Minraising in mtt's

[wdeadwyler]

Ive noticed in the freeroll/small buy in tourney's I play people minraise ALL the time. It is very annoying to deal with again and again. I know this post is very general, but Im hoping to get some good discussion about defending against the minraise in tourney's. Its much more effective than in a cashgame, where I would call the minraise with my 100+bb stack, but when I have only 15-25 bb's (struggling on a short-moderate stack) it can become quite a bother to deal with.

ie. Fake hand 1
UTG minraises, 5 callers, to me with 47s in the bb, i have a 15bb stack

Im gonna make some fake hands, which people may or may not want to reply to.

Fake hand 2

mp1 minraises, 2 callers, folded to me in sb with q9off (12bb's)

Fake hand 3

3 limpers, co minrises, button calls, sb calls, im deal 45s in the bb (with a 14bb stack).

I realize these fake hands suck, and there is not enough info, Im just trying to get across the annoying situations I find myself on a short-moderate stack late in mtt's. What are we doing in these situation. (For simplicity's sake lets assume everyone has me covered) blinds are around 50-100, 75-150 stage. If anyone has better hands for discussion i would appreciate it.

NB: This is my first post in this forum, hence its suckiness

[skiier04]

Hand 1: call
Hand 2: fold
Hand 3: call

[runout_mick]

Generally, barring a specific read, a minraise from under the gun early in a low buy in mtt has no more signifigance than a limp in mp in a higher buy in tourney. I think all three scenarios you mention I would call in low buy in events, especially with all the callers you indicate.

I'm not sure WHY players minraise in NL tourneys, but I usually take it as a sign of inexperience. The players that do minraise a lot I'll play ABC poker against. Never bluff. When I hit my hand, I bet harder than I would vs players that have shown an understanding of more agressive play.

These same minraisers seem to have a tendency to minbet postflop when they hit the flop, making it very worthwhile to try and draw out on them. In my experience, when you DO hit your cheap draw, these same players seem more willing than average to pay you off.

Try not to be frustrated by the minraising masses in low buy ins, just embrace their exploitability, and learn to manipulate them.