Call to Raise ratio?

I just finished playing in a qualifier for the Paradise Poker Million Dollar Freeroll and finished 26th in a field of 970. Unfortunately, only the top 20 qualify.

Here are some of my stats for the tournament:

Games won: 7%

Showdowns won: 78%

Fold 64%
Check 13%
Call 15%
Bet 5%
Raise 2%

What jumped out at me when looking these stats was the small number of raises compared to calls.

I'm thinking that I wasn't aggressive enough. Then again, I finished in the top 3% of the field, beating out 944 other players. In addition, my cards were at best average. So, I had to be doing something right.

I'm wondering if there is an average call/raise ratio?

BTW

Thanks David, Ed, Dan and Mason. Without 2+2, there was no way I was finishing as high as I did with only 3 months of tournament experience.

This is the smallest sample size possible (One) for the largest variance form of poker (MTT tourneys). Saying you still got a good place despite not being aggressive enough does not make it correct.

You need to be a lot more aggressive.

[Pog0]

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In addition, my cards were at best average

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I too often think this during winning streaks. Then I realize what average really is in the form of sadness.

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This is the smallest sample size possible (One) for the largest variance form of poker (MTT tourneys). Saying you still got a good place despite not being aggressive enough does not make it correct.

You need to be a lot more aggressive.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're a lot funnier on television.

[AaronBrown]

There are a wide range of bet/raise to call/check ratios among good players. It also depends on the limit structure and game type. But you are well below the minimum, the play is too passive. You make things too easy on the table. In the long run, you can only win this way if the other players beat themselves. To win consistently, you have to give people hard decisions and force them into errors. I might change my opinion if you told me this was no limit and your bets and raises were all-in, or that the game was very loose. But for well-played limit Poker, your ratio is very low.

I wouldn't focus on the percentage of bet/raise. Just forcing yourself to bet when you would have otherwise checked or raise when you would have otherwise called, won't help your game. Depending on the circumstances, you may need to be betting or raising on more hands you would have otherwise folded, and folding more hands you would have otherwise checked/called. If you play more aggressively, the statistics will take care of themselves. You can't play Poker by metronome.

The main point is to make sure you have a good reason for every check and call. If you're not sure what to do, fold, bet or raise. If you're torn between folding and raising, the worst decision is to call. Too many players use checks and calls as passive moves, to avoid a decision. To paraphrase General Patton, "No bastard ever won at Poker by avoiding decisions, you win by making the other poor dumb bastard avoid a decision." Or to quote him correctly, "Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more."