I
IDntEatFsh
Rising Star
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2021
- Total posts
- 16
I've noticed a lot of players opening with 2BB bets at online SnGs. Books I have read all warn that this is too small a bet. What am I missing?
Play according to the situation, and open as you want. Books can be to your detriment to read)
Generally you should vary raise-size based on effective stack.
At 80bb, min-raising is usually smaller than ideal. But at 15-30bb, if you're raising without moving all-in, min-raising tends to be the best raise sizing.
Also worth noting is that it is common to add 1x per limper. If someone makes it 3.25x with one limper in front, then many times this means their "default" open-raise size was 2.25x.
Generally speaking, lower raise sizes means their range of hands is wider and you are able to call more often (due to being given better pot odds to continue). Conversely, larger sizing less frequently tends to translate into them having a tighter range and therefore, you should be more inclined to fold.
One last thing (I got a lot of little things to say don't I?), this changes when short stacked. At this point, you are either shove-fold mode, or are making smaller bets all around. We don't want to be in a pot with something like 20bb in our stack, continuing to bring us down to 10bbs and then folding for the rest; this is almost never correct (because 50% of your stack is a ton to invest on a hand you voluntarily fold - maybe 25% or less of your stack you could maybe get away with though). If your calling a raise (or open-raising/c-betting yourself if you were the aggressor) would commit too much of your entire stack to the pot, then you might as well just fold preflop or shove All-In preflop.
The smaller opening size from the steal positions gives you a better price on the steal - i.e. a 2x open from the BU doesn't need to work nearly as often as a 3x open. It also means you can raise more speculative hands from CO/BU and still fold to 3bets/shoves without it costing too much.
Generally speaking, lower raise sizes means their range of hands is wider and you are able to call more often (due to being given better pot odds to continue). Conversely, larger sizing less frequently tends to translate into them having a tighter range and therefore, you should be more inclined to fold.
and then opponents - are they going to call no matter if you raise 2x or 3.5x? Those inelastic players (so the ones who will call a raise at the same frequency regardless of the size) are the best candidates to size up for when you're value betting!