair preflop to build the pot a little bit bigger for your sets. I can't remember the last time I've done this myself though.

min-raising with a good hand preflop is disaster waiting to happen.