[teamdonkey]

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I would JACK THE FLOP UP BIGTIME. 80 to go.

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This is a $55 raise in a $92 pot. You guys need to really think more about your raise sizes. I would make it $125 to go and then push the turn or $100 to go on flop, pot turn, push river.

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maybe this is something that deserves its own post, but i struggle with "pot size raises". The basic problem for me is, it's not the same as a pot size bet. Let's say i lead for $20 into a $20 pot... villain has to fold only 50% of the time to make this a break even play (disregarding any show-down value). Nothing new here. But lets say villain acts first and he leads for $20. Pot is now $40, so a pot size raise from me is $80 (20 to call his bet, 60 for the raise). I've now put in $80 to win $40... villain has to fold 67% of the time to make it break even.

So basically your hand has to be much better to make a pot size raise than it does a pot size bet. Only very rarely do you want to make a pot size raise without a big hand because villain needs to fold much more often, and when he doesn't you've really inflated the pot.

This creates a problem for me. It's fundamentally wrong to only make a certain type of play when you have a strong holding. Whether opponents at my level notice or not, only making pot size raises with a strong hand isn't optimal. How can i resolve this? Either occasionally make pot size raises with weaker holdings also, or raise a smaller amount with strong holdings. I usually go with the second option, making what amounts to a 1/2-2/3 pot size raise. So when villain bets 20 into a 20 pot, i might make it 55 or 60 instead of 80. I feel more comfortable doing this with flops i've missed ("snapping off" a continuation bet) because villain has to fold less often to make it correct. Now I'm raising the same amount with weak and strong holdings, which seems a lot closer to optimal.

yes? no? go back to 25NL?