Preflop Re-raise/raise

[EricE]

I am working on my preflop play but have a few questions.

Is isolation the ONLY reason to raise preflop with two unpaired hole cards? Lets say you hold AK on the button and everyone folds to you. Only the blinds are left so you have achieved isolation. Do you raise?

Same question but you hold high PP like AA,KK,QQ. Would you raise because you expect to win the hand and this raise is for value? Would that answer be the same for all high PPs?

Same question for Re-raises. Would you Re-raise someone if isolation is already achieved? Re-raise only with PP?

[BreakfastMan]

It might help to think of four reasons to raise when you have a decision to make:

1) Raise to build the pot
2) Raise for isolation
3) Raise to define opponent’s range of hands
4) Raise for deception

When would you do each of the above? I might want to build the pot if I believe I have the best hand at the moment.

I might want isolation if I hand a strong hand that doesn't play well against many players

I might raise to define a players holdings, if they were the right type of player (you don't get much info from a calling station.)

Sometimes you might raise for deception (blinds steels, etc.)
I would think of these and see if you want to raise AK on the button (you want to raise.)

[EricE]

It might help to think of four reasons to raise when you have a decision to make:

1) Raise to build the pot
2) Raise for isolation
3) Raise to define opponent’s range of hands
4) Raise for deception

When would you do each of the above? I might want to build the pot if I believe I have the best hand at the moment.

I might want isolation if I hand a strong hand that doesn't play well against many players

I might raise to define a players holdings, if they were the right type of player (you don't get much info from a calling station.)

Sometimes you might raise for deception (blinds steels, etc.)
I would think of these and see if you want to raise AK on the button (you want to raise.)

Ok, that helps.
If I held AK, on the button and nobody had entered the pot I would likely call to keep from folding them out.
If I held AA, I would likely reraise a previous raiser (or more) to try and get an all-in HU.
If I held other high PP, I would likely just call a previous raiser since raising often ends up in all-in HU. I would raise if too many callers came along after him.

Thanks.

[Greedo017]

If I held AK, on the button and nobody had entered the pot I would likely call to keep from folding them out.

***** Hand History for Game 2365848905 *****
$100 NL Texas Hold'em - Friday, July 15, 00:37:35 EDT 2005
Table Table 36830 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Olimpiya ( $93.65 )
Seat 2: WheelMaster1 ( $202.06 )
Seat 9: whgpharm ( $44.45 )
Seat 4: Hero ( $183 )
Seat 8: Joe_Bluffer ( $90.50 )
Seat 6: Hurlay ( $20.75 )
Seat 5: qiun7359 ( $72.95 )
Seat 7: stardusty ( $30.50 )
Seat 10: patent11 ( $121.70 )
Seat 3: DrDrizzle ( $48 )
DrDrizzle posts small blind [$0.50].
Hero posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 9d 4c ]
qiun7359 folds.
Hurlay calls [$1].
stardusty folds.
Joe_Bluffer folds.
whgpharm folds.
patent11 folds.
Olimpiya calls [$1].
WheelMaster1 folds.
DrDrizzle folds.
Hero checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, 9c, 4s ]
Hero checks.
Hurlay bets [$1].
Olimpiya calls [$1].
Hero raises [$4].
Hurlay is all-In.
Olimpiya folds.
Wahoo2006 calls [$15.75].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jh ]
** Dealing River ** [ 8c ]
Hero shows [ 9d, 4c ] two pairs, nines and fours.
Hurlay shows [ Ac, As ] a pair of aces.
Hero wins $41.80 from the main pot with two pairs, nines and fours.

[EricE]

Hehe, I see what your saying but winning a SB and a BB just isn’t worth it. Hmmm. Point taken though. If I don’t bet it I run the risk of losing $, whereas if I bet I either win the SB and the BB or at least I have a better chance of winning if someone calls with a decent hand. I see.

[DoGGz]

Hehe, I see what your saying but winning a SB and a BB just isn’t worth it. Hmmm. Point taken though. If I don’t bet it I run the risk of losing $, whereas if I bet I either win the SB and the BB or at least I have a better chance of winning if someone calls with a decent hand. I see.

Yes, winning a BB and a SB is worth it. If you win a BB and a SB every hand you bet your going to be rich. You can't always get tons of action with your great hands, that is poker...

[BreakfastMan]

Hi EricE,
Greedo017 and doggz both make a good point above. You took my post the wrong way, you should (usually) raise with AK on the button. I said in my post "you want to raise" but it didn't think there would be any point in just telling you that. You want to raise for reasons 1 thru 3. The only reason you wouldn't raise is it you wanted to be tricky. You can do this and have a positive expected value, but it will be at the cost of greater variance. So the more standard play is to raise.

It helps to have some idea what kind of hands you are playing against and a raise will help define that.

You also asked about other pocket pairs. Any high pocket pair, say jacks, queens or kings I would usually raise on the button. I simply don’t want someone to limp with any ace and catch an ace on the flop. Only with Aces would I feel comfortable limping in, but I would only do so, if I thought I could get some significant action from the SB or the BB, either pre-flop or on the flop, that I would not get if I raised.

[Greedo017]

wanted to add to this. i'm recently experimenting with (thanks to this move nailing my ass, and spino1i telling me its fine) just calling a raiser with aa/kk. i did it the other night, and i think it worked. i had aa, someone raised 6x preflop with qq. flop had a king, killing my profit, but i think if the flop had come all lows, i might've really cleaned out that qq, where a preflop reraise then strong flop betting would've killed my action.

calling someone elses strong raise preflop with a strong hand (aa/kk/ak only), is totally different from limping into an unraised pot.