How much to risk preflop with strong starting hands?

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thomasguy3419

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Hi, I play NLHE 6 Max cash games on pokerstars and was just wondering how many BB's effective to risk preflop with strong starting hands.
I have read on another post that it is almost never a mistake to get all your money in preflop with QQ with effective stacks under 150BB's. Is this correct? What about KK? Is it the same or is it higher for KK?
I also read somewhere that you shouldn't risk more than 40BB's preflop with AK, is this also correct? What about AQ, JJ and 1010? I have no clue on these, what do you guys think?

How many BB's should I risk preflop with KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ and 1010?

I can't seem to find the answers for all these hands anywhere and it would be much appreciated to know the worth of these hands. Thank you.
 
cheapseats76

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If I understand you correctly what your saying is preflop and your the one opening up or are you talking about 3 betting preflop against someone who has open raised. If your opening up then I would highly disagree with the amount of money you are opening up with. You are losing all the value from these hands by opening up so high and unless your opening up like that with hands like 78 or 55 then you are also very transparent. I think unless your playing a very strong table then opening up 3-6 BB's preflop should be enough. If you are using a strategy where you always open for the same amount then 3-4BB's should be okay. You also have to look at what the table is calling. If 3-4 BB's gets called regularly and you feel that you are weaker than the table then go up to 6-8 BB's preflop. It's really dependent on what type of table you are at. Hope this helps! Good luck on the felts!
 
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thomasguy3419

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I never go all in right away. I agree that this is a waste of value. I am talking about when I raise or re-raise and someone else puts me all in and I have to make a decision based on effective stack size, or when I should keep raising until me or villain are all in preflop. I always open raise 3-4BB's and raise 3-4BB's + 1BB for every limper and if there is a raise in front of me I make it the size of the pot to play. I'm not sure if I should be re-raising with AQ and 1010 though but I am definitely open raising with them. Should I be re-raising or flatting with AQ and 1010 if there is a raise in front of me? Also with 1010 should I be 3 betting with it if there are limpers or should I be limping behind for set value?
 
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Robochick

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I think you are going to get many "it depends..." answers on this one. I think it might be helpful to jot down a few specifics of a hand you played and leave off the final result and ask for some analysis. You should make notes of your position, stack sizes, any observations about the players you have made, what the SB/BB and antes are, that kind of stuff. You can see some examples in the hand analysis threads. Harrington on Holdem is a good book. Have fun and good luck!
 
Robochick

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I never go all in right away. I agree that this is a waste of value. I am talking about when I raise or re-raise and someone else puts me all in and I have to make a decision based on effective stack size, or when I should keep raising until me or villain are all in preflop. I always open raise 3-4BB's and raise 3-4BB's + 1BB for every limper and if there is a raise in front of me I make it the size of the pot to play. I'm not sure if I should be re-raising with AQ and 1010 though but I am definitely open raising with them. Should I be re-raising or flatting with AQ and 1010 if there is a raise in front of me? Also with 1010 should I be 3 betting with it if there are limpers or should I be limping behind for set value?
So you made this post while I was making mine and I didn't see it before my last comment. This helps a bit. It sounds like you are trying to make a flowchart for your actions and are looking for rigid rules. There is a bit more art to betting, but it may be a good place for you to start. Everyone develops their game a bit differently. I don't know how helpful I can be, it doesn't really fit my wheelhouse. I will be interested in what others have to say.
 
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thomasguy3419

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To me it is important to know how many BB's to risk preflop because if someone is holding AA (or a better hand than me depending on what I am holding) I don't want to risk too much preflop, but also you will be surprised with the hands people will shove with especially when playing online. For example, I was holding QQ on the button and UTG shoves 100BB's and I called. They showed 9T and I took their stack. Other times they may have KK/AA. It is hard for me to fold QQ/KK because these are great hands and I will call it a cooler if I am beat by a higher pair. How many BB's effective should I start playing more cautiously with QQ/KK? Are AQ and 1010 worth calling big raises with and if so how many BB's effective? What about JJ and AK? I know these are 6 different hands I am talking about but it would be helpful to know how much to risk with each hand when an opponent goes all in preflop.
 
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I would have to say unless you have a good read on your opponent then calling a 3 bet or 4 bet all in with anything other then AA or KK and maybe on the rare occasion QQ is a bad idea. I personally don't like to go all in preflop with any hand not even AA but I will. AQ and anything from JJ down I would flat call a raise with. The only hands that are going to 4 bet you all in are most likely hands that are beating you AA,KK AK, QQ, JJ so if someone is showing resistance then it is a pretty good chance that there holding one of those hands. However if you are playing the same people then maybe they have a read on you and know some of your tendencies. Are you playing .05/.10 tables or 1/2 tables cause that is also something that would explain a lot.
 
