Fossilman, I have a question.

[TheJackal]

I have a problem raising out of the blinds and it has cost me big time. How many callers are needed to raise with a medium pocket pair, medium ace, or suited overcards? I'm sure you will tell me it's player dependent, but when someone flat calls a raise from the blinds, I hate the fact I'm in terrible position. It always seems when I tone down my aggression, my game suffers. I really feel it's a double edged sword, it either nets me a lot of chips or sends me to the rail. One other question is what is your own personal thought process when you read hands?

[fnurt]

I have some thoughts but I guess you only want to hear from Greg. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Tharpab]

[ QUOTE ]
but when someone flat calls a raise from the blinds, I hate the fact I'm in terrible position. It always seems when I tone down my aggression, my game suffers.

[/ QUOTE ]
This sucks, they call me(generally the big stacks maniacs 'sheriffs') and I miss the flop, you cant help but check, then they just min bet and its already a good portion of your stack, then I'm forced to fold because bluffing them its impossible, what to do in these situations?Also whats with blind stealing with a lot of pros?I mean they must know its a steal and they would call everytime woundtl they?How did you steal on the wsop?

[davidross]

Why do you want to raise those hands out of the blinds? I don't see good players making that play, just a lot of the real bad ones on PArty. THose sound like excellent hands to see the flop cheaply on. If you flop big, being well disguised will help you get action even though you're out of position. If you miss you fold. I would raise AA, KK or QQ hoping for a call, and anything else I raise an amount that I'm pretty sure will make everyone fold.

[TheJackal]

[ QUOTE ]
I have some thoughts but I guess you only want to hear from Greg.

[/ QUOTE ]

I respect everyone's opinion, I just address ir to Greg so he might answer it. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
I've read archive posts that Greg has written about and the guy knows what he is talking about (not to brown nose, I mean it and I'm sure everyone here knows Greg is a great player, something I and I'm sure a lot of people aspire to be.) Oh yeah and one last thing, I made the worst call of my life because I saw how bad of mistakes a player was making during a sat on Pstars. He was hitting miracle draw after miracle draw, calling all-in's with the worst of it and winning, he happened to flop a set against my TPBK when I was in the blind and busted me. It was really retarded because I was above average. My discpline is still lacking...

[betgo]

I'm not Fossilman, but here goes.

Why would you want to raise with hands like medium pairs, medium aces, and suited high cards? If there are a bunch or limpers, these are good hands to limp with. These hands play well in a multiway pot. They are hands you would usually raise with if it was passed to you in late position, but they are hands you would pass with in a lot of situations. You have no reason to believe that your hand is better than those of the limpers in the pot. I would only raise if I thought I could steal the pot.

With AJ or AT, you could raise limpers from the CO or button, but as you say you are out of position in the BB after the flop. I would generally fold A9 or less in this situation unless it was suited. With limpers in the pot, I would usually call with any suited ace.

[Vince Lepore]

You have to be more specific. Is your question for limit, no limit or pot limit tournaments? The answer is different for each type of game and blinds plus chip position, yours and your opponents.

In tournaments you make plays like this with survival always in the back of your mind unless your chip position is extremely good or bad. Even then survival must be considered. In live games with fixed blinds raising from the blinds is easier to determine. For instance in a 15-30 games if you have 5 or more limpers raising with small and medium pairs and suited connectors is a profitible play. In turnaments, especially no limit it might be better to see the flop with these hands in the same situation. In pot limit raising might also be right but in pot limit it is more important to consider your opponents before making these plays.

Vince

[Bigwig]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not Fossilman, but here goes.

Why would you want to raise with hands like medium pairs, medium aces, and suited high cards? If there are a bunch or limpers, these are good hands to limp with. These hands play well in a multiway pot. They are hands you would usually raise with if it was passed to you in late position, but they are hands you would pass with in a lot of situations. You have no reason to believe that your hand is better than those of the limpers in the pot. I would only raise if I thought I could steal the pot.

With AJ or AT, you could raise limpers from the CO or button, but as you say you are out of position in the BB after the flop. I would generally fold A9 or less in this situation unless it was suited. With limpers in the pot, I would usually call with any suited ace.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with this post.

It also depends on where the limpers are coming from. If they are EP or MP limpers, mid pocket pairs and hands like AT aren't necessarily close to the best hand, and you may easily get called out of position by hands that you're only a slight favorite to.

If, however, there are only LP limpers, raising might be good here. My thought process is that these players are going to raise with a wide range of hands, and since they did not, I suspect weakness.