Miniraising preflop

[Rococo]

Catlover,

You are completing ignoring stack sizes, which I think is a huge factor in determining whether a minraise preflop has any merit. In a super deep game, you can play for 12 hours and never see a minraise, and I think that the reason is obvious. In addition to narrowing/expanding the field, preflop raising affects pot size. Good players want to force their opponents to make a pot-committing decision within a defined number of "moves". This is an advanced skill, I grant you, but a critical one nonetheless.

[Ulysses]

I minraise from time to time for the following reasons.

1) To gain position.
2) To freeze someone from making a play at the pot.
3) To induce someone to make a play at the pot.

These all come up in very specific situations. In most situations, there is usually a superior move to min-raising.

[Marnixvdb]

if you raise less preflop there is less to win postflop

Marnix

I think I've played you catlover.

[MightyMouse]

"You will automatically be a better poker player if you never min-raise again." ---our own Greg Raymer. (paraphrased)