A Standard Raise?

[EasyT]

When I have a raising hand, I generally start out at a table raising 5x the Big Blind in an unraised pot. If I get too many callers, I make it more. If everyone lays it down a couple of times, I reduce.

Obviously betting 8x with AA, and then betting 4x with JJ is giving away too much information about my hand.

Do you guys conceal your hand with 'standard' raises? Or raise different amounts, trying to be a little random? I am concerned that knowing my hand will prevent random from being so random.

Is "standard raising" a newbie error? Or is it ok while I'm still figuring things out.

I have also been accused of minimum raising (and minimum betting) by a certain FTR'r I respect. Is mimimum raising just irritating to good players, or is it downright bad play?

Thanks!

[UG]

I make a standard raise of 5 X's the BB on most tables. But this definitely changes depending on the table that I'm at.

I played for about an hour this morning and every time I raised my normal 5 X's the BB everyone folded. This even happened with 4-5 guys limping ahead of me, nobody called. Then I started to notice that really the only raises that got any action were 3 X's raises on my four tables.

So I think it depends on the table and what you're going after.

BTW, I think standard raises are okay. Just stick with the same amount no matter if you have AA or AQs. If you raise 12 X's the BB with AA and 4 X's the BB with AQ, someone may pick up on it.

[Fjaman]

I use a standard raise of around 3-5BB(depending on table) i think its a great way to extract money for your hands a problem with this is to modify it so that it fits the table which can mean you dont make profit on your 5-6 first good hands, but that problem is neglible in comparison to raising depending on your hand strenght... Minimum betting is a strategy i like to use with low pairs when there has been one round check to get a little extra if it holds up to the river. I wouldnt use it to try and stop someone from betting it is a really lame strategy that never works, if i see the preflop raiser only calling a min bet from a previous player i raise alot and pick up the pot at around 80% of the times...
So standard raise, YES!
Min. Raise, NEVER!

[dsaxton]

I almost always raise 3 times the big blind if I'm going to raise at all before the flop (there are exceptions, for example if 9 players limp in and I'm in the big blind with pocket aces) to avoid having identifiable patterns in my betting.

Concerning minimum preflop raises, what is the raise supposed to achieve? When you raise the minimum before the flop, you aren't really accomplishing anything other than playing an essentially limped pot that is twice as large. Raise more to extract the value of your hand.

[drmcboy]

Generally if I'm opening it's 3x, 1-2 limps 4x, more limps 5x. This gives you a little variety too, which may throw people off if they are just noting your raise amount without looking at the limps.

[JeffreyGB]

Generally if I'm opening it's 3x, 1-2 limps 4x, more limps 5x. This gives you a little variety too, which may throw people off if they are just noting your raise amount without looking at the limps.

This is similar to what I do.

[Bo G]

Generally if I'm opening it's 3x, 1-2 limps 4x, more limps 5x. This gives you a little variety too, which may throw people off if they are just noting your raise amount without looking at the limps.

Ditto.

You want to issolate 1 or max 2 players.

[Zangief]

I find minraising annoying because it serves no truly useful purpose, AFAIK.

If you're minraising with AA because you're afraid of "losing business", you're just asking someone to call with a crappy hand because of the implied odds of hitting 2 pair or more.

If you're minraising with Ax or a small pair (a medium powered hand), you're just asking an aggressive player to reraise with any 2 cards. (You can make this backfire on them if you are smart about it.)

[EasyT]

Relating the number of people in the pot to how much you raise seems like a solid practice. I know I have thought about that before. Like when I go 4x against 6 limpers, I know I probably won't isolate opponents. But I'd resist the urge to bump it up and show unusual strength. I'll try this 'relative raise' in place of my 'standard raise'.

By the way, every once in a while I notice one guy at the table who seems to pre-flop raise about twice what everyone else raises. Like at NL .10/.25, people usually raise $1-1.50. And there's one guy who bets $2.50 every time he raises. He gets less opponents. The raise is 10% of the buy-in. Is this a good idea? This type often has a higher VP% than me too.

I will need to really consider what I'm trying to accomplish in minimum raise situations. Perhaps sometimes I just dont want 6 people to see a free card, even though I don't have much either.

I have also minimum raised when I have a very strong hand. Essentially I want some limpers to put in an extra bet before I re-raise. Heads up: check-raise. In a multi-way, minbet-raise.

There are other times I've minimum raised thoughtlessly. As the new guy, I'll have to work on this.

Thanks.

[dsaxton]

Relating the number of people in the pot to how much you raise seems like a solid practice.

Possibly, but I personally wouldn't feel comfortable acting after 5 limpers and feeling "compelled" to raise big with a hand like A-Q offsuit.

Just stick to the same opening raise, unless the situation is unusual.