22 HU's - to 3x or not to 3x NLTRN

[bpmst2]

Im curious to what other players think is correct or what they do. Obv at the 10/20 level 3x is simple. But im curious at the 15/30 and 25/50 level what other players do. I've seen 2 1/2x raises too. I usually 3x with the button when stacks are big, but slow down depending on my stack size and his. At 25/50 i usually just 2x. Any major flaws?

[jakeduke]

If I remember other threads well enough, I'd say the standard is to gradually move downward from 3x to just over 2x before you get to 50/100 and are in push/fold mode. I'm sure there's a place for minraising and limping as well. I'd probably just try some stuff out and see how your opponents adapt.

[TNixon]

I use a very simple rule:

If a 3x raise would be more than 10 or 12% of the effective stacks, I'll notch down to 2.5.

So at 20/40, I notch down when one of us is below 1200, at 25/50, I notch down unless we're both pretty close to starting chips.

I almost never go down to minraise, though, because I don't feel that most of the people I'm playing fold often enough to 3x raises, much less minraises. The minraise feels too much like a pot-sweetener to me, more of an expensive limp than a raise. If my opponent is minraising, instead of sticking with 3x like most people do, and the blinds are *really* big, then I consider minraising, but there's a pretty narrow window between that and just push-or-fold.

[ChicagoRy]

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If my opponent is minraising, instead of sticking with 3x like most people do, and the blinds are *really* big, then I consider minraising,

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You shouldn't let your opponent's preflop raise size dictate your own.

[TNixon]

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You shouldn't let your opponent's preflop raise size dictate your own.

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Maybe.

But I don't want to minraise against somebody who's not going to give it any more respect than a limp.

People who minraise themselves seem to consider it an actual raise more often than people who don't.