Adding the min-raise to your arsenal- Article

[snugglez88]

Russell Blattberg- Loosefer/Snugglez88

Adding the Min-raise to Your Arsenal

Poker players generally dismiss the min-raise as a donkey play. I believe that min-raising can be very profitable if it is used in the correct frequencies. Obviously, you shouldn’t be min-raising half of your opponent’s continuation bets. Its use should be under 6% of all possible actions in a spot where you’d consider using it.

You are playing 2-4 NL 6 max. The game is 6 handed. You have no reads except you know the regular on the button is solid, and runs at 24/17/3.5.

You are dealt 7s 7h UTG and raise to $14.

The regular on the button calls.

Flop: Kd 8s 4s

You bet $28

Button raises to $56

You fold.

This example illustrates the power of the min-raise.

I think a good calling range versus this min-raise would be A8+ and most draws. If you are raising AT+/KQ+/22+ UTG and continuation bet on this flop a majority of the time, the min-raise forces you to fold most of your range. We all know various methods to combat the continuation bet, floating, raising, etc. In my opinion the min-raise is one of the best/ most effective ways to do it- As long as it is used in low frequencies as part of a varied strategy.

The advantages of the min-raise are that it’s cheap, tricky and effective. Continuation bets are most effective on unpaired rainbow flops, paired flops and three of a kind flops; the less connected, the better. Also, the bigger the high card on the flop, the more likely an opponent folds. Using the min-raise is most effective on boards where continuation bets are most effective (or most likely to be used). By min-raising, you put the pressure on your opponent, and can take control of the hand. Min-raising as a bluff is best against players who open up a fairly wide range pre-flop and make continuation bets on a wide range of boards, but know how to fold. Multi-tabling LAGs make great targets because they play a wide range pre-flop, but once you show strength, they often fold if they flopped weakly.

So min-raise bluffing is very effective. Lets look at the semi-bluff. By raising instead of calling you give you opponent a chance to fold. It is important to raise draws on the flop as a part of your strategy. By min-raising you get to bluff cheaply, and you add value to the pot if you hit your draw. Also, by showing strength on the flop you’re in a better position to take the pot away on the turn or river. You have to be careful when you use this play however; if your opponent comes over the top you probably have to fold. If you think it’s likely that your opponent has a strong hand or he/she tends to be very aggressive then calling the flop bet is likely your best option.

Min-raising can also be used to add a lot of value to your good but marginal hands. Lets go back to that K84 example.

In this hand you are the now the regular in the button sitting with Ks Qd.

UTG raises to $14 and you call. Flop: Kd 8s 4s, UTG bets $28.


You have some options here. You could call. Calling is good in this situation. You aren’t too worried about a spade coming on the turn because you have a high spade in your hand. UTG has a wide range that you beat here. There isn’t too much in UTG’s range that you can get value out of if you make a standard raise here. A min-raise is great in this situation because you likely have the best hand. If you assume your opponent will call with A8+, and most draws, you get a lot of value here. If UTG calls, you’ll have the upper hand on the turn. UTG will check the turn most of the time. If the turn is a non-spade and you think UTG likely has a draw, then betting the turn/ or checking behind are both profitable. I advise checking behind against aggressive opponents. If the spade hits on the river and UTG bets you are likely beat. If the draw misses on the river UTG will likely bet thinly for value or bluff a missed draw.


The last type of min-raising is with a monster. Generally this should be done on the flop to build up a pot. You’re trying to play for stacks so a min-raise should only be used if you can accomplish that goal later in the pot. The point is that you have a huge hand and you want action. If you think you can get your opponent to bite and call with worse than they would against a normal raise, by all means, go for it. For the most part, you shouldn’t be min-raising with monsters unless the board is unconnected and there are virtually no draws that can improve over your hand. A min-raise is not expensive to call so you give your opponent great pot odds to call and he/she has huge implied odds because you are planning to stack off.

Finally, min-raises are great for big pots. Lets say you are playing 2-4 NL 6 max 6 handed.

You open Ad Kd from the button to $14

The small blind makes it $48 to go

you call.

The flop is Qs 7s 4d .