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thomasguy3419

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Stakes are $0.02/$0.05. Does all this change as stakes go up?
What if me or villain is only 40BB's deep or less? Would you call an all in with anything other than AA, KK or QQ? What is the rare occasion you would call an all in with QQ? Do stack sizes matter when you are calling an all in raise preflop?
 
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Hi, I play NLHE 6 Max cash games on PokerStars and was just wondering how many BB's effective to risk preflop with strong starting hands.
I have read on another post that it is almost never a mistake to get all your money in preflop with QQ with effective stacks under 150BB's. Is this correct? What about KK? Is it the same or is it higher for KK?
I also read somewhere that you shouldn't risk more than 40BB's preflop with AK, is this also correct? What about AQ, JJ and 1010? I have no clue on these, what do you guys think?

How many BB's should I risk preflop with KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ and 1010?

I can't seem to find the answers for all these hands anywhere and it would be much appreciated to know the worth of these hands. Thank you.

Hello Friend! Good question! All will depend on the effective stack! In cash and MTT they are different! and the amount of your pre-flop raise will tzavisit EV! But can be examined with the table dynamics! If you put a lot all thrown! If you put a little get multiway! Much depends in any tournament you play! If it is free then you will get 10 of 9 all-in! If you're playing limits of $ 1050 then your openreyz in 3BB all fold! Therefore, no small role is played by the probability of an event! I advise you to read an article about the EV that I outlined here! I hope it will help you!
All will affect the true value of EV! good luck my friend!
 
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ivanbbb

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Hi, I play NLHE 6 Max cash games on PokerStars and was just wondering how many BB's effective to risk preflop with strong starting hands.
I have read on another post that it is almost never a mistake to get all your money in preflop with QQ with effective stacks under 150BB's. Is this correct? What about KK? Is it the same or is it higher for KK?
I also read somewhere that you shouldn't risk more than 40BB's preflop with AK, is this also correct? What about AQ, JJ and 1010? I have no clue on these, what do you guys think?

How many BB's should I risk preflop with KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ and 1010?

I can't seem to find the answers for all these hands anywhere and it would be much appreciated to know the worth of these hands. Thank you.

One more thing, my friend! All hands that you have listed are good value! But they are not stable! I prefer the hands with which you can collect the most powerful combination! This hands Tipo 98, JT, QJ ....
 
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thomasguy3419

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I would have to say unless you have a good read on your opponent then calling a 3 bet or 4 bet all in with anything other then AA or KK and maybe on the rare occasion QQ is a bad idea. I personally don't like to go all in preflop with any hand not even AA but I will. AQ and anything from JJ down I would flat call a raise with. The only hands that are going to 4 bet you all in are most likely hands that are beating you AA,KK AK, QQ, JJ so if someone is showing resistance then it is a pretty good chance that there holding one of those hands. However if you are playing the same people then maybe they have a read on you and know some of your tendencies. Are you playing .05/.10 tables or 1/2 tables cause that is also something that would explain a lot.
Stakes are $0.02/$0.05. Does all this change as stakes go up?
What if me or villain is only 40BB's deep or less? Would you call an all in with anything other than AA, KK or QQ? What is the rare occasion you would call an all in with QQ? Do stack sizes matter when you are calling an all in raise preflop?
 
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thomasguy3419

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Hello Friend! Good question! All will depend on the effective stack! In cash and MTT they are different! and the amount of your pre-flop raise will tzavisit EV! But can be examined with the table dynamics! If you put a lot all thrown! If you put a little get multiway! Much depends in any tournament you play! If it is free then you will get 10 of 9 all-in! If you're playing limits of $ 1050 then your openreyz in 3BB all fold! Therefore, no small role is played by the probability of an event! I advise you to read an article about the EV that I outlined here! I hope it will help you!
All will affect the true value of EV! good luck my friend!

One more thing, my friend! All hands that you have listed are good value! But they are not stable! I prefer the hands with which you can collect the most powerful combination! This hands Tipo 98, JT, QJ ....
I don't play tournaments. I just play cash games. And yes, I play suited connectors as well.
 
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thomasguy3419

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AQ and anything from JJ down I would flat call a raise with.
So you wouldn't re-raise with JJ, only with AA, KK, AK and QQ? And what if there are limpers in front of you when you have AQ, JJ or 1010, do you limp behind them or raise them? Is it safe to play 1010 and JJ as one pair hands or should I always be set mining with these? Is it better to fold AQ if there is a raise in front of me because what if they have KK or AK? I understand everyone plays differently, I am just trying to get a rough idea on how good these hands are because I am fairy new to poker and I want to try to avoid domination issues as much as possible.
 
