Adjusting Pre-flop Re-raises?

Now I know the formula for adjusting regular raises is Normal Raise + 1 BB per limper.

I've had two different situations arise and i'm curious as to what to do.


Situation A: Limpers before a raise

1 limps to CO limps to Button who raises

Situations A1: Button does not adjust to limpers

So the button makes a 3x standard raise. I have two options, which is standard/correct:

1. Reraise 3x the raise and add 2bb's for each limper?
2. Reraise 3x and ignore limpers?

Situation A2: Button does adjust to limpers

So the button makes a 3x raise + 2 bb's. Correct option?:


1. Reraise 3x the raise and add 2bb's for each limper?
2. Reraise 3x and ignore limpers?

Situation B: Multiple limps to raise

1 raises to 3x CO limps 3x Button limps 3x

Do I raise 3x + 1 raiser per limper?

Thanks everyone

Cards don't matter?

Though it's true sometimes, they're a secondary consideration.

You're talking about reraising or 3 betting, and the amount depends on your position (if you're in the blinds you probably want to add some because you'll be out of position postflop if called), stack sizes (no point worrying about the amount if the person who raised only has 10bbs left, just put him in) and what you want/expect to happen given your reads on the players that are still active. Do you expect them all to fold? Do you want to isolate the person who raised?

Standard 3 bet might be somewhere between 2.5 to 3.5 times what the original raiser raised, but it really depends what pot odds you want to give the original raiser and everyone else. If you play on a site that has a "bet pot" button, just use that.

btw, if someone raises to 3x, the next person puts in 3x, they are calling the raise, not limping. Limping only refers to calling the big blind amount.

In the last example the pot is huge so the raise needs to consider the pot. If you want to 3 bet this pot, unless everyone is deep stacked or you have a big hand and don't necessarily want everyone to fold you might be close to an open shove situation.

I hate to disagree right out of the gate, but as primarily a tourney player, I don't do this. Early in a tourney, if the BB is 30 for instance, I will make it 90 to go if I'm opening. When the blinds go up, I'm raising less to open. Say making it 240 straight if the BB is 100. IF the blinds are big in relation to the stack, my open might be for 660 with a BB of 300. (Unless I have a small stack, in which case my open is a shove). The reason I am saving chips, is to leave myself the option to fold to a shove without having priced myself in. Note that I do this with any hand I'm opening with, so anyone who is paying attention can tell that there is a chance they will get 4-bet if they try to 3-bet me off the hand.

As to the situations you described, I suppose you can bet more if you are trying to take it down right there, but I'm not looking to do that.

If I have a big hand, I want callers. Maybe not 9 of them, but that isn't likely to happen if there are two limpers and two blinds. If blinds are tiny compared to stacks, I suppose I will add chips to chase out a couple of callers, and try to limit the field to one or two. Big hands don't come around that often, so when they do, I'd rather win a pot than a few blinds.

My real advice is not to have a formula per se, but rather a strategy that you use which varies depending on relative stack sizes, and where we are in the tourney.

Maybe your question was about cash games, though in which case, I will say IDK, and shrug my shoulders.

Yeah, I'm talking about cash games. Most people raise 3 BB's plus to make limping unreasonable for trashy hands (usually :P).

I think it's not good to reraise preflop. The other players better not know that I have really good cards, that would scare them away.
I have seen many times that player with AA or KK gets only the blinds because of that.
Just call and can raise after flop if the cards are still good.

I think there's quite a bit more to consider that only how many BB to raise. For instance, is the BB loose or tight? How capable is he of folding after opening? What effective stacks are in play? Do you cant to encourage a fold or a call? Those are just quick questions off the top of my head. I'm sure other factors can also apply, and all with varying weights.

Yeah these questions are also important.

It depends on the amount of tokens too. If you have very few tokens, then alliin is the best way. There will be at least one guy to call.

Knowing what you want to accomplish with a 3bet is critical, and situation dependent. Read NineLions' post above. Your position, how opponents will react, your image, etc. all come into play.

Agree w NL that stacks and pot size are more important considerations than the number of BB's.

Good 3betting strategy is critical to moving up in cash game limits.

Sure that will occasionally happen but still... 3-betting is an important part of any winning players strategy.

I think the biggest factor is what you want to happen. Do you want to take the money in the pot and move on to the next hand or do you want to see the flop? Raise pretty big if you just want to take it down, Pot + 1 or 2 BB. If you want to play, how many players do you want in the hand? This is trickier, you need to know the players and what they are likely to call. Here you may raise the minimum or some other arbitrary amount that you feel will result in the size of field you want to play against.