Heads Up With Greg Mueller

Greg Mueller started playing poker while making a living as a professional hockey player, and began to take the game seriously after he retired from hockey in 1999. Since then, he’s had considerable tournament success, both online and live, with winnings of nearly $1.8 million. He has one World Poker Tour final table under his belt, and after disappointing runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker preliminary events, he snagged two gold bracelets this summer. Mueller recently sat down with Card Player TV to discuss preflop raise sizes.

Kristy Arnett: When you are playing in a tournament and decide to raise, what raise size are you going to make if there are no limpers ahead of you?

Greg Mueller: Typically, I like to play small-pot poker and make small raises. If a lot of people are calling behind, I might increase my raise size a little if I’m trying to thin the field a bit. It just depends on what I’m trying to accomplish.

KA: A couple of years ago, everyone was making it three to four times the big blind. Why do you think it has changed?

GM: I think the game is changing a bit. People want to put more skill and less luck into the game, so the smaller the pot is, the more zigging and zagging you can do, and the more folding you can do. If two players are basically committed preflop, it’s just an all-in bet and a call on the flop. I think people want to play more poker, so the less that goes in preflop and on the flop, the more it gives people a chance to three- and four-bet as the hand is played out.

KA: How do you adjust to the number of limpers who are in the pot before you?

GM: As I said, it all depends on how the flow is going, how many chips you have, whether you want to build a pot or take it down right there, and whether you want people to think you are weak or strong. It really depends on a number of variables. For example, if there are four limpers and you just want to take it down with A-K, you might want to make a bigger raise. If you are willing to play a flop with J-10 suited, you can build a pot by making a smaller raise. You can’t always say the exact number that you are going to make it.

KA: Later in a tournament, when there is a smaller stack-to-pot ratio, is it ever correct to minimum-raise?

GM: Sure. It always depends on the scenario — for me, anyway. I don’t have this X, and M’s, and bb’s, and all this stuff these guys talk about. I don’t know what it means, to be honest with you. I just look at the scenario: Whose big blind is it? Does this guy fold? If you are playing against a really tight blind who is capable of folding and you are short-stacked and don’t want to risk all of your chips, you can make a small raise to get the info, so maybe a min-raise to win all that money in the middle is correct. If you are playing against a maniac who is going to put you to the test, you might want to let him know that you are committed, and make a bigger raise.

KA: That’s a good point about considering the type of player you’re competing with. So, let’s say there is someone in the big blind who likes to see flops. If you have a very good hand, you want to make a bigger raise, because you know that he’ll call, right?

GM: Yeah, exactly. If I know he’s going to call with pretty much anything, I’m going to make it a bigger than normal raise and build a pot; then, maybe he flops top pair and is going to come along for the ride, and now I’m going to win a bigger pot. It depends on who is in the blind and how the table flow is going.