Basic Theory - Raising preflop

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This is hopefully going to be the first in a series of basic theory/discussion threads.

Micro Stakes NL is all about learning the basics, laying good foundations for building a solid winning game.

The widely touted standard for preflop raising at 2p2 is 4BB +1 per limper with any hand you want to play for a raise.

Why exactly is this the standard?

Is there a better one we can use?

and doesn't NLTAP recommend varying your preflop raise amounts.. ? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

...

to answer those questions (and possibly a few others) lets work through the reasons why we raise preflop and figure out what an ideal raise might be for each situation.

Reasons to Raise preflop:
i) for value - we have a good starting hand, that stands a good chance of being the best hand at SD, so we want to make the pot as big as possible by the time we get to the SD.
ii) ...