Am I raising for the right reasons preflop?

One of the main reasons I raise preflop is to narrow the field of the players and get less people to see the flop. My basis is that if someone has called a raise, they most likely have a decent hand, such as a 10K, QK, JK, J10 or a small pair etc; and that when the flop does come, I can get a better sense of what kind of hand they're holding. Is this the correct? Am I playing this right?

For example, if I raised preflop to 3x big blinds, just 1 player limps in to make a heads up pot, and the flop comes 429, I can be quite confident that the player may not have hit the flop?

Most raises pre flop are to put money in the pot with what you hope is the best hand, to take the lead in a hand, or to win the hand immediately.

Sometimes a pre flop raise is for deception with a speculative hand.

And yes you can get information, but the information is very player dependent. MANY players will call your raise with connecting cards or cards that are suited. Some will only call with good hands.

Right I see. Anyone else have any feedback on this please?

Yes, Leslie, I believe that you have the right idea. I raise pre-flop primarily to limit the number of players in the hand. This reduces the chances of someone hitting bingo on you with two random cards because you allowed them to limp in. Also, as you stated, it does give you a little more information about the quality of your opponents hand. Yes, raising pre-flop does start to build a bigger pot, which can lead to a much bigger pot by the time you reach showdown, as the size of the pot usually dictates post-flop bet sizing. However, this is not the main reason that I raise before the flop. I would be happy to see a cheap flop it were possible to do so without having to play the hand with half the table.

You should always have a specific reason for every move you make in poker. Even folding pre-flop has a reason - to protect your stack.

You are right on target with your reasons for raising pre-flop - you want to narrow the field; and you want to improve your chances of putting any callers on a range of hands.

If you are in a game with a lot of raising, preflop or otherwise, you are also motivated to raise if you want to build a big pot because you have a had with great potential.

In your specific example with an opponent that called your pre-flop raise and you have a flop of 429, the odds are good that your opponent missed the flop. Of course, you probably missed it, too. That's a great spot for a continuation bet. If your opponent missed, he'll fold. If he calls or raises your continuation bet, he may have hit a set of 4s, or perhaps he likes to play 35s and is now sitting on an open ended straight draw. Of course, he could also be a pretty savvy player and knows you missed and knows you're only making a continuation bet and raises you to win the pot.

Thanks guys

raise to get a worse hand to call(VALUE) or a better hand to fold (bluff)

rhombus said:

raise to get a worse hand to call(VALUE) or a better hand to fold (BLUFF)

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+1

rhombus said:

raise to get a worse hand to call(VALUE) or a better hand to fold (BLUFF)

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That is true postflop, preflop there is something else to consider. You also have initiative (yes, it still exists) where you can become the aggressor and take it down with a CBET on the flop.

Of course, some hands play better multiway and some play better in isolation. Some hands are technically a mixture of both.

There are 2 types of good starting hands IMO:

1.) Drawing Hands (Suited Connectors and Gappers, Lower Pocket Pairs)
2.) High Card or Made hands (AA-JJ, AJ+, QJ+, KT+...etc)

Drawing hands play better in multiway pots as you need the implied odds to get value from them. High Card hands (where you expect to win with the biggest pair and best kicker) play better in isolated pots so we raise to hopefully be heads up on the flop.

@greatleslie, that is so true. Thats textbook play.

But on this online poker world, that notion doesnt apply much. There are fishes out there who will call you with anything. So you have to be careful postflop.

hffjd2000 said:

@greatleslie, that is so true. Thats textbook play.

But on this online poker world, that notion doesnt apply much. There are fishes out there who will call you with anything. So you have to be careful postflop.

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I suppose that's another reason why people say live poker is easier right. I do prefer live poker, it's much more involving and you get 'feels' from players you don't get online, especially if you're a good person at reading first impressions and general body language.

GreatLeslie said:

One of the main reasons I raise preflop is to narrow the field of the players and get less people to see the flop. [..]Is this the correct? Am I playing this right?

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Nope, you're raising because of the blinds. If there were no blinds/antes involved, nobody would play anything besides AA so even opening AK, KK or QQ wouldnt make any sense (in "your" terms: nothing worse calls, nothing better folds). With blinds in play, its just another simple risk-reward situation -> you risk your money (open size) to win money thats already in the pot - blinds, sometimes refered to as "dead money". You can only "make money" in poker by attacking whats already in the pot.

One thing I have noticed when playing micro stakes is that people tend to fold alot when I raise preflop, and because of this I have been limping in 95% of the time with my hands.

Today i'm going to play with raising most hands I play preflop to try and narrow the field, if people fold they fold, but I hope it helps me get a better read on what people have.

GreatLeslie said:

One thing I have noticed when playing micro stakes is that people tend to fold alot when I raise preflop, and because of this I have been limping in 95% of the time with my hands.

Today i'm going to play with raising most hands I play preflop to try and narrow the field, if people fold they fold, but I hope it helps me get a better read on what people have.

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Don't limp. There are situations where limping behind is profitable but as you're learning the game, the simplest solution is just do not limp at all.

Never open limp.