The small blind bets $70

There is $170 in the pot. Before we decide on an action lets put the small blind on a range- 99+/AQ+. Our opponent will usually have a pair on this flop, and we almost never have the best hand. Many players would instantly fold AK here 100% of the time. By floating and raising in the spot with AK, it makes you very, very difficult to play against. It’s important that you don’t do it with too high a frequency though, or you are giving away money. That being said I don’t really like a call on this flop because if you do bluff later in the hand, you’ll need to commit a large portion of your stack. If raise to $200 here, you leave yourself with no room to fold. A push is alright, but you are generally called by AQ/AK spades/KK/AA. If you min-raise to $140 your opponent will likely call/push AQ/AK spades/KK/AA. If you think your opponent would push with AK or JJ over a min-raise then it decreases the value of the play. Most players would fold JJ/AK in this spot. Since a min-raise allows you to get the rest of the money in on the turn, it looks very strong and doesn’t commit you to the pot. It is the cheapest way to bluff and a very profitable way to do it. Now, lets say this flop is K high. A min-raise is equally effective in this spot because it gives the illusion of fold equity when really your opponent has none against you. If you are capable of min-raise bluffing in a spot like this, you can get paid off bigger when you do hit.

Min-raising is not a new secret play, but its an effective one that many good players don’t consider as an option in any situation It’s a play well worth adding to your arsenal.

[snugglez88]

Don't use it against me plz

[IowaSkinsFan]

your loosefer?

welcome, why not post this on lp.net?

[IowaSkinsFan]

Not bad but I think in general other raise sizes are much better and only rarely minraises are good. You don't have to reinvent the wheel when thinking creatively about the game.

[snugglez88]

I'd be happy to post it on LP... seeing if Naz will make it a feature article first =P

[snugglez88]

I'd be happy to post it on LP... seeing if Naz will make it a feature article first =P

[breathweapon]

I don't think its a bad idea, most Donks min-raise with big hands or the nuts in order to get $ into the pot but not to chase the opponents out of the pot. Most experienced people know this, so they either fold or try to crack the hand. You can benefit from this tho', because the min-raise becomes a sign of strength, and it reduces the cost of stealing the blinds or semi-bluffing. I'm min raising a lot of the time from the Button, because even if it does encourage the blinds to enter the pot, so what? They're entering the pot with marginal or garbage hands out of position against a marginal, good, great or "seemingly great" hand in position.

I'm also min raising all the time from UTG, because if you're playing a hand UTG, you've already signaled strength, and by min raising, you're still giving yourself the opportunity to take down the pot uncontested, encouraging marginal or garbage hands in the blinds to call, justifying marginal hands like AXs, SCs etc. at a discount from UTG and saving money.

I've been experimenting with min betting as well, either UTG or on the button, and then "delayed" 3Betting or AI. The thing is, I'm not doing it with Aces, I'm doing it with 72u, stealing the initial raise and then turning the limp into a false tell, which gives more credence to AXs or SC later. You can even min bet and then re-raise as a steal on the flop or a later street with nothing, and it will drive people insane.

I think raising can be less about pot odds and more about patterns and psychology. You shouldn't avoid Donk raises and betting patterns, you should be using them as a Trojan Horse at higher stakes. Hell, even most of the Donks recognize Donks raises and betting patterns, so why not try it at lower stakes to?

Edit:The pre-flop stuff is for 10Max cash.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

i like the last example for a good spot to min raise against a frequent c-bettor in 3bet pots. Most early posts from a newer member aren't exactly informative. Welcome to FTR!


In regards to your post, i do think that min raising with a more polarized range would be much better than doing so with hands like TPGK.

When min raising on the flop with hands like TPGK, you are giving your opponents the opportunity to 3bet and put you to a difficult decision.

You can also get you into some undesirable turn/river situations when min raising on the flop with a medium strength hand like TPGK. By betting on the turn against most regulars, you often remove many of the weaker made hands from their range that you were beating (hands like MPTK). A raise (that is for value) on the flop is a good idea when you want to get all in on the flop/safe turn versus your opponent, but otherwise calling (or folding versus super nits lol) should be standard.

If you check behind on the turn, you set yourself up to get bluff check/raised on the river by opponents who are good at hand reading. Even if the turn and river don't allow any draws to complete and you are only faced with a river bet, you still end up in a call/fold situation. This is unwanted because it's often the case that we can only win if our opponent is bluffing - although occasionally we are picking off a thin value bet from a weaker TP.

[biondino]

Minraises are a good tactic against people who use minraises in their arsenal. Most of the time they're either building a pot with it or trying to push out weak c-bettors, but when it's done to them they struggle to deal with it.

Very nice post snugglez, thanks