Pre Flop Raise Sizing in Cash Games

Proper raise sizing, especially when playing poker pre flop, will help any poker player realize the greatest profits possible. Most skills in poker need to be adjusted according to certain circumstances in any given hand, and raising sizing is no different. There are, however, rules that can be adhered to as a general rule of thumb. The guidelines make raising sizing that much easier. When you face an opponent who is very loose you will be able to make raises that are a bit larger than normal, but you don’t want to make smaller raises against a tight player.

There are certain situations where raise sizes need to be adjusted, but there are also times where the general guidelines will be the best idea. Min raising is something that can be completely eliminated from your skill set. There are few weaker plays in all of poker than min raising. Think about what a min raise really accomplishes.

When you min raise the other players will either call you and see a cheap flop, you will be raised, or you will take down the occasional pot. While it is good when you can take down an uncontested pot, this isn’t going to happen nearly enough to make a min raise profitable. The only justification that players ever have for making a min raise is that they were afraid to scare everyone away. The problem with this logic is that you will rarely win a huge pot if you don’t start building a huge pot early on.

Proper Raise Sizing – Poker Strategy

Proper raise sizing, for the purpose of this article, applies to strong hands. The size of steals will vary from the size of a raise with a decent hand. There are a handful of variables that always need to be considered when making a pre flop raise.

The first thing to consider is your position. An early position raise is almost always going to be read as strength, whether you are truly strong or not. If you have a very mediocre hand you should think twice before making a raise. If you do have a strong hand the proper open raise size would be 4x bb. 4x bb means a raise to four times the big blind. This is the standard size that should be used for a typical open raise. An open raise is when there is no one already voluntarily in the pot. If there are players in the pot you will need to adjust your raise size.

The rule for raising when other players are in the pot is easy to follow, simply add 1 bb per limper. For example, if you were looking to make a raise and two players already limped into the pot you would raise to 6x bb. This is a very simple rule to follow that will help you to make the most from your strong starting hands.

If you are facing a loose player you will be able to bump your open raise to 5 or 6 bbs, but you will not want to drop below 4 bbs if you are facing a tight player. If you make a really small open raise it will allow players to see a flop at a discounted rate, which will in effect cut your profits. Read over these guidelines and use this article as a reference if you ever forget how much to raise pre flop.

SUMMARY: How Much to Raise

Pre flop play is the foundation for anything that happens later on in a hand, so you will want to make sure you start to play aggressively from the beginning. Certain players will call for small adjustments to your default play, but pre flop raise sizing is an easy skill to master.