Opening Raises

When I first started playing poker the standard opening raise was mostly 3 to 5 times the BB plus adding for any limpers. But now I see alot of minimum raises or just slightly more than a minimum raise as an opening raise. Is this the new norm? Why are players doing this more, or am I just noticing it?

Thanks for you input. Good luck.

I don't think that is the norm or minimum increases slightly more than the minimum raise as from and open raise. each player makes a raise on the basis of their knowledge about the game. a raise is usually 3 to 5 times BB plus says that the opponent has a strong hand, sometimes often a player raises it is his style of play is not when not to go call.

In my opinion there isn't norm. Raising depends of each player and his playing style. If you're using word like 'norm' it refers to each player.

personally, my opinion is that the raise does not always mean a strong hand it could be a bluff

In the past, few people playing in 3-bet. Now we can see many 3-bets and min raises save you stack.

a min or 2.2 bet serves the same purpose as 3 bb, people who want out will fold and poeple who want in will call/raise, you save chips and get same info. the few people that will call looser due to smaller raise i think will be minimal in the long run.

Generally the preferred open for professionals in cash games is 3x the BB. So this isn't really very different from opening for 2x the BB, which is the norm for tournaments. It's in the same ballpark. In tournaments the stacks are generally a lot shorter so that might have something to do with it. In general opening smaller allows you to play a wide range of hands, which means you have the opportunity to take down the blinds or play a pot in hopefully in position more often. And if you open a lot you will get more action on your big hands than if you just sit there and nit it up. But I'd imagine a player could still have success in tournaments opening for 3x.

2x-2.2 in middle to late position is the most common.You can open 2.5-3x from early position to show some extra ''strenght''. IMO 3x is the max you should open. 4x-5x-6x indicated a fishy player from my experience[talking for freerolls] and most of the times have very strong Ax. The only reason to open bigger than 3x is at the very early stages of a SNG or a MTT [10/20 , 20/40 blind levels].

It goes both ways. I see players open raising 2x-3x and even 4x-6x. I guess its the individual preference. For me it varies depending on the table dynamics. If im playing with a lot of passive tight players 2x-3x is enough, if im playing looser players who like to limp every pot i kick it up betwen 4x-6x. It varies for me.

I think players are using a new method to save some chips when they raise x2.2 which is actually a good thing imo but it depends on the strength of your hand , you can scare people from calling when you raise x3 for example..

scorpi224 said:

you can scare people from calling when you raise x3 for example..

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Good, I really don't want callers when I'm raising ATC in LP to steal the blinds.

SuzdalDEcor said:

In the past, few people playing in 3-bet. Now we can see many 3-bets and min raises save you stack.

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Poker develops! Players understand - that aggressive play more profitable than passive!

Yes, the open raise has changed since I first began my poker journey, in cash games it was always 3x BB with an added x for limpers, I still do this in micros cash in fact I will try to raise as much as the players at my table will call.

MTT's and SnG's definitely has gotten smaller, I think 2.2 or sometimes a min. raise. I think you have to figure it out based on your game?? In tourneys it makes sense to conserve your chips so if you can accomplish the same thing with 2.2 as 3x why not?? Just remember that people are defending the blinds much more agressively now so be prepared for your 2.2 raise to NOT fold out many blinds

jsnake716 said:

Yes, the open raise has changed since I first began my poker journey, in cash games it was always 3x BB with an added x for limpers, I still do this in micros cash in fact I will try to raise as much as the players at my table will call.

MTT's and SnG's definitely has gotten smaller, I think 2.2 or sometimes a min. raise. I think you have to figure it out based on your game?? In tourneys it makes sense to conserve your chips so if you can accomplish the same thing with 2.2 as 3x why not?? Just remember that people are defending the blinds much more agressively now so be prepared for your 2.2 raise to NOT fold out many blinds

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I agree on this one, if a 2-2.5BB raise achieves the same as a 3BB raise you save a couple of chips every time.

And besides, raising less gives more room for postflop manoeuvres without blowing up the pot.

think the avg tourney raise size has gone down over the last few years, i have seen pros on videos advocating as small as 2.1 or 2.2bbs

also think tourney pros are raising smaller post flop with bets as small as 1/3 pot

Great answers guys, thanks.
So, would this fall under the topic of playing "small ball" poker?
I have begun to use the 2-2.5x raise, and am noticing all the things mentioned. I do still throw in a larger raise to accomplish different things, but this smaller opening raise has opened up my range also since less chips are involved to accomplish the same thing. Hopefully thats a good thing.
Good luck all.

TeUnit said:

think the avg tourney raise size has gone down over the last few years, i have seen pros on videos advocating as small as 2.1 or 2.2bbs

also think tourney pros are raising smaller post flop with bets as small as 1/3 pot

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Yeap, the vast majority cbet to 30-35% on the flop and if they want to fire a second barrel the cbet turn is up to 45-50% .If you want to intimidate your opponent with a cbet on the flop the 1/3 cbet does excatly the same job as the 1/2.

On the flop they usually cbet bigger around 45-50% on a scared board with many draws. Everything in poker has to do with the dynamics.

2.2 is the common raise size. 2.5 or 3 is used in the early stages or when there are no antes. Its just a trend and a trend that will most likely stay. People have done a lot of math and do it for their 3bet calling range or what to call when others do it. I play cash mostly so the raise sizes are always changing. But for tournaments, you don't want to put too many chips in preflop and a smaller raise lets you accomplish the same thing. You just have to play more pots against the big blind because they get a good price.