Standard raises not working

[ChuckyB]

I play a weekly tournament game. There's usually 9 of us and most players will call everything, it seems.

Normally I like my pre-flop raises to be 2.5 - 3.5xBB (depending on position, plus more for any callers ahead of me). I found those don't push people out and my strong hands get whacked.

Last time out in the first level (25/50, 5000 starting chips), there were 5 limpers ahead of me. On the button I raised to 500 with JJ. SB said it was a "ridiculous raise" and promptly folded.

With the bigger raises, I seemed to get what I want...mostly folds and enough callers to make it manageable.

Do you adjust your raises from game to game to push people out/keep people in? Or are they pretty much the same?