| Re: Raises - Variable or Same In cash games I always open for the same amount, ($20 in a $3-5 game) and I never vary from it. When I raise it up with limpers ahead of me I generally go with $20+5 for every limper, but adjust that based on who the limpers are, and current reads. To me, this has two affects, 1) it disguises my hand since I will open for $20 with AA or with J7os in late possition. 2) it keeps me from opening with stupid hands like J7os very often, and especially in early possition.
A favorite play is to min raise, or use a very small raise in late possition when there are several limpers ahead of me. This gives them a chance to give away hand strength without costing me much money. It also allows me to build a pot and get post flop action into dollar figures that a lot of the players aren't comfortable with.
If I am raising an opened pot, I generally raise to 3x the open +x for each caller. Again, this is dependent on the players and current reads though.
Tournaments, all bets are off. I play a lot of tourneys with lousy structures that a 2x the BB bet has the same effect as a 4 or 5x BB bet. Not to mention the chip stacks are generally very low relative to the blinds so there isn't much room to play after the flop. All opens become very situational. |