stupid question. standard raise?

[jonny87]

ok, this is gonna sound really stupid but a standard raise is 3xbb +1 for every limper in the pot right?

so if blinds are $0.5-$1, and UTG raised pf to $3, thats 3xbb?
or is 3xbb $4, because $1 is calling the bb and the other £3 are the raise. I kno this is basic but I just wondered is maybe im doing it wrong. thanks

[jonny87]

also, why is this the standard raise?? It's not pot odds is it? because raising say $4 with $0.5-$1 blinds is giving only 11 to 8 or 1.4 to 1 pot odds to the next caller.

[AaronBrown]

I don't like the term "standard raise." It implies a mechanical rule. It's more useful to think of min raises and big raises.

A min raise will make the pot bigger and give the players who have already acted another chance to raise; but it's unlikely to make anyone fold due to the money (they may have folded anyway, or they may fold because of the change in strategic situation or because of what the min raise says about your hand).

A big raise will induce people to fold, unless they have hands they think are stronger than yours (either because they have very strong hands, or they don't believe you have a strong hand).

A standard raise is in between. It leaves people guessing. You can think of it as the smallest raise likely to induce a fold, or the biggest raise likely to be called. But don't let the term "standard" fool you into thinking it is generally the correct amount to raise. It's a good raise in some situations and a bad raise in others.

If you are last to act, a pot-sized raise is standard. You're offering a caller 2 to 1 pot odds, which makes most drawing hands unattractive. They either have to call on strength, or bluff, or play you for a bluff. On the other hand, no one needs nuts to call, a lot of hands have 1 chance in 3 versus a range of strong hands.

If you're in early position, the standard raise becomes larger. A lot of drawing hands are attractive with 2 to 1 pot odds at the moment, and more players likely to enter. Once someone calls your bet, the next player gets 3 to 1 pot odds. Exactly how much bigger depends on how loose the table is and how much respect people give for position.

[PantsOnFire]

The 3xBB raise is generally called standard because it is basically a bet of double the current size of the pot. This gives callers who are not in the blinds 1.5:1 odds to call and gives the BB 2:1 odds to call.

The same reasoning applies to pots that already have limpers or raisers. So for a 1/2 NL game, a good first raise is $6 making the pot $9. Now, a good raise of that would be $18.

I would suggest that these guidelines might be better called "the standard minimum raise". If you raise less than these guidelines, you will be giving players a wider range of hands that make their calls correct. If you raise more than this standard, you will be giving opponents a much narrow range of hands to make their calls correct. You are also making them pay more for their mistakes. However, at a tight table, you might be getting more folds so you might lose some value if you raise too much

[kauffmanj]

This might be related? What is "controlling the pot size?" In one of PearlJammer's Videos he talked about this. So i started betting smaller amounts? Then someone questioned that. I do not understand waht "pot control" is and why I would want to do it and what amounts to be to achieve this.? Any help?

[PantsOnFire]

[ QUOTE ]
This might be related? What is "controlling the pot size?" In one of PearlJammer's Videos he talked about this. So i started betting smaller amounts? Then someone questioned that. I do not understand waht "pot control" is and why I would want to do it and what amounts to be to achieve this.? Any help?

[/ QUOTE ]
Pot control means you don't want to build a big pot. Some types of hands for this are as follows.

1) You raised pf with KK. Flop is A 6 2. In this situation you are either way ahead or way behind (WA/WB). This is no sense betting into a guy with AT as he will just call you down and beat you. If the guy has 77, he might call one bet but probably not two. If he has KQ, he will just fold. So if you are WA/WB, the pot really should change that much unless one of you catchs a miracle card.

2) The second scenario is the flip side of the above. You call a raise on the button with AT. Flop is A 7 2. Raiser might make a cbet here or a value bet with AK. You should just call. And your plan should be to get to the river as cheap as possible and hope for A9 or QQ from villain. This another good example of WA/WB. These types of hands are unlikely to change from the flop to the river so you don't know exactly where you are at so don't make it a big pot.

So basically, pot control is good for hands where you have top pair but are concerned about an overpair or a better kicker. There should also be a dry board. If there are draws on the board and you have TPTK, you probably want to value bet. However, when heads up a 1/2 pot bet is all that is needed to make a drawing hand incorrectly call. Yes, he will be counting on implied odds but then you need to use your poker skill on the river to pick off a bluffed missed draw or a TPWK hand or get away from a draw that hit.