Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
I usually play a bit on the conservative side and rarely raise when I have a good hand pre-flop. I usually just call and then end up losing a lot of times to some hand that's not that great, but they end up hitting a pair of 10's, Q's or something and my A,K is out.
I guess is it best to raise taking a chance that the opponent may fold instead of call since they have a relatively weak hand anyway. Where as if I just call they have the chance to hit with a not so good hand.
I've just never been one to raise and think I'm missing out on a lot of opportunities to win more hands because sometimes a poor hand beats me because I gave them the chance from the get go by not raising.
Need some input about raising pre-flop or even after flop when I have a good hand.
Always raise when entering the pot. When acting first. If you don't want to raise don't enter the pot. Other thing is calling when someone else raised. You do that in late position with mediocre hands. If you hold strong hand you need to reraise and see where you stand and make next decision. Will he call will he reraise will he shove etc..
If they called before you, you raise more than usual. And so on...
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 6786
If you rarely raise with a good hand preflop, then yes, you should raise more. Much more. Poker is a betting game, and it looks like you are playing way to passive.
Joined: Nov '12
Location: Canada
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 4675
Hi the answer to your question is " Yes" you should be raising more. Think about it this way, Poker is a betting game and all successful pro's seem to agree that aggression is needed to win. If your hand is not good enough to raise with pre flop then it is not good enough to be playing at all. I generally raise 3 time the big blind with any hand i am playing pre flop and then often raise 30% of the pot after the flop with a continuation bet. This method builds my winning pot sizes and always keeps my opponents guessing. If I completely miss the flop I also will cut my loses but if I have a strong over pair I sometimes bet 50% of the pot in an attempt to take down the pot right then. hope this helps
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 5712
GREEN...the answer is a BIG FAT VERY MUCH SO YES! The idea is get in before the flop to win with your pocket cards. On the basis similar to why you only call, anyone else who comes in after your raise has to have a tgood hand and if not, and they call you, then you have a better chance than they do of winning a nice big pot. Dont be put off by it not always working though.
Joined: May '12
Location: Slovenia
Age: 33 (M)
Posts: 35
As many stated, the answer is yes. The strategy I use, and it seems to be working fine right now, is that I only play hands that I feel comfortable rasing. And I generally never just check or call. I raise. (I check/call in freerolls but that's a bit different )
Think of it this way. I get two limpers PF (3 BBs) and I raise 3BBs and get called by one of the limpers, that's 8 BBs in the pot. Post flop, I raise 3-4 BBs again, and they usually fold. Well, math says they fold 3/4 times, which means I'm making a profit
Besides, I might get nasty hands as 2-3s off before the flop.
Lots of good advice here...lets look at the PFR and what it's supposed to accomplish. It shows all at the table you have a strong starting hand and if reraised you could shove. Another thing it's supposed to accomplished is to isolated a player and make the pot odds wrong for limpers to stay in with a lesser holding. There is a standard range of hands one should be PFRing in position. Some hands can be raised OOP and this is where the importance the PFR comes into play. The objective is to clear the way to the button and blinds and have a lesser hand call you. Generally. premium starting hands do not do well in multi way pots...you want to be up against one or maybe two players. Pick a range of hands to start PFRing in and oop and in time it will become a natural integral part of your game. Was taught this way, raise the size of the pot and add 1 bet each for every limper in the pot. If one of the limpers call, or you get a reraise,then there is a chance they do indeed have a hand and you'll decide if you should continue. Now, if the size of your bet is equal to or greater than the half the size of your stack , it's an open shove. Hope this helps.
Joined: May '12
Location: Slovenia
Age: 33 (M)
Posts: 35
Posted by rbdflyboy: Lots of good advice here...lets look at the PFR and what it's supposed to accomplish. It shows all at the table you have a strong starting hand and if reraised you could shove. Another thing it's supposed to accomplished is to isolated a player and make the pot odds wrong for limpers to stay in with a lesser holding. There is a standard range of hands one should be PFRing in position. Some hands can be raised OOP and this is where the importance the PFR comes into play. The objective is to clear the way to the button and blinds and have a lesser hand call you. Generally. premium starting hands do not do well in multi way pots...you want to be up against one or maybe two players. Pick a range of hands to start PFRing in and oop and in time it will become a natural integral part of your game. Was taught this way, raise the size of the pot and add 1 bet each for every limper in the pot. If one of the limpers call, or you get a reraise,then there is a chance they do indeed have a hand and you'll decide if you should continue. Now, if the size of your bet is equal to or greater than the half the size of your stack , it's an open shove. Hope this helps.
