I played a lot live lately I developed a PF minimum raise strategy to avoid bigger raise by a player behind me.

Basically I was minimum raising or 3BB raise marginal but playable hands like 87s 55, KJs and others to avoid bigger raise from late position.

I realize that in the game conditions I played in the last 2 months (very weak) it was a very good startegy cause a lot of player were willing to raise AJ, 88 etc. for 5-6BBs but not willing to reraise it PF to know where they were at. Plus, with limpers it was building a more interesting pot for my oponents to take shot at if I hit big.

Of course I was also doing it here and there with very good hands such as AA, KK, QQ, and even AK some time...

It worked very well in the game conditions!!

That said, I wanted to have your opinion about what you think about doing it online in 50 and 100 NL... My firts tought is that online players will be a lot more willing to reraise it!

What do you think...

KJ

I know I tend to re-raise min bets just out of sheer irritation, even in spots where my holding don't really call for even an open raise. Of course, I would need to see the raiser doing it constantly and have position on them.

I just really hate min bets/raises.

Yeah I agree. Min raising is gay.

yeah i re-raise them quite often, they do annoy me! can't see it working at the NL100 level and probably not at the 50 level for that matter. <NL25 is a different story though, may be a bit more successful.

I use that strategy in PLO, so I'm sure it has some application in NLHE.

I find it accomplishes a few things:

1) As you said people are quite willing to raise many hands but WON'T re-raise them. Therefore, if you get re-raised you know you are against a very strong hand.

2) since you're raising a variety of hands people will start getting frustrated with you and come over the top big. So, if you're raising AA or KK like this as well you can get all the loot in the pot early on like you want.

3) It builds a much bigger pot that keeps people who like to call involved when you flop trips or a similar big hand. Usually in a 3BB pot they'll fold middle pair since there's nothing to fight for, but in a 6-9BB pot they may stick around. Additionally, your flop bet will look more like a continuation bet than a show of strength.

this strategy is very good against weak opponents who like to call or when you're shortstacking

PLO, you're sweetening the pot with better implied odds because flops hit so many hands and it's easier to get away from hands that are strong in a vacuum.

In NL, those hands aren't easy to get away from but you'll get stacked when you're beat and just take down pots w/o showdown on the street after miniraising.

I'm a believer that every bet you make early in a poker hand should give you a chance to win the pot RIGHT NOW. If the coming cards were meaningless, they wouldn't be in the game. Miniraising in big-bet poker allows your opponents to make optimal calls from way behind.

Minraising to induce action isn't something I'm a fan of either. In a tournament, if a guy behind you's a LAGtard, you can still raise a bit larger to get a re-raise out of him like 2.5x and still keep the pot from being multiway because optimal NL Hold 'em Tournament Strategy depends on a heads up game played with a full table. In cash, in you can play postflop as if the pot were unraised when it's multiway, miniraising isn't bad, but you lose your aggressive edge on the game.

Live, minraising's used a lot, but it isn't right. In 5/10 games, people regularly bet $25 into $100 pots. No one's hand is always that invincible making it wrong, not right because it's accepted in the surroundings.

Live, minraising's used a lot, but it isn't right. In 5/10 games, people regularly bet $25 into $100 pots. No one's hand is always that invincible making it wrong, not right because it's accepted in the surroundings.

I used to think this way, and still do to a great extent. However, in big bet poker you want to get all the money in when you have a strong hand. For instance, say youflop a set of 4s against 2 limpers, very unlikely all the money is going in the pot even if you get a fishy to call. Take your 5/10 example assuming everyone has $1,000: $35 or 45 in the pot (depending on the BB) you bet 20-30, 60-75 on the turn, and 150ish on the river.

on the other hand, if you mini-raise 2 limpers there would be $75 in the pot. therefore, you can throw out a 50-60 bet on the flop, $150 on the turn and up to the pot on the river, another 450-500.

A similar scenario: you have $250 in a tight ass game. you mini-raise AA to $20 and get 1 caller. bet 50 on the flop and simply another 50 on the turn. Why? because he is a lot more likely to call the final $125 on the river than on the turn.

Just because someone has a grand in front of them doesn't mean they are going to risk it all with top pair for a $30 pot. In big bet poker you have to figure out how to get all or most of their money in the pot, and you have 4 betting rounds to do it, I think mini-raising/betting is a good way to do it. It's a pure value play, not on this particular street but to entice callers, basically force calls based on pot odds, and make bigger "standard looking" bets" for when you hit.

Repport.

I tried it online... and despite the fact that it dosent work aswell as it do online, I think I'll keep it in my arsenal.

For 3 simple resons...

1-Yes of course I'll get raise more often (but not really big reraise... its surprizing) online, but still... it creates dead money behind the reraiser and I can go HU with a decent holding VS somebody I can clearly identify the range of hands he's on right now and take advantage of it.

2-It generates bigger much bigger pot that a limp when you hit! And sometime it induce stupid bluffs from poeple who are not paying attention... Example I made a giant pot with 78s...
Raised 2.5X BB on 3 limpers
They all called flopped the str8...
Bet the flop got 1 callers
And he then check raised the turn all in with an under pair!!!!!
He then said!!!! WTF!!!! You raised 87!!!!

3- I found that it generates much more action on my legitimate raises... Even if they are standard raises...

That said I did'nt play 20K hands but I think I definately can find some application for it...