Varying the size of your opening raises - useful or waste of time?

[Thundercat32]

I started with the Phil Gordon school of thought, raise the same everytime that way you're opponent can't pick up a tell on you. While I don't see any wrong with this, I prefer Harrington's advice better.

The advantages of varying opening raises. If you're married to the idea I'm 3xBB everytime I open you can't take into account the opponents' playing style to act behind you or their stack sizes. One of the best aspects of varying raise sizes pf is the deception it offers you postflop. If I raise 5xBB with 8-7s from MP and you call with A-K how can you not love a 8,A,7 flop? You're likely putting me on a big PP and feel your Aces are ahead. Another HUGE benefit is being able to minraise with air to steal the blinds. If you have minraised a few times with premium hands your opponents have to give you some respect when you minraise. That reason alone is why I prefer it to raising the same amount each time.

The downside is sticking your neck out occasionally raising to 5xBB with SCs and risking getting multiple callers with AA on a minraise. Overall I like the extra flexibility varying opening raises gives you.

[Dangeresque]

As tournaments progress I begin to vary my raises less and raise a smaller amount for two reasons:

The average standard of play improves, so players will not make mistakes of the same size.

The average player becomes tighter, thus my raises are more successful at this lower level. I start out raising 4-5BB with raising hands, when blinds move up, my raise moves up in nominal terms, but down in terms of effective BB until, with the blinds at 10% of a starting stack, they tend to be a nice round number in the realm of 2.5-2.3BB (i.e. 400 when BB=150, 500 when BB=200, 700 when BB=300)

[MGM]

Buy in is a huge factor me. Low level entry 33 on down I like to open pretty big 4-5 BB with big pairs because so many donks want to steal behind you and large % of the time you will get a donk push. Especially early. Higher level tournies 109+ I like to vary with the flow of the table..

[betgo]

I like to vary them, but not is stereotypical or readable ways. Partly based on what I want to accomplish, but partly at random. I think there is an advantage in varying at random in that opponents may misread you thinking they pick up a tell. I find this approach effective in HU SNGs.

[Spee]

Again, it's not so much the size of the raise but the rationale behind the raise.

- Are you raising to drive people out (e.g., maybe you have AT and a raise will get an AJ to fold)?

- Are you raising to build a pot in the event that your hand holds up (e.g., KQs, QJs)?

- Are you raising to prevent a multi-way pot to give you AA or KK a better chance of holding up?

Etc, etc, etc.

As long as there is a method to your madness, and it is working in the present scenario, then it is difficult to find fault with it.

But just deciding to vary your raises because an author says it is better, or to always raise 3x because you observed a top player doing it regularly, well I'm sorry but these are not valid rationales.

Each of us as a player, has to think about what we are doing and ensure that we know why we are doing it, and why we think it is valid for a certain situation.

This does a couple of things:
- It (hopefully) prevents us from being predictable.
- It keeps us conscious of what we are doing and constantly observant of whether what we are doing is working or not working in the present environment.