You raise potsize? Interesting. I usually only go for 1BB per limper with premiums. After flop it's just a semi random decision whether to go 50%/70%/100% pot size, unless as you stated, it takes half of my stack. And I generally open shove it with 12BB's or less in my stack, no matter the stage I'm in
Second - double or even triple barrelling is common in poker online, so if you have pretty good cards, you may even fold it, when someone raise... You must be first, who raise
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
i dont know- lots of people advise to raise, poker books too, but ultimately it's up to you to choose the strategy that works best. if you are a winning player (long term) then it doesn't matter what strategy you use. sure when you leak money, you should try and change something to fix those holes. gl green
Joined: Aug '12
Location: Slovakia
Age: 36 (M)
Posts: 688
sometimes its better to play tight, sometimes to be aggresive. Of course you can change your strategy during game depends on situation at table and your position...
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
Yes. But the best way for you to see if you should do it or not is to change your strategy for a while and then evaluate the results. You can’t fix your idea that raising pre-flop with AK is bad just because you will be losing the first time you do that, it has to be evaluated in a long term situation. Think about this: if you bet or raise with good hands, the most normal is to have only reasonable to good hands calling and going against you, this way you will already be eliminating some of the competition of that hand. Of course there are crazy guys who do crazy bets and calls, but that’s the exception of the rule. Instead of waiting for the table to bring something more to you, play more with your own hand: with AK and flop 934 (after making a bet pre-flop like I said before), bet again, test your opponents reaction, study them, that’s also important. Think about your position at the table, go read something about that and use it on the tables. Good luck!!!
Posted by rbdflyboy: Lots of good advice here...lets look at the PFR and what it's supposed to accomplish. It shows all at the table you have a strong starting hand and if reraised you could shove. Another thing it's supposed to accomplished is to isolated a player and make the pot odds wrong for limpers to stay in with a lesser holding. There is a standard range of hands one should be PFRing in position. Some hands can be raised OOP and this is where the importance the PFR comes into play. The objective is to clear the way to the button and blinds and have a lesser hand call you. Generally. premium starting hands do not do well in multi way pots...you want to be up against one or maybe two players. Pick a range of hands to start PFRing in and oop and in time it will become a natural integral part of your game. Was taught this way, raise the size of the pot and add 1 bet each for every limper in the pot. If one of the limpers call, or you get a reraise,then there is a chance they do indeed have a hand and you'll decide if you should continue. Now, if the size of your bet is equal to or greater than the half the size of your stack , it's an open shove. Hope this helps.
You raise potsize? Interesting. I usually only go for 1BB per limper with premiums. After flop it's just a semi random decision whether to go 50%/70%/100% pot size, unless as you stated, it takes half of my stack. And I generally open shove it with 12BB's or less in my stack, no matter the stage I'm in
Yes with AA-KK in any position and usually get a caller as well. Works best when one is in late position and there are about 3-4 limpers...the theory is to charge a heavy premium to continue and if no one does the dead money is yours. Also if someone 3bets me, it's an auto shove. Won a hand holding KK playing exactly this way this morning. Opponent was holding JJ. The other thing is to extract max value from those hands to compensate for when they don't work. Last week was UTG+2 holding AA...raised 6x BB and got a caller. Flop came KKJ...I checked...op shoved...I folded. Couldn't see my way to the river with a one outer. Lost the minimum on that one.
Edited by rbdflyboy (12 November 2012 @ 14:15 GMT)
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 1646
the only thing i do when being the first into a pot is raise. if there is a limper i will raise to isolate when i'm in position. the only time i enter a pot without a raise is when i'm otb with suited cons or a small to medium pp and there is at least one limper already in the pot.
in other words:- raise your good hands and fold your bad. pretty easy game to play isn't it? if you don't feel comfortable raising, you shouldn't be in the pot!
Joined: Feb '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 62 (M)
Posts: 169
AS most have said raising is key but read up more on positional play and bet-sizing correctly very imp this is where many fail to learn and lose more ..adapt it all u become a better player and reader of hand strength dynamics...
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
Well I must say it took me quite sometime to read all the replies and they are all deeply appreciated. I actually thought I was just being a conservative player by not raising and then started paying a bit more attention. I started raising and began to see players fold instead of beat me out of hands. As ststed, everything I've pretty much learned about poker has been here in the forum and by playing. I know what it is to trap a player, but I don't feel that's what I was trying to do although it appears to be that way according to the replies. I actually always thought why give away more then I have to so just call and if I hit then great, if I didn't then I don't lose as much, but in the long run raising at the right time pays off in the long run.
Anyway thanks for all the advice and it will be taken to heart!
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