Bet size raises

I always open the bet by 3x the big blind. I just read this article can't remember which one it was lol.

It also said to raise 3xbb but if there are limpers before you act raise accordingly

For example if 3 limpers go before me and I have a hand I want to play with then I should raise 6xbb.

I NEVER limp into a pot as this is a must for aggression play.

I am still learning about raises and such.

I know what hands I want to play and know what position to play them in, I just want to know everyone's input into raising, is what I have just read a good guide into rasing or should I just keep to 3xbb to open and 3x their raise??

Also it mentioned when the antes come into plai I should no longer raise the bb by 3 but I should raise it by 4xbb.

Any advice would be great

Are you asking about cash play or tournament play? I'm assuming tourney because you mentioned antes.

What I've learned in tourneys for opening raise sizing (and I'm no expert at all!) is to use the "standard" 3x for early level play, drop to 2.5x for mid-blinds, and 2x for higher blind play.

This can depend on position and player types (for example, might open smaller on the button when there's a player who likes to 3bet in the blinds).

Thanks for the advice

Yea it is for tourney play

like nabmom says it varies depending what stage of the tournament you're at, early on my opening bets can be anywhere from 3x to 5x depending on type of tournament, around the middle stages i usually bet 2.25x-2.5x and late stages between 2x and 2.25x. The most important thing though is to keep your betting consistent to ensure people cant read you from your opening bet amounts so best thing to do is pick specific amounts and stick to them! i use bet slider shortcuts to make this easier!

I would suggest 2.5 to 3x BB in the early stages and reduce to 2 x BB in later stages.

2.5 x BB is pretty standard, but I will usually raise a bit more if someone has raised in front of me. Another thought to consider is what are the pot odds you are giving the 1st raiser with your raise. If the BB is 10, and someone makes it 30 to go, there is now 45 in the pot. If you raise it to 60 to go thats 105 in the pot and only 30 more to the original raiser so they are getting 3.3 to 1 to call. I usually raise the pot if I am 2nd raiser if I want a fold or less if I want a call. I am a noob too so this may be bad strategy, there are way better players here than me so it's just a thought. Good luck.

Flsnookman said:

2.5 x BB is pretty standard, but I will usually raise a bit more if someone has raised in front of me. Another thought to consider is what are the pot odds you are giving the 1st raiser with your raise. If the BB is 10, and someone makes it 30 to go, there is now 45 in the pot. If you raise it to 60 to go thats 105 in the pot and only 30 more to the original raiser so they are getting 3.3 to 1 to call. I usually raise the pot if I am 2nd raiser if I want a fold or less if I want a call. I am a noob too so this may be bad strategy, there are way better players here than me so it's just a thought. Good luck.

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You are talking about re raisning, we were talking about an opening raise..

I have just placed first in a funstep, this is an achievement for me so don't laugh I was the short stack for a while and they guy who came third kept raising AI a lot, of course with the majority of my hands I could not call him. He started to go quiet once he was chip leader and I started to get marginal - strong hands. I didn't 3xbb in this game I actually pot raised on the starting bet, which was most of the time more than 3xbb. I did lose a bit of chips doing this but the end result when my cards improved was great. I like the option on carbon to click on 1/2 2/3 pot x2 x4 ( it doesn't have a x3, naughty carbon)

I am now thinking maybe I will pot raise when I have cards that I think I could win with and x3 with marginal hands.

Funny thing I have learnt @ carbon poker is you can't type carbon in their chat it is censored:/ I typed is carbon messing up for anyone as it keeps freezing for me? carbon was replaced with ****** But when a girl said fk this, it was not censored @ all. Lol how insane is that?? and she spelt it the right way not how I spelt it here

EvertonGirl said:

Funny thing I have learnt @ carbon poker is you can't type carbon in their chat it is censored:/ I typed is carbon messing up for anyone as it keeps freezing for me? carbon was replaced with ****** But when a girl said fk this, it was not censored @ all. Lol how insane is that?? and she spelt it the right way not how I spelt it here

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You can't type 'community' in to carbon either, but you can type commie or communist! Lol.
People do get away with an awful lot by adding a space in the word — you can type Car bon or c a r b o n

In answer to your original question, yes it is standard practice to increase your raise when following limpers simply because otherwise, with all the extra BB's in the pot your 3x will not give any incentive for anyone to fold.
Adding another BB for each limper is fairly common— so, 5x for two limpers.

EvertonGirl said:

I am now thinking maybe I will pot raise when I have cards that I think I could win with and x3 with marginal hands.

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Don't do this — Apart from anything else, we all know now that this is what you are doing, lol

By all means vary your raises if you think it will help to disguise your actions, but do it randomly so that it doesn't have the opposite effect and semaphore your intentions.

nabmom said:

Are you asking about cash play or tournament play? I'm assuming tourney because you mentioned antes.

What I've learned in tourneys for opening raise sizing (and I'm no expert at all!) is to use the "standard" 3x for early level play, drop to 2.5x for mid-blinds, and 2x for higher blind play.

This can depend on position and player types (for example, might open smaller on the button when there's a player who likes to 3bet in the blinds).

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I this for cash games, however I use it for position instead of blinds and when fish are present I make my raising sizes bigger to get more in pre-flop to stack them post flop. 3.5x UTG, 3x MP, 2.5x CO, 2x BTN, 3x SB for 6 max cash games.

i almost always bet 2x the bb, its enough to make most of the table fold and small blind, i like it cause i like to keep the pot small.

dead homie said:

i almost always bet 2x the bb, its enough to make most of the table fold and small blind, i like it cause i like to keep the pot small.

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I feel like this is bad. Min raising will get shot down by solid players. They will 3 bet you big if they catch on. It looks like a scared play. I usually bet 2/3 pot it works well. I'm personally an avid hater of the min raise

New players should play fewer hands for bigger raises. Opening for 3bb is pretty standard, but opening for 4-5 with good hands is ok if you are playing tight. When raising limpers I like to start at 4bb plus 1 bb per player in the pot. If that would put 25% of my stack in, just calling or shoving are better. If I have a great hand like AA or KK, and I think people will call, I may bet up to 2x pot.

Post flop I suggest betting 2/3-3/4 of the pot most of the time. Full pot or other amounts are fine if you have a reason for making the bet. Rarely bet less than half the pot.

In all cases think about why you are betting, and how your opponents will react to your bet sizing.

As Samango said, it is important that you don't consistently raise the same amounts depending on the strength of your hand. It becomes very easy to determine the strength of ones hand player together awhile and seeing he raises 3XBB with AK, AQ and 5XBB with KK or AA. Vary your raises often to keep players guessing and limit them from pinning down your range of hands.

One kid comes to same cash game every week that I play in and I can always pinpoint when he is in top 10% of his range since his raises are always the same with those hands.

Position matters alot in this as well. If you are MP and UTG and player next to him Limp in and you have a strong hand your gonna wanna raise more than 3xBB imo since you are in bad position and want to drive out LP and Button from calling with marginal hands if they get correct odds. Then they have the advantage on you because of position and you get less information from them about their hand.

From late position you can be a little more aggresive and play more hands and then your standard 3-4xBB raise is okay but again, don't develop the habbit of making similar raises in similar spots.