Min-raising pre-flop

[Psy_Mike]

What are your thoughts about min-raising PF from the button? I see some good players never min raise the button, and I see some who are limping, min-raising and pot-raising in a seamingly random frequency (raising pot ofc most often though).

Any thoughts about min-raising pre?

[jay_shark]

As long as it's random and that you don't mini raise with a certain range that is different than a 3X raise .

I like to keep all my raises the same but if I do raise 2X or 3X , then it has nothing to do with my cards and everything to do with my opponents .

[ObnxNole]

dont ever do it!

[dboy23]

[ QUOTE ]
dont ever do it!

[/ QUOTE ]

There are times when it could be correct. Consider the 25/50 level of a NLSNG. You are playing against a weak tight player who only reraises you with top 10% of hands. He calls top 30% and folds the rest. (yes i did just play this fellow)

Clearly a minraise is good here since he is refusing his 3 - 1 odds to see the flop, and it risks the least when we and reraised or called.

[jay_shark]

Good post Dboy , there are exceptions to every rule .

Never say never in poker .

[Nichomacheo]

Against a weak-passive opponent min-raising is fine.

Imagine that if you raise he doesnt distinguish between 2x, 3x, and 4x. Why would you risk more when min-raising will do fine? You'll also find opponents who will call the minraise with anything, but fold most flops to a c-bet. Very profitable.

[dboy23]

at the level I play I've found opponents who will call 4xBB and fit or fold the flop.

[treo]

If I want to build a pot,I would min raise preflop

[Nichomacheo]

If you want to build a pot it means you have a good hand or a speculative hand. Build it more: 3x.

[K C]

This is a very interesting subject actually. We're obviously looking to get more money in the pot with above average hands here. 3x or 4x will obviously accomplish that better than 2x given the opponent will call frequently.

Some of you have suggested that there are times where 2x can be better, and yes it all comes down to how your opponent is playing you. If an opponent is folding a lot to the 3x say, you may want to go with 2x if he's more comfortable calling raises like that a lot more regularly. This is expecially true if you have a top hand where you really want a call.

The other side of this is if you're raising less and your opponent is playing this correctly you're leaving yourself open less to getting played back on. And with your opponent being more selective he's causing you to lose more on a reraise/fold and get even more money in the pot on a reraise/call in situations of his choosing.

As for min post flop raises there's plenty of situations where this is the best move, most notably when you really want to build the pot and the opponent only calls larger raises with hands that would probably have you beat. With the superior hand you want as much in the pot as possible and the opponent's tendencies to call with weaker hands is a central consideration of course.

As is always the case there's lots to think about and it always depends on the opponent, but if you exclude min PF raises or min raises from your repetoire you're limiting yourself.