Preflop raise sizing

[Eagles]

I only vary it according to pot size.
Actually agaisnt bad players I'll make smaller 3bets with AA/KK but that's about it.

[Trix]

Some really weird advice in that book, this is one of them.

[bennies]

I'll give OP some support, I don't think he wants it though [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

It seems to me that the thoughts behind varying raise sizes would also justify limping. Ok, I know everyone will stop reading now... But if not, I'll take this weeks Poker After Dark show as an example. This is a 6-man winner take all tourney, and at the first blind levels it plays out very similarly to a 6-max cash game. In this weeks show, Phil Ivey, Erik Lindgren and Patrick Antonius would often limp preflop, especially from early position.

The merits to limping are the same as to making a smaller raise, it keeps the pot smaller. I concur it gives away some (meta) information about our hand but not very much if we just mix it up a bit. Say we raise big with AK 75% of the time and small/limp 25% of the time. And vice versa with small pps and scs.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

if i am playing online i jsut click the bet-pot button. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

no seriously, i vary my bets a lot, but usually only by fractions of a degree and on whims with whatever holding i may have.

if i am playing against real morons who like to call a lot, i will make bigger raises and reraises with my bigger hands.

[Eagles]

I'd add that I'm pretty sure varying your pf raise size depending on your hand is way +EV in a bubble. But when you consider metagame it becomes a big leak.

[stigmata]

Against opponents that are unobservent and unaware it's obviously not going to be a problem, and I do it when the appropriate situation occurs.

Against stronger opposition it can probably be incoporated into a balanced strategy where you do actions a certain portion of the time. I tend to use position, opponents, cards and randomness (i.e. whim) to make small adjustments to my preflop raises, and I think it's pretty difficult to gauge some idea of my range from the preflop raise. This is especially the case because the cards I hold have the smallest overall effect on my preflop raises, and also against stronger opposition I tend to not change my raise sizes based on cards.