Is min-raising ok?

I've been on this forum for a while and I always notice people saying that min-raising is bad. However, when im actually playing(both online and live) i find that almost EVERYONE is min raising. This leaves me to ask the question as to why people are doing this when its considered to be so bad here.

Is there a reason to why they're doing this or am i just up against fish all the time?

There is a time for almost every play in poker including folding Aces pre-flop, you just have to choose your moments. Min raising is not inherently bad, if you know when and why to do it.

With that said, you are probably up against a lot of fish, because it is seriously over-used by online players. I think a lot people do this because they really don't know what else to do, so they just throw out a minimum raise.

A good example of a proper min-raise is stealing the blinds of super-tight players. There is no reason to throw out bigger raises if they are repeatedly folding to your small ones.

Well depends who you are playing what game your playing.

I sat on a Omaha table hit quads min raised and everybody around me fold said it was so easy to read.

But then i have min raised on other tables and trap them with large hands.

I think its timing and very dependable on who you are playing.

Depends on what you are trying to do with your raise. If you minraise with AA in EP, that is a horrible play. Because if you get one caller right behind you then everyone else is priced in to call. Then you are looking at a 4 or 5 way pot with AA out of position, not a good spot to be in at all. Minraises are used to build the pot, you are giving people odds to call you, which is good and bad. One, you build the pot, which gives you a bigger pot two win. On the other hand you are giving players odds to draw, which means by the river, you may have just built a pot up for someone else to win.

Minraise should be used when you flop the nuts and you can't be out drawn. Like someone else said above, you have to be careful, because if you do this a lot, expierenced players will know what you are doing and fold. A lot of people minraise to value bet.

What I think you are talking about is all the idiots that minraise with everything preflop, post flop and what ever. They are minraising all the time. That's what you shouldn't do, due to what I said above. Yes, you are building the pot, but you are giving everyone else odds to draw. Not a profitable play in the long run.

serendipity said:

There is a time for almost every play in poker including folding Aces pre-flop, you just have to choose your moments. Min raising is not inherently bad, if you know when and why to do it.

With that said, you are probably up against a lot of fish, because it is seriously over-used by online players. I think a lot people do this because they really don't know what else to do, so they just throw out a minimum raise.

A good example of a proper min-raise is stealing the blinds of super-tight players. There is no reason to throw out bigger raises if they are repeatedly folding to your small ones.

Click to expand...

min raising is definitely the most over used play made online. I like to min raise in EP at a tight table when I have a good but not great hand(AJ, TT, JJ). If there is some heavy action behind me I can usually get away from it cheaply.

My 10 cents-

Preflop

Min-raising is often used in Cap Games because you are only 30BB deep. It makes sense since the pots are smaller.

It's also ok to do it in position with a hand that has a lot of implied value like suited connectors because at the micro limits, you will get a lot of callers and build a nice pot with a hand that has lots of potential...in position so you can see the action unfold to you post flop.

Post Flop-

min-raising is a good idea when you have a strong draw and are looking for added fold equity...with the combination of your opponent folding plus the times when he just calls and you hit your draw makes it a good play sometimes.

also min-raising on the river can work quite well to squeeze out a little more equity when you are pretty sure you have the best hand and your opponent bets into you. They are highly likely to call though so doing it as a bluff is not a real good idea...especially at the lower stakes.

In General

Have a purpose for it...all plays in poker should be intended to make you the most money long term and having a wide arsenal of plays keeps your opponents guessing.

Usually, "no", but sometimes, "yes" (can't find recent free vid on cardplayer.com that discussed min raising, so sorry, no link; suffice to say, it was in situations where the min-raise was a very large % of stack size), iirc;

i see allot of people do this too..kinda gets annoying and easy..like if u see they do it often because they think u bluffing just keep betting at them and they will always min raise.. (because they think your always bluffing and thats the most EFFECTIVE way to put u of a hand)

kind of pathetic actually really annoys me i personally like the 333 ,555,999 etc raises or a very qwik pot raise .not a min raise ...think its a leak actually but SOMETIMES it CAN be effective

bgomez89 said:

I've been on this forum for a while and I always notice people saying that min-raising is bad. However, when im actually playing(both online and live) i find that almost EVERYONE is min raising. This leaves me to ask the question as to why people are doing this when its considered to be so bad here.

Click to expand...

Largely it's done because they don't know it's bad.

Online they see the button that says "raise", so they click it. If you play on a site that has 1/2 pot, 2/3 pot, pot raise buttons you see more odd amount raises because people are using those buttons.

If you play 6 max instead of 9 or 10 seat tables, the play tends to be more aggressive and there are fewer minraises. Also if you go compare $10nl to $25nl to $50nl you'll see few minraises as you go up. More of the players know better.


Live it's similar in my limited experience. They want to raise, the easiest amount is double.