pre flop re raise

hi there, im your average 3x the bb kind of guy, ive read phil gordans little green book which he sais in
early raise 2.5-3x
middle raise 3.0-3.5x
late raise 3.5-4.0x
small blind raise 3.0x

this was one of the first books i ever read and has always been in the back of my mind.

recently i bought harrington on online cash games 6 max where he sais

utg-4.0x
middle position-3.5x
cut off-3x
button-2.5x

and didnt say anything about the blinds. both of these methods are complete oppersit to each other. personally ive read more about raising less from early position and more from late but this is the first time ive come accross raising more from early and less from late. im totally confused and would love to hear your guys opinions on this matter.

What are you playing? It makes a difference.

Gordon writes for tournaments and assumes knowledgeable players who know that early position raises represent a smaller range of hands = stronger hands. Harrington's tournament book was written earlier and feels that you should get value for these stronger hands in order to make people pay more to call you with the stronger hands. He's carried that forward to his cash book, apparently. I have the first two but didn't find too much useful there so I don't recall.

If you're playing tournaments against knowledgeable players then Gordon's idea is fine, but otherwise, and in cash games where stacks are deeper, I'd go with more from early, less from late. But keep in mind that the sizing should also take into account your opposition. If you have a bad player who is likely to call with crap no matter what you raise, raise more. If you have an aggressive player or a short stack behind you who's likely to 3 bet, raise less.


Or, go the simple route and raise the same all the time, until all the stacks get short in a tournament, and then start cutting down the size regardless of position.

To extend on what NineLions said, it may well be sub-optimal to apply a single approach to all situations. To offer one example, I've been at ring tables where it takes 4x or even 5x to have the same effect that 2.5x does at other tables.

For a tournament example, in major it's not uncommon to see good players who slim down their opening bet sizes as the tournaments progress and the blinds get larger relative to the stacks.

I've never read harrington on cash games, but I the reason for bigger early/smaller later is unopened pots from late position looks like a steal and a good player will probably 3 bet this and if you are stealing you fold for a minimal price, if you have a hand now you can 4 bet. Betting bigger UTG in 6max games, will win you position a decent amount of the time because more people will fold. I personally like to mix up my raise amounts from various positions depending on the game. I've found in certain games 2.5x will get you where you want to go a majority of the time and makes it easier for you to get out of dodge when the action becomes too much.