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It depends on the player, we play against and the number of participating players before the flop before
 
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thomasguy3419

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Does 3 bet or 4 bet mean to raise 3-4BB's + 1BB for every limper or does it mean to raise 3-4x the original raisers amount? And what does it mean to 3 bet shove or 4 bet shove? I'm such a noob lol.
 
cheapseats76

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So you wouldn't re-raise with JJ, only with AA, KK, AK and QQ? And what if there are limpers in front of you when you have AQ, JJ or 1010, do you limp behind them or raise them? Is it safe to play 1010 and JJ as one pair hands or should I always be set mining with these? Is it better to fold AQ if there is a raise in front of me because what if they have KK or AK? I understand everyone plays differently, I am just trying to get a rough idea on how good these hands are because I am fairy new to poker and I want to try to avoid domination issues as much as possible.

A good rule of thumb is if you are calling a raise from early position you need at least the minimum hand strength in order to make that call. For example if you raise in EP with AA KK QQ AKo/s or AQs then if you are in 4th pos you would need at least AQs to call a raise from EP. This is not set in stone there are a lot of variables like player tendencies and table type and trying not to be transparent so you will make this play with say 97s or 76o just to switch things up. This is why they say NLHE cash games are so hard to master. I would read Harrington on Cash it is a really good book with tons of very good information.
 
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Stakes are $0.02/$0.05. Does all this change as stakes go up?
What if me or villain is only 40BB's deep or less? Would you call an all in with anything other than AA, KK or QQ? What is the rare occasion you would call an all in with QQ? Do stack sizes matter when you are calling an all in raise preflop?

Stakes sizes have every thing to do with how you play cash. The deeper the stack the wider your hand range becomes. Hands like small pockets and connecting cards now have the correct implied odds to call a raise. If I were short staked then any AK AA KK QQ JJ or in some rare cases 1010 I would consider raising all in but calling an all in is quite different. Like I stated in an earlier post I don't like to go all in preflop but that's just me people are all different. I compare poker to golf in that there is a correct way to swing a golf club but everyone has there own unique swing.
 
AjsmenX

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Against a lot of preflop calls I dont risk too much with hands like AK,AQ ,AJ
 
Masi2197

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In my opinion you should be more cautious and raise the bet when your hand on the flop is a very strong hand, often kk loses its value when on the flop appears to make a raise before the flop is risky and more when you are in stages Initials of a tournament as many players will pay your bet or throw all in with an A accompanied by any kiker
 
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You have to factor in the player and their tendencies. Some players I will gladly stick in 100bbs pre w JJ and QQ, others not so much.
 
SPANKYSN

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One additional factor to consider. Did opp just win a big hand or lose a big hand? What is their stack size relative to you and the table average?
 
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thomasguy3419

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I forgot to mention this is a ZOOM cash game.
I was told to never fold QQ/KK preflop in a 6 Max cash game.
I want to know if it's worth calling an all in preflop with QQ/KK if I'm more than 150BB's deep and my opponent is also more than 150BB's deep?
Obviously calling an all in preflop with QQ/KK at 100BB's deep is an easy call but what about more than 100BB's?
What is the maximum limit for the number of BB's to call an all in preflop with QQ/KK?
What should I do with AK, AQ, JJ and 1010 when facing a re-raise preflop?
 
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thomasguy3419

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You have to factor in the player and their tendencies. Some players I will gladly stick in 100bbs pre w JJ and QQ, others not so much.
How good is JJ all in preflop for 100BB's in a 6 Max ZOOM cash game? Would it be a big leak in game or a long term profit?

I like JJ better than AK because it's a made hand and I'm slightly over a coin flip all in preflop. A lot of people might not know this but JJ is 57.09% against AKo and 53.68% against AKs (http://www.suntzupoker.com/JJ.aspx). The problem with JJ is facing over cards more than with QQ so those percentages go down if I'm not all in preflop because over cards make me feel like my hand is weak. For me they are tricky to play. I feel behind if I'm re-raised preflop then I'm either folding or set mining for cheap. If anyone has any advice on playing JJ preflop it would be helpful.
 
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PK_ing

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it really depends on the type of table and whether or not you're playing in a tournament or in cash games. if you are at a table with fewer people or everyone is short stacked, you will have to start playing more hands.
 
nutthink

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when you got premum hand with standar stack but the floop is not for you,just fold.only play if you can see the turn with check or you have big stack 2x or 3x standar stack too call small raise..
 
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