Pre flop raising

I am not a big fan of pre flop raising. I am a tight player who will play aggressive after i get some idea of where every1 is at in the hand. When would you raise pre flop and with what hands. Also, do thse strategies hold up in tourney play

raise in late position with a strong hand. i think its probably better to try to limp in early position. and most importantly, never let the big/small blind see a flop for free if you're holding a moderately strong hand (a-k, a-Q)....you will have no idea where they stand and will be firing blind.

If I am going to play in a pot I normally come in for a raise.

It puts the other players on the defensive and often means that you can win the pot with a bet out on the flop.

As for what cards I do it with, well there is more to playing a hand than what cards you have ;]

Limping equals losing! Playing tight is a good start but you have to put the aggressive with it. Basically if you are gonna play you need to show strength especially in low stakes online hold'em! The idea that if I raise I am risking more and might lose more is completely flawed passive players do not thrive online! Trust me TP is basically how I got after my first couple months online never get passive you will not succeed. Tight + Controlled aggression = winning!

If the opening blind bet is 50 and someone raises 100 preflop - I think its a chicken bet. If they really had something - they'd bet bigger - and widdle down the players. I think a lot of NL holdem players think they are playing Limit holdem and like to bet around and around and around... its annoying. Why not just see the flop for the minimum bet - why raise it up 50 more. Most everyone will call it anyway.

What really irks me is -- the preflop mini raiser then checks and then checks! So his checks tells me I was right, he has nothing great.

A lot of ppl dont like raising pre-flop, even with a strong hand but I always make a good raise pre-flop if I am holding a strong hand. I neever let anyone see it for free. Make them pay, and then raise again if the flop is rubbish. Make what you can cos those big hands dont come along that much!

Also, even if everyone folds and you only get the blinds, its still much better than losing to a lucky 2 pair flop to beat your AA

thanks guys
Especially Grumbledook, i like that theory: if your hand does not stand a raise why play it

i like the pre flop raise on the button and i despise the all in....good cards pckt 10s or higher and face suited

If you don't raise preflop then how do you know where you are at? Playing hands too weak can be a problem, unless you are very very skilled at reading people postflop. A good strategy for someone who isn't a pro is to raise appropiately preflop with your hand.

Or sometimes they make the small raise knowing everyone will call and if their hand is strong, will take down a bigger pot...of course there are risks to this type of "slow" play...with more callers you have a bigger chance of getting out-drawn...but it could also pay off in the end. Hand to hand you never know.....! But, having said that, I do tend to agree with Michele....especially the part where they play like a limit table! If you're gonna raise, then RAISE, quit with the little cat/mouse/pissing contest game...lol

As for me, I find these posts that ask questions like "how do you play this situation, or this hand?" hard to answer, because I like to mix up my play. I try to follow a sound strategy, but with different techniques so as to keep my opponents guessing...never want to get into a set pattern of play, or sooner or later someone's gonna figure you out! But I'm still learning, and still probably make plenty of mistakes...as long as I can learn from them, I think I'm doing ok!

I don't like pre flop raising..I really like to see the flop first before I commit too many of my chips to the hand..cuz then I find it hard to get out....:S

many advantages to raising preflop as have been noted, chasing out the blinds and
small flush pockets the ability to take pots even when you dont catch. The other shoe
drops when you do it out of postion without the nuts and don't catch, you are stuck with trying to represent with and equal raise or checking which will lead to a raise.

Why do you find it hard to get out? Once you put chips in to a Pot, they are no longer yours.

Limping is a sign of weakness.

How many times online do you see 3 or 4 players limp in than late position raises 4X BB and they all fold or maybe get one caller?

The only time I limp is from late position with medium connectors and a lot of people in the pot giving good pot odds or from the small blind and it is cheap to see the flop.

listen to this man!

you gotta raise with big pocket pair cuz if not a blind could limp in and ANYTHING can happen then.

(johnboy)

Depends on what type of table you are playing at. Low levels have a lot of players that will chase anything and a preflop raise won't do anything to get rid of them.Just make sure you have it before risking it.

I agree with you babe, some people are extremely loose preflop, and you need to make sure you've got a chance before you get into the hand.

For the most part you are correct. Only thing you must remember is that while a lot of the time you may not thin the field raising preflop, you do demonstrate STRENGTH. Very Important STRENGTH. You set the tone for the hand and in 90 percent of the hands the flop will get checked to you which puts you in control.

I never raise preflop in micro games and freerolls unless I get AA, AKs or KK not even AKos, its an absolute waste of chips and time, no one ever folds and if you strong play to the end you'll most probly get 2 people coming along anyway and its always a crap hand that rivers you. Its different towards the end of the tourney tho where the play tightens.

