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May 15, 2006
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Poker Lesson: Beware the Min Raise
Author: Phil Gordon
Say you're playing in a low-stakes ring game. The
blinds are $.50 and $1, and it's folded to you in middle position.
You find a nice hand - pocket Tens - and bring it in for a standard
raise of three times the big blind. It's folded around to a player
in late position, who re-raises the minimum amount, making it
$5 to go.
I've seen this sort of play repeatedly in the past
few months while researching my next No-Limit Hold 'em book by
playing in low-stakes games. Every time I've been faced with a
minimum re-raise, I've been up against a monster - pocket Kings
or Aces.
A player who opts for the small raise may think
he's being crafty by getting me to put a little extra money in
the pot while he holds a big hand. But this is not a profitable
play. There are two major problems with the minimum raise.
I've already mentioned the first problem: My opponent
has telegraphed his hand. And making good decisions is pretty
easy when you know exactly what your opponent holds. The second
problem is mathematical. My opponent is giving me 5 to 1 to call
the additional raise. (In this example, my extra $2 will give
me a chance win $10.) When I make the call, I know that I stand
to win a very big pot. My implied odds - the money I stand to
make if I hit my hand - more than justify the call. If my opponent
started the hand with a $100 stack, I could get paid at a rate
of 50 to 1.
So I call and see a flop. If there's no Ten on the
board, I'm done with the hand. And if there is a Ten, I'm going
to wipe my opponent out. As I said, poker is a pretty easy when
you know what your opponent holds.
What's the proper play when you hold Aces and a
player has raised in front of you? Find the "Bet Pot"
button and click it. Put pressure on a player who you know is
starting with a second-best hand. Who knows, if he's got pocket
Queens or A-K, he may be willing to put his entire stack in pre-flop.
If he holds something like Jacks or Tens, your big raise will
minimize your opponent's implied odds.
You should be wary of minimum raises at other stages
of a hand, as well. Say you raised pre-flop with A-K and one player
called. You hit top pair top kicker on a K-8-4 board. You bet
out the size of the pot and your opponent min-raises you. At this
point, you need to be very concerned that your opponent has hit
a set. You have to wonder why he'd be raising an amount that almost
begs for your call.
My advice here is twofold: first is that you should
all but eliminate the minimum raise from your game. In some rare
circumstances when you hit a full house or quads, it might be
appropriate, but that's about it. Second is that alarm bells should
go off whenever you see a min raise. Your opponent probably has
a big hand and you need to proceed accordingly.
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