[jslag]

I find that players do this with all sorts of hands. Some will do it with their monsters -- AA/KK/QQ, others will do it with marginal holdings like Ax/Kx/QJo. If the min-raise is after I've already limped, I will almost always call it to see a flop. If the min-raise is in front of me, and I have a marginal/borderline holding I'd usually limp with, I will usually fold and treat the min-raise like a normal raise.

It really comes down to the read you have on your opponents. Some of them will try this only a few times. Others will do it habitually. I remember just a day or two ago I was playing NL50 and UTG+1 made it $2 to go. Two other players called, and I re-raised to $5 on the button with AKo. UTG+1 made it $9 to go, and everyone called. The flop is A-J-rag. UTG+1 goes all in, everyone else folds and I think for about 30 seconds and call. I figured him for KK or QQ or worse, and I'm only behind to AA or AJ. He flips over QJ *offsuit* and I more than double up. His re-raise of my raise allowed me to make that call. On top of that, I noticed he had been min-raising with junk hands to steal blinds and 'take control' of hands post-flop.

I try to treat min-raises with respect unless I have a read on my opponent. Doing otherwise can get you in some tough post-flop situations with marginal hands like AQo/AJs/ATs/KQs/etc. Often a re-raise preflop will give you some valuable information as to the strength of your opponents hand.

The problem with the min-raise preflop is that you're inviting people to take your stack for cheap. Players that do this with their monster holdings as a slow play are usually the ones posting bad beat stories like "AA Cracked by T8o, why me??" -- because the blinds get good odds to limp with very weak holdings.

A min-raise post-flop usually indicates strength and in my opinion is usually inviting calls.

[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] jslag [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]