How big to make your raise is a question that tends to get surprisingly little thought. A standard raise is typically regarded as three times the big blind and I think many players religiously follow this pattern simply because everybody else does it. A player dealt AQ in a late seat will think nothing of opening up the pot with the ‘3 times’ raise because he has decent start cards, position, but nothing to get really excited by. The same player may quickly develop the habit of raising 3x with most pocket pairs and other strong aces in a late seat. He knows that if he gets some action he his quite likely to flop nicely or take the pot regardless with one further bet. Equally, he realises that this standard pre-flop ‘3 times’ raise will quite often take the pot uncontested without even seeing a board. This is also ok but can get frustrating when the blinds are pitifully small and the pot is next to worthless. But at least with a hand like AQ he knows he hasn’t wasted something special. But the dilemma soon comes when AA arrives, the table is tight and he figures that a standard raise will most likely reap nothing more than the meaningless blinds again. Now that does feel like a waste so he considers the minimum raise of 2 times the big blind.
The rationale is that by making the raise smaller he is more likely to induce an opponent into seeing the flop. The reality can be very much the opposite. The problem is that after a string of standard raises a suddenly change of tact looks like it’s crying out for a call -which it is. Against a tight player the implication of immense strength will probably ensure a fold even faster than usual. Suffice to say, making a premium hand apparent to all around you is not a tactically astute play. An alert player, even with a good hand of his own will apply a higher level of caution because of the information given out. This makes it very difficult to get a big hand paid off. Worse still, a smart player may still call your pre-flop and know that a great flop for him will take all your chips.
A case in point came two days ago in a tournament I was in when a loose player who had standard raised consistently suddenly took a little longer to consider his options before minimum raising. He had already demonstrated himself to be a novice by the way he conducted himself. The comment after ten minutes that he had only had one really decent hand ‘all game’ is a textbook example of a newcomer who can be surprised and impatient about the fact that good hands don’t come every two minutes. All he was really saying was that he hadn’t begun the tournament with a wondrous card rush. Poor guy. Nice of him to share that with us though. The revelation that the one really good hand had been K-J suited had me champing at the bit. This was a guy who had in fact already won a big pot with 2-2 after hitting a set. The fact that he didn’t identify this as a big hand but did like K-Js showed that he was some combination of forgetful, delusional and/or impatient. The exact measures of this particular cocktail were as yet unknown but I knew I liked it.
Of course when a guy like this does get dealt AA it is a sight to behold. His reaction speed is immediately hampered as the full significance of the moment sinks in. He realised that this was THE big moment and whatever happened he couldn’t waste it by scaring everyone away pre-flop. That would be unforgivable, so after much deliberation he minimum raised. I’m sure everybody already knew what he had from that moment. I knew, the other players knew, I dare say even the cat in the corner of the room knew. Most people folded but I decided to put in the other 50 chips to call on the big blind to see if I could flop something special with 7-9s. The flop came 7-9-Q and I knew that I had him. I bet, he waited…and waited, then raised. I moved all-in. He waited and waited…and waited. By then I was positive that he had AA and I knew there was no way this guy was folding.
He was showboating. He wasn’t taking his time to consider his options or indeed what I might have. In the moronic world of his mind he had the best possible hand and I was too stupid to realise it. I was being ‘slowrolled’ by the guy with the worst hand. Ridiculous. I would have felt sorry for him if slowrolling to wind up your opponents wasn’t just pure gamesmanship. That and the realisation that while ahead I could still lose. My mood shifted quickly from pity to annoyance and apprehension. Sure enough he eventually flicked over his nuggets with the cocky air of somebody who hadn’t even considered my hand. Perhaps instead of two playing cards he assumed I would be holding a rattle and an engraved trophy proclaiming my opponent as ‘simply the best.’ Instead I had the best hand. That was until he spiked a queen on the river to claim what I’m sure he regarded as justice. He might as well have played with his cards face up and he still knocked me out! Never mind, I’m not that bitter. I did all I could by getting the chips in when I was a 75% favourite. Sometimes that just isn’t enough.
Most of the time it’s a good idea to avoid your opponents when their hands are strong for pretty obvious reasons. But when you have a great read and know what they have then it becomes possible to turn this strength against them. The best possible two card combination is often just a solitary pair after the flop and imminently beatable. The great news is that a novice, particularly a deluded one, will often still think he holds the nuts. This is where poker gets interesting.