Mini-Raising on the Button in Mid/.Late SnG Stages

[esbesb]

Say, the blinds are 50/100 or 100/200. 4-7 players left. UR on the button. Folded around to you. You have a comfortable stack. SB and BB have average stacks.

I usually eschew mini-raises, but often like one here, regardless of my hand.

1. Can easily get away from the hand if played back at;
2. More "realistic" than a 3 or 4x BB raise from this position (looks like I want action);
3. Often disconcerting to opponents (cause it is either a pure steal, or a monster hand - I think they are highly unlikely to play back without a killer hand, espec. with average stacks and the money approaching);
4. If called and checked to on the flop, I can make a bid for the pot for far less of a post-flop bet;
5. Less risky

There is obviously a lot of overlap between the above points.

You like this?

[ColdestCall]

"Say, the blinds are 50/100 or 100/200. 4-7 players left. UR on the button. Folded around to you. You have a comfortable stack. SB and BB have average stacks."


Your premise makes this difficult to respond to. There is a HUGE difference between 4 and 7 players, as there is between blinds 50/100 and 100/200.

That being said, I think there are places where the min-raise can be used effectively to steal, provided you have observed the table folding to min-raises before, and/or your opponents have seen you slowplay a monster before, and the blinds are not such a large percentage of the BB's (or SB's) stack that they feel obligated to call a min-raise, and everyone's playing tight to get ITM and not getting involved with mediocre hands, and you are not raising into aggressive players who will ram this weakness down your throat with a push, and you've mixed up your raising pattern enough so that no one has a read on what your raises mean.... Generally if I want to steal I push, but will throw in a min-raise now and again to mix it up if the conditions are just right.