Raising the Minimum Amount

In previous columns, I have written about reopening the betting in no-limit hold’em, and what constitutes a raise. A question that I did not answer in those columns was, “What is the minimum amount that a player can raise?”

I recently had a lengthy discussion with an avid reader about this question. Duane Rhodes, a dealer/floorperson at WinStar World Casino, offered to put together a summary of our conversation, and I agreed to use it in this column.

“Can I raise?” “What is the minimum raise?” These questions have been the topic of many debates and warrant further rules clarification. Today, the widely accepted standard on the topic is the following rule written by Bob Ciaffone in his popular rulebook, Robert’s Rules of Poker:

Multiple all-in wagers, each of an amount too small to qualify as a raise, still act as a raise and reopen the betting if the resulting wager size to a player qualifies as a raise. Example: Player A bets $100 and Player B raises $100 more, making the total bet $200. If Player C goes all in for less than $300 total (not a full $100 raise) and Player A calls, Player B has no option to raise again, because he wasn’t fully raised. (Player A could have raised, because Player B raised.)

While I believe this rule should be used to determine whether or not the betting is reopened for a player to raise, it should not be used to determine the minimum raise amount. A look at a few examples will show why the two determinations should be independent. Here is the first situation:

Player A: Bets $100
Player B: Bets $200 ($100 raise)
Player C: Bets $275 (all in)
Player D: Bets $350 (all in)
Player A: Calls $350
Player B: Wants to raise the minimum …

The last legal raise in this scenario is $100. Player D’s all-in bet has made it more than $100 back to Player B, so the betting is reopened. The options for Player B are now to fold, call $350, or raise to $450 ($100 raise) or more. The common misconception here is that Player B must now raise to at least $500 ($150 raise). This amount is obtained by disregarding the bet made by Player C. While I will agree that we are basically disregarding Player C’s bet to determine whether or not the betting is reopened, no bet can ever be disregarded for the purposes of figuring the minimum raise amount. A look at a second situation will show why:

Player A: Bets $100
Player B: Bets $200 ($100 raise)
Player C: Bets $299 (all in)
Player D: Bets $398 (all in)
Player A: Calls $398
Player B: Wants to raise the minimum …

Once again, neither C nor D has made a full raise. If you use the reasoning that the $299 bet never occurred and the $398 acts as a raise for the purposes of determining the minimum raise amount, the new minimum raise amount is $198 (even though no player has put in a legal raise except for the $100 raise by Player B). However, if Player D had bet $399 (a legal $100 raise) instead of $398, the minimum raise amount would still be $100. This is why it isn’t fair to discount the bet made by Player C when figuring the minimum raise amount.

While multiple all-in bets (none of which qualify as a legal raise) can reopen the betting for a player, they cannot change the amount of the minimum raise. The only bet that can change the amount of the minimum raise is a legal raise. If it is not approached this way, the minimum raise in our first situation would be $150. It also would be $150 if Player D had made a bet of $425 (a legal $150 raise). This would not be a fair solution.

I believe the rule should be amended in part to read something like this:

The betting is reopened if the bet back to a player is at least the size of the last legal raise (or last legal bet if there hasn’t been a legal raise), regardless of whether it got there by a legal raise or by a series of all-in bets (none of which qualify as a raise). The minimum raise amount is the amount of the last legal raise (or the amount of the last legal bet if there hasn’t been a legal raise). The minimum raise amount will not be changed by an all-in bet that doesn’t qualify as a raise or by a series of all-in bets (none of which qualify as a raise).

Here is one final situation. In this situation, there is not a legal raise by any player:

Player A: Bets $100
Player B: Bets $150 (all in)
Player C: Bets $210 (all in)
Player D: Calls $210
Player A: Wants to raise the minimum …

In this scenario, the bet by Player C (and subsequent call by Player D) reopened the betting for Player A. Once again, no player has made a legal raise, so the amount of the minimum raise is the amount of the last legal bet, which is $100. Player A can now fold, call $210, or raise to $310 or more. It is an ironic twist that the amount bet by Player A is now the minimum raise amount for Player A. Without seeing the entire scenario, one would think he is raising himself.

Mike O’Malley is a consultant for www.PartyGaming.com, and can be reached at [email protected]. His website is updated regularly at www.rzitup.com.