Upping my preflop raise %

[penisclaw]

I have about an 8k sample size of hands since I finished reading SSHE for the third time, and feeling like I fully understand all of its concepts. I make my preflop limp/raise decisions based on that spreadsheet based on the SSHE charts that some 2+2'er made a while back.

At about 5k hands I noticed my PFR% was at about 6.75%, and it fluctuates +/- .5%. I have read in the forums a few times where people posted their 10k hand summaries, with PFR% of 9 or 10%, and they got replies saying they need to up that percentage a little bit.

So I am obviously too passive preflop, and I tried making adjustments to up that percentage a bit. I started raising things like KTo, KJo, QJo, and a few others from later position with 1 or 2 callers for isolation purposes. I have also started raising pretty much anything worth limping on from late position with no callers to attempt to steal the blinds (not so easy at .5/$1). I have also done things like raise suited connectors, or anything suited worth limping on from late position with many callers, to up the pot size if I hit a draw. All these actions have brought my PFR% to about 7.5% +/-.5, But I still feel like that is too low, and I'm sure the general consensus will be the same.

How can I go about raising my PFR%? What other changes should I make to the SSHE charts to up my raise percentage closer to 10%? I also want to point out that I am able to play more hands comfortably postflop, and feel like I am pretty competent with a 3.25 BB/100 winrate over 8k hands.

Thanks

[Paxosmotic]

Start raising hands like KJs, AJo, ATs and 99 from anywhere on the table. I believe SSHE has you calling with those hands a lot. Time to fix that. Raise first in with nearly anything you want to play from the cutoff or button. Those two things alone will bump your PFR by 2.5%. The rest comes from isolation raises with a read (don't blindly raise hands like KTo, you need a read).

Woohoo, 700th post!

[llamaoo7]

How much time do you spend on table selection? With a nice juicy table, I find a lot more places to raise preflop and this in turned raised mine (from about 7.5% to 9) because I wasn't using much table selection before that. I also found out that it pays to grow a pair when you have a hand and throw in a 3 bet against a very loose preflop opponent as opposed to passively calling.

[Rev. Good Will]

How do you guys not have PFR under 9? i can't figure it out?

Pax offered good advice, in addtion, I'd like to add a few things:

1 - Isolate more. got a MP-LP open limper with a high VPIP? Raise and isolate that mother

2 - steal more. folded to you in LP, the further back, and tighter the blinds, the lower your requirements to steal.

3 - open raise. connected to point #2. For just about all hands, except lower PP's and suited connectors, playing them should be a raise or fold decision, even while in EP

[istewart]

Value raise big or connected suited hands after lots of limpers, and steal a lot more. However, at $.25/.50-$1/2, don't get carried away with this last part, especially if you're sitting to the right of some opponents with 40% VP$IPs.

[kross]

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3 - open raise. connected to point #2. For just about all hands, except lower PP's and suited connectors, playing them should be a raise or fold decision, even while in EP

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Do you open-limp small PP's and suited connectors in middle to late position?

[Paxosmotic]

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Value raise big or connected suited hands after lots of limpers

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This is probably my favorite play in all of hold em. My eyes light up when I have 87s on the button and everyone loses their mind and there's like 5 limpers to me with the blinds left to act. That's a raise all day every day. Not because I want to build the pot and tie myself to it, and not because of an equity edge, but because my opponents tend to view folding as an art, regardless of pot size, and I'll get their money in the pot while I can. Build that pot, baby.

[Harv72b]

It is tougher to have a high PFR% in a game like .50/1 because you will so rarely be presented with a true blind steal situation. In other words, since so many of your opponents are limping ahead of you with various suited crap & ace/rag combos, you are going to be presented with far fewer opportunities to openraise from the CO or Button with mediocre hands like your KTo, A7s, and similar holdings. The solution is not to force situations where you're raising preflop, but rather to keep playing smart poker based on the table conditions.

As you get up to higher limits, you'll find that your PFR% will largely take care of itself as you are increasingly forced to play on relatively tight tables. For example, I average just over 10% on 2/4 & 3/6 full, and I will very rarely raise in a lot of the situations you mentioned; but because it's folded to me in LP far more often, I'm able to openraise with an even wider range of hands than what you listed. My PFR% in 6max games is over 16%.

You should never try to change your game just to make your statistics line up with the accepted norm. It's vitally important to understand not only what you are trying to accomplish but why--raising more often will not help your win rate nearly as much as raising in more of the right situations will, and it's very likely that you just aren't being presented with enough of those situations in the .50/1 game.

[Absolution]

I disagree on 87 and I think you're contradicting yourself at least a few times in that post.

[bozlax]

If this is true...

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I finished reading SSHE for the third time, and feeling like I fully understand all of its concepts.

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...then I don't see how this can be...

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I make my preflop limp/raise decisions based on that spreadsheet based on the SSHE charts that some 2+2'er made a while back.

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As for this...

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So I am obviously too passive preflop,

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...if you're not uncomfortable with the way you're playing, and you're not losing, then I don't see how this is "obvious." If, for instance, by playing more aggressively before the flop you find yourself compelled to continue with a hand that's been ruined by the flop, then you definitely should not be more aggressive preflop.

Finally, as for this...

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How can I go about raising my PFR%?

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...try raising more hands before the flop is dealt. Focus your complete understanding of SSHE concepts to divine when the table conditions and the cards in your hand dictate that you either want more money in the pot before any community cards are dealt, or that you want to apply pressure to your opponents by requiring that they put more than one bet in before any community cards are dealt.