(Almost) Always Raise Preflop

Students often ask me what I look for in a good middle-limit game. One of my first answers is a lot of preflop limping.



Many players tend to divide starting hands into three categories: raising hands, calling hands, and folding hands. If it is their turn to act, and no one has entered the pot (except the blinds), they tend to raise with the raising hands, call with the calling hands, and fold with the folding hands. That sounds reasonable, but I respectfully disagree. In my opinion, with specific exceptions that I will enumerate, you should always raise or fold when you are first in preflop.



I will discuss the following reasons why open-raising is a good play:



• Hold'em begins with a battle for the blinds.

• It is a classical raise-or-fold situation.

• Open-limping makes you predictable.

• Limping is guessing.

• Open-raising forces tighter play.

• Limpers can be victimized.

• Raising helps create dead money.



Hold'em begins with a battle for the blinds: In limit hold'em, the blinds are essentially making an error. They are putting money in the pot before they look at their hands. And, they are out of position. Of course, it is also required by the rules, but that does not make it a good theoretical play. By raising when first in, you are trying to win the blinds. If everyone folds, you win. By limping, you are trying to play with the blinds. You are giving what is essentially a free card to an arguably inferior hand. That's a bad idea.



It is a classical raise-or-fold situation: If you accept my definition of a raise-or-fold situation from my Jan. 28, 2005, Card Player column (available at CardPlayer.com), you will recognize that this is one of them. You are faced with a bet and no intervening callers, you believe you have or are representing the best hand, and there are players yet to act behind you. Even more compelling, the bet you're facing was made by a player with no choice, who might fold when your raise comes to him.



Open-limping makes you predictable: If you open-raise with premium hands and open-limp with decent ones, you are notifying your opponents of the quality of your hand. Most aware opponents will realize that you don't have a hand like Q-Q when you limp in, and that you don't have a hand like J-10 suited or 8-8 when you open-raise, at least from early position.



Limping is guessing: What about when you have 8-8 in early position and you are in a passive game? Shouldn't you limp then?



Well, yes, if everyone promises to stay passive on this hand. But if you limp and the next guy raises, and almost everyone folds, it wasn't passive this time. By limping, you are gambling that the game will stay passive and that no one behind you will pick up a raising hand and ruin your plan. Poker is a game of situations, and when you are in early position, you do not know what the situation will be. So, if your hand is not good enough to raise from the position you are in, should you gamble or fold? I pick fold.



Open-raising forces tighter play: Forcing students to open-raise or fold keeps them from playing difficult hands from early and middle positions. If you have J-10 and are second under the gun, the temptation to limp may be high. But, if you are required to raise if you play it, folding becomes easy (or should, anyway). It is difficult to play a hand like J-10 from out of position unless you get a great flop, so folding is a much better option.



Limpers can be victimized: Assume that you limp in from middle position with a hand like J-10, and everyone folds to the cutoff, who raises, and everyone folds. Now, you miss the flop. You have to check and fold. But what if you hit some of the flop? Can you be happy if the flop is K-10-6? A-J-5? How about J-4-4? Or even Q-8-2, where you have a gutshot draw and should play if he has 5-5 or A-K, but fold if he has A-Q, K-K, or J-J? Again, you will be out of position and making very difficult decisions. Playing a mediocre hand from out of position against an aggressive player representing a better hand is a tough chore.



Raising helps create dead money: Dead money (money that has been put into the pot by a player who is no longer in the hand) is wonderful. Let's say you raise, I reraise, and the blinds fold. That's one and a half small bets that we get to share in proportion to how often we win the pot. If we each win 50 percent of the time, we both are winners. OK, it's not much, but limit poker is a game of recurring edges, and small amounts won frequently are very good.



There are exceptions to the concept of always open-raising, which is why this column has "almost" in the title. Let's take a look at them:



• The game is consistently passive.

• You have developed an elaborate system of limp-reraises.

• You have a reliable maniac on your left.



The game is consistently passive: There are some games in which pretty much everyone sees the flop regardless of the number of raises. If you are in such a game, in which open-raising will not reduce the field and open-limping from early position virtually guarantees six or more opponents, open-limping early with some volume hands like 5-5, K-Q suited, or A-8 suited can be a reasonable play.



You have developed an elaborate system of limp-reraises. To avoid most of the drawbacks of open-limping with weaker hands while retaining the ability to do so, some players have developed mixed strategy systems. These systems use a philosophy of open-limping with strong hands a certain percentage of the time, as well as open-limping with more traditional hands. System users plan to reraise when they hold strong hands if, in fact, they are raised preflop.



These systems have the benefits of confusing opponents and perhaps reducing the frequency with which observant opponents will try an exploitation or isolation raise after proponents limp. Such a mixed strategy can have some advantages over the open-raising philosophy I am recommending. However, mixed strategies also have some drawbacks, which include the following:



• These systems are hard to develop and implement, as they need to vary the strong-hand raising and limping ratios depending on the style of the game in which they are used.

• By limping with raising hands, proponents may play against more opponents than they would like.

• Weaker limps remain exploitable.

• In short sessions against diverse opponents, the value of training opponents to respect limps and fear raising them is minimized.



You have a reliable maniac on your left: Occasionally, you will find yourself in a game with a reliable maniac (a player who nearly always raises preflop when it is his turn to act). In this case, depending on how the field is responding to the maniac, you may want to limp with some of your strongest hands so that you can reraise when the automatic raise comes from your left.



Conclusion: When it is your turn to act preflop and no one has entered the pot but the blinds, strongly consider a raise-or-fold philosophy. It is easy to implement and hard to exploit, puts pressure on the blinds and remaining players, and keeps you in control as the aggressor. I think you will find hands easier to play post-flop, and will show more consistent profits.

Barry offers poker lessons tailored to the specific strengths and weaknesses of the individual student. Please visit his web site at www.barrytanenbaum.com or e-mail him at [email protected].