Did i make a mistake here? Orleans Open NL

[Smoothcall]

My decision wasn't just based on the size of his bet. That was just another factor. See my original post. I think he makes a poor call. But i haven't gotten to that i will post results now in another thread.

[sekrah]

Am I the only one who raises exactly 3.5x BB every single time I come into a pot whether it's with A-A or 6-8 off suit?

[bruce]

I am an advocate of uniform BTF raises. I raise 3x the BB regardless of what I have. Good luck putting me on a hand.
Once we get past the first few levels I almost never will enter a pot with a limp either.

Many other tournament players follow my strategy (or I follow theirs). I disagree that a 3.5x raise precludes
your opponent from having AA or KK. Not everyone limps or
miniraises with these hands.

Bruce

[Smoothcall]

He looked sick when i moved in. He made these awful faces like he was in a terrible spot. I felt pretty confident he was gonna fold. Then he changed and did i moneymaker I CALL and slammed his chips into the table with 1010's. i couldn't believe he called with 1010's. Flop was 1055 pretty much ending any exciting moments and i was out the door just like that.

I know all that is importnat is how i play my hand. But if i was in his position i would have definately folded. He is calling off 5800 more and almost all of his chips in best case scenario a coin flip. And worst up against a bigger pair.

Oh yeah after he made the call he said i put you on Ak. I hate when they say that. So i guess he made a great play since the best read he got put him as a coin flip. And if he's wrong he's around an 80-20 dog.

[bruce]

We can agree to disagree on assuming what his T1000 raise means.

I would push BTF. Firstly you don't have that many chips.
It's costing you T675 a round and you have T6500. At some point you will have to accumulate chips. Are you trying to
win the event or squeak into the money? By reraising unless
your opponent has a big hand, with your tight imagae, he will probably fold. Unless he has AA you are in horrible shape. If he has a pocket pair with the antes and small blind you are getting the correct price. I like pushing with AK, as opposed to calling a push with AK, much better.

Bruce

[sekrah]

I prefer a standard 3.5x to 3x raise preflop. That 1/2 BB extra drives many of marginal hands that some people might have stuck around for.

My NL tournament results have improved dramatically since switching to 3.5x. If I get Aces and nobody calls the raise, oh well.. That's poker. I'd rather have that happen than somebody taking a flop with some garbage and draw out on me, or have everybody at the table knowing how much I raise with Aces or Kings.

[sekrah]

B.S. He didn't put you on AK.. He put you on a big pair and then talked himself into a call, and started PRAYING that you had A-K, and his prayers came true.

What a donkey. I hate clowns like that.

[Smoothcall]

Your key sentence is not everyone. But many do. And that was just an extra factor in my decision. Even if he made a raise that didnt look weak to me i still felt he couldnt call unless AA or kk. And maybe qq and Ak. So there are som many hands i won that pot without a showdown. And if he calls well then if i win the hand i am chip leader in the tournament. And in an excellent postion in the tourney. The only hands i'm a big dog against are AA and kk. And kk still got a 30 percent chance of winning. But agian there are so many hands where he won't call.

[pipster]

For those of you who have a standard 3.5xBB or 3xBB raise amount, do you adjust that amount based on limpers, position, and image of the blinds? If you enter a pot on the button that was folded around to you do you still raise 3xBB? Or do you lower than some to make it look more like a steal? or raise it more to induce the "I have an Ace I call" blind defense? What about a pot with 6 limpers to you on the button? 3xBB is only a half pot sized raise.

[sekrah]

If it's folded to me, and I'm first to enter the pot, my bet is 3.5x BB, always, no matter what position I'm in.

If there's multiple limpers, (say 5 or 6, and I'm in the blinds), I'll bet a little more. 4.5x-5x BB.

This is assuming the chip stacks are deep.. If they are shallow, I might just push.