NL, preflop raising

[greenage]

Sorry if this is an obvious question.

When first to raise, I almost always raise the same (3.5 X BB) regardless of the relative strength of my hole cards and the number of limpers in front of me.

I’m thinking of varying this based on the number of limpers.

Do any of you do this? Say, add 1 BB or SB (small blind value) for each limper in front of you.

Example: $.50 BB and there are 2 limpers to me. Instead of raising to $1.75, I would raise to $2.25 (+2 SB) or $2.75 (+2 BB).

A thoughtful opponent could see that I am varying my raising values, but since it is based on the number of players ahead of me it still gives nothing away about my hand.

Is this standard/obvious or a viable approach to preflop raising?

Thank you in advance for any comments.

[CrisBrown]

Hi greenage,

If I'm going to raise pre-flop, I'll raise 4xBB + 1xBB for each limper after the first + 1xBB if I'm in an obvious steal position (CO, BB, or blinds).

So, if I'm in the CO and there are 3 limpers to me, I'm going to raise it 4+2+1=7xBB ... regardless of the hand I'm raising with.

Cris

[jdl22]

It varies a fair amount but people here do both. Some always bet the same and make it 4 bb. Others make it 8 bb and if they never get callers bluff a couple times until the callers come. Others make it 4+x bb where x is the number of limpers. I think it depends on the opponents. Some party tables you can raise it to 14 bb and they will still call with KTo. I personally make it 8 bb and then raise with marginal hands if I'm not getting enough action.

[greenage]

[greenage]

[Wayfare]

Well, it really does depend on what table you are playing and what hand you are holding.

If it is at party $25, people will call $3 with hands that are massively dominated. $4 seems to scare almost everyone away, unless they have a pocket pair they are willing to back. Why not raise to $3 and get a little bit of cash in for the flop, unless you get resistance?

If I see action ahead of me with a monster, like a raise to $2 and a couple callers, it is very normal for me to make it $6-$8 and get callers, even when their hands nowhere near justify it.

On the other hand, if you get multiway raising pre flop and you hold AA/KK, you should sometimes just push it in -- players with JJ/TT/99 CANNOT get away from their hands. Don't give them a chance by incrementally raising. Big moves against stupid players lead to big mistakes, and big payouts. I once saw someone make more than $125 at at $25 table on one hand AA/QQ both all in pre-flop.

I feel with stacks as short as they are at party (50xBB), most of your early money comes from people making really stupid pre-flop calls against your monsters (JJ-AK/AA). On most boards you can get in with a big advantage and double through, and then start playing more reasonably since you have a reasonable stack compared to the blinds.

What I'm saying is that you should take a big advantage pre-flop and be prepared to back it with your entire stack.

[ALL1N]

I go against the grain with preflop raising. Most people say that how much you raise should be independant of the cards, so that you cannot be read.

While this has its merits against tough players who get to know you, you miss out on a lot of value that comes in manipulating weak players.

If, for example, I was on the button after 3 limpers in a weak online game with medium stacks:

with AA or AKs, I'd raise to 5-6xBB.

with QQ or AKo, I'd raise to 8-9xBB.

with KQs or QJs, I'd raise to 3-4xBB.

You may notice that the size of the raises are meant to manipulate the number of players in the pot on the flop. Yes, tough observant players may be able to take advantage of these preflop raises, but that species hardly exists in low limit online games.

ALL1N

[Leo Bello]

Bump.
To help the other question and after all this is an interesting post, maybe some more people would like to comment on this matter.
Preflop strategy is something I need to improve to better disguise hands.

[nwaddell]

here's my question...i generally play .50BB NL on party. when i raise (anything over $1.50-2) with anything semi-decent, no one calls. the last thing i want is to have my AA or KK cracked, so what's the best play? limp, and hope no one hits two pair, or i flop trips? or just continue to raise the standard 4-5xBB?

[DOMIT]

That's really dependant on your table. I've raised to 4xbb and have 4 callers! Depends, depends, depends. Sometimes I hate hearing that answer, but it's really true. There are tables with maniacs that loosen up the play, then there are others that it's fold, fold, fold, like you described.

The beauty of online play, especially at Party, is table selection. If it's fold, fold, try what one poster suggested and raise more often. If you're not comfortable with that, play to your blind and go to a different table.