By that reasoning you should be calling down LOADS of hands, that kind of play would soon get really boring for me.

Mind you can start raising it up when you hit nut flushes and the like

I will generally raise pre-flop only with a real good starting hand like AA, KK, etc. I generally get wait to be aggressive until after the flop when I know who's in and see most of my hand. I've played both ways and I have better results not being aggressive pre-flop. I suspect I'd rethink this if I were regularly playing at higher limits with tighter players...

On thing not mentioned yet that I feel I can add.

While dooky, xdmanx, and vegasgrinder listed erverything I do before the flop and the reasons behind it, I can add one deminsion. Hand protection. This has been eluded to, but not stated outright. You raise in many situations to protect a made hand that you are afraid may not stand up to a showdown. Why keep dragging lesser hands along for the ride by checking and smooth calling, allowing them to river a miracle turning your good hand into a loser? Don't do it.

Every turn of the cards allows you to gain important information about your opponents hand and his strength or weakness. Every missed opportunity to capitalize on information he leaks is money lost or not earned.

After every cards/cards is dealt ask yourself, why did he bet that particular amount in this particular situation? If he checked/called all the way until 4th street then check-raises you on 4th, is he just representing strength to take down the pot because he missed the flop? Or is he caught in his own trap that you didn't fall for? Would he even be ballsy enough to trap?

If you constantly evaluate your position in the hand, you will become a stronger player almost instantly. A big mistake made by newbies is just playing their hands strength and not their opponents strength/weakness. My .02 cents.

If its early in a tournament i try to avoid to raise preflop because of all the chasers etc but mid tourney towards the end I normally raise about 4x the big blind to eliminate everyone but 1 or 2 players which normally have a lower pocket pair or ace with a lower kicker then mine. But alot depends on whos at your table if you have people who call anything you need to avoid raising pre flop because you could just completely miss your hand. If its late in a tourney and blinds are high, and about 3 people limp in and im holding a decent starting hand I like to raise to about 7x the big blind if i have the chips to do so and normally that will cover your blinds for a while because like most people said limping represents weakness and when you can still the blinds when they are 1k or above that can really add up.

Josh - this post is odd to me. Limp in early? If you have to limp in early, you might as well fold unless you are slow playing.

And never let the blinds see a flop for free if you are holding a "moderatly strong" hand like A/K or A/Q -- I'd say they were VERY strong hands.

Raising pre flop can be dangerous but if you are playing against very conservative players it can also be very profitible once the blinds are high

IT MATTERS ON HOW OTHER PEOPLE ARE PLAYING BUT I'LL TRIPLE THE BLIND

I will try to limp in with a limpy hand...i.e. something like low pocket pair (where i'm trying to catch the set and break everyone) or high-card with mediocre kicker (K9) or medium connectors in late position. I try to do this early in a tournament because generally a lot of people are in on the flop and if you can grab a couple of small pots early, it gives you a nice cushion. You can, for example, then take on the desperate small stack all-in with AJ suited.


I suppose it is probably better to at least raise double the blinds when you want to limp in this position. then you can see the flop and get out right away if nothing hits.

i usually never raise pre flop unless im holdin a mid pocket pair, due to im only tring to go up agaist one or two players at the most

The main reason for a preflop raise is to get all the bullshit hands to fold so they dont cause you headaches on the flop. I found that when i have a strong hand with a bunch of limpers in front of me it is better to win a small pot than lose a huge one!

i like to raise with PF with big hands to narrow the field.

I also like to raise PF with marginal/weaker hands to get action from the table. from there i like to play the flop and try and take it down. if i can show off a bluff, i know i can get more action from players when i raise with big hands.

I like the saying "if your hand isnt worth a raise, its not worth playing." I also like to take it further and think "if my hand is worth raising, its worth a reraise." of course i'm prepaired to lay my hand down if get reraised over the top. if the person just calls i feel i have the better hand. to me that shows a bit more weakness then just a simple call. If someone tries to reraise, but then just calls a reraise over that..im thinking "he tried to take the pot with a weak hand, but doesnt want to just give up his chips."

Preflop i like to keep my only options as: Folding or raising.

I dont think theres anything wrong with just limping in, especially with small pockets or suited connectors. or with AA or KK in early, but this would depend on the table. if its full of limpers...ill want to raise. if its a table full of action players, i like to limp, get raised and then come over the top with my AA or KK.

you gotta raises preflop to make your big pairs hold up and knock out the garbage...also, to get some money is there before the flop, as opposed to afterward when everyone may fold and not pay you off