When a 3x raise just isn't enough...

[familyteeth]

i've been saving all fossilmans posts in Word, here's Sossman's discussion and foss' take on it

Has 3x become 4x?
3x bb always has been the "standard" preflop open raise for many players.
I find that I get too many callers w/ 3x. I'm talking about hands that would just as soon take the blinds as see a flop or face an all in reraise. AQ,AJ,88-JJ, etc...

How much is everyone else's "standard" raise?

Not in my world. I just don't feel it's worth risking 4x to win 1.5x. If I raise 3x with AK or a decent pair, and they call me with mediocre hands like AT, KJ, or 44, so be it. I expect to win more than I lose postflop anyway, and even more so when I start with the best hand.

In fact, I like to raise somewhat less than 3x. For example, when the blinds are 50,100 on Pokerstars, I usually raise to 280. It works just as well as 300, and saves me 20 when it doesn't work out so well.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[SossMan]

thanks, familyteeth.