pot sweetner bet from blinds. good/bad?

[Keyser112]

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver Cards)

MP1 ($13.85)
MP2 ($9.80)
CO ($11.40)
Button ($27.75)
SB ($17.85)
Hero ($47.60)
UTG ($4.95)
UTG+1 ($9.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
[color=#666666]1 fold</font>, UTG+1 calls $0.25, MP1 calls $0.25, MP2 calls $0.25, CO checks, [color=#666666]2 folds</font>, [color=#CC3333]Hero raises to $1</font>, UTG+1 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, MP2 calls $0.50, CO folds.

Flop: ($3.60) , , [color=#0000FF](4 players)</font>
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, [color=#CC3333]MP1 bets $0.75</font>, MP2 folds, Hero folds, UTG+1 folds.

Final Pot: $3.60

[sightless]

Dont do that preflop with kqo :/If you raise, raise big
Flop is good

[gregorio]

I don't play this 8-handed stuff, but I hate pot sweetner with KQo. You don't want a big hand with those cards since it doesn't make big hands or play great multiway. If you want to raise, make it $1.50-$1.75 to get it heads up on flop or take it down now. That raise gets some weak Ax and SCs to fold--perhaps MP1 would have folded PF. As played, you are stuck playing a big multiway pot OOP.

[Keyser112]

thanks guys

[kom]

I don't like it for two reasons.

1) You have a hand that is most likely to make a tpgk type hand which is better HU not in a multiwaypot. A PP or SC type hand would be better in this spot.

2) Range balancing issues. Do you ever make this raise with AA etc? It is obviously transparent if you have a range of hands you raise to 4bb here and seperate range you make a more standard raise with.

In conclusion. Scrap the pot sweetner and just make a normal raise with a range of hands similar to your UTG opening standards.

[jack492505]

A pot sweetener here creates the exact situation you do not want with KQo. You're going to be playing a big pot multiway OOP. If you are going to raise raise enough to narrow the field. That being said you could also check here. Depends on the table, if you're unlikely to get HU with a raise just check and see a flop.

[eigenvalue]

First comes position, after that come your cards! Playing a pot sweetener OOP from the blinds is plain terrible and signals a misunderstanding of the most important concept of NLH!

This low raise from the BB is extremely bad with any 2 hole cards. It would be bad with AA, AK, T9s, whatever, too.

[Cujo69]

[ QUOTE ]
This low raise from the BB is extremely bad with any 2 hole cards. It would be bad with AA, AK, T9s, whatever, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

What kind of raise should be made? I'm a newb and always bet 3-4 BB pf if I'm raising from any position. If all bets are the same I figure it's harder to put me on a hand. Does this not work?

[Dave Coulier]

The standard raise is 4xBB+1 BB for each limper, so if you are dead set on raising KQo from the blinds it would be $2.00. As others have said though raising KQo from the blinds with this many limpers is a bad idea especially at full ring.

The 4xBB raise only makes it cheaper for people to call with whatever they limped with and you end up with alot more people going to the flop with you, which is pretty much what happened in the above hand.

I wouldn't worry about the "I keep all my preflop raises the same size, so they have a harder time putting me on a hand." The bad players are probably not even thinking about your hand when they call your preflop raises, while the good players will understand why you are raising 4xBB+1BB per limper.

Also you should be more concerned with your PFR% rather than making all preflop raises the same size. If you had a very low PFR% players are always going to know you have a big hand regardless of how much you raised, yet if you had a higher PFR% say 16% they'll be looking at that number more than your raise amount.

[Cujo69]

thx Dave. I see that logic and will change my pf betting accordingly.