raise amounts in certain situations...
 

I get a lot of questions about how much to raise in certain situations. It's an interesting subject. I see a lot of people raising smaller when they've got real hands and raising a lot more when they're bluffing.

Here's my take. :)
It depends on your style - and what info you have available about your opponents. Do you want to maximize expected long term value of your cards or do you want to minimize the risk of a short term loss?

Should your bluff raises be more than your standard (i.e. 3xBB) raises? Two schools of thought on that one also. I think they should be the same, else you'll open yourself to being outplayed by someone who's better at observing you than you are of them.

I tend to keep my raises consistent out of about any position - with the obvious exception being when there are special circumstances; which happens a lot in a tournament atmosphere and NL ring games.

What's your take on the subject? :)

I play very little ring NL, In tourneys I raise more than "the book" would say you should. I have found players call 5X when they should fold for even 3X.

betting in NL is crazy because the goal is to achieve the goal.

If I want to bluff someone off the hand, the right amount to bet is the amount that gets him off the hand.

If I want to induce a raise, the right amount is the amount that he will raise back at.

And that doesn't even deal with trying to look like you want a call because you don't want a call. So you bet the amount you think they would want to call so they don't want to call.

The answer being, there is no answer. Its all about EV, and EV changes based on each player. But simple things like "The Big blind uses check/fold when he has crap", its better to just min raise. Betting 5x when 2x will get the blind is just silly.

I understand it's all generalities. My point is the players I come up against in the low buy in tourneys biggest leak is they call when they should fold. I exploit this by betting more on my good hands than conventional wisdom would dictate.

Example in a 500$ buy in tourney at the casino you get AA. You want to bet an amount that will get you 1 caller preflop. That amount is probably about 3X. In a 30$ buy in online tourney that amount is more like 5X

Interesting, Barton. I agree, although oftentimes 5x will still get you 3 or 4 callers when you only wanted one. :lol: Funny that the hands you raise with are the ones that you want the least amount of post-flop competition with - AA is nice, but when you see a flop with 3 others holding JTs, KJ and 78s, you're not looking too good. In some of the lower entry tourney's ($10 s-n-g's and the like) an early all-in will even get 2 or 3 callers with hands like K7s and A9o. :?

It can be frustrating when someone else's misplay(s) costs you a pot (or a dozen). I know each move has positive EV, but it's like knowing you've got this big retirement account for later, but can't buy groceries now. :lol:

Right, that's why I hate to give a specific example of anything. In a 10$ Sit and go I may just Blast my AA even if it's the first hand. If everyone folds I show the AA and they all assume I'm a moron. In most cases though you get a caller :wink:

to me, when i have a hand, it's always a function of what possible hands they could have and how highly they would value them. an extreme example -

you: 7 9 board: 4568J

with an opponent who showed some strength when the straight made, i'll just go ahead and toss a widly oversized bet at the pot, as most unschooled player will pay you off assuming a split. same with an opponent who reliably only raises on big pairs preflop and bets into you on the flop when you hit your set.

basically, i'm always looking for situations where someone has a second best they're probably stuck to and then jacking the pot with the nut. thsoe situations don't come up often, but they win you huge pots.

otherwise, thsoe extreme examples aside, i try to keep my bets pretty consistent, altho i will overbet the pot a bit when i have a strong yet vulnerable hand like split two pair.

as for bluffing, it really depends on the opponent. some players are "smart" enough to recognize what looks like sucker bet [a small bet into a large pots that looks as if it's praying for a call] and will fold to it, so i'll bluff those players small. some other players aren't going to get off a hand unless it's for a lot of money. some people seem to actually PREFER calling all in bets instead of reasonable ones relative to the pot.

and so on.

c

I love this also. Some people would fold to a small (asking for a call) type bet, while they'd call a huge, oversize bet in the same situation. :lol: