Preflop Raises in Limit Hold’em: Part III

In the last issue, we began examining the following list of reasons for raising before the flop:

1. To build a pot
2. To win the blinds
3. To gain position
4. To gain control of the post-flop betting
5. To isolate an opponent
6. To create a false impression

Here, I will continue the discussion of reason No. 1, then I’ll move on to reason No. 2.

To build a pot (continued)

In the blinds: There is good news and bad news about making preflop pot-building raises from the blinds.

• Everyone who’s already committed to the pot is highly likely to call the raise, so your play will not have the effect of eliminating players.

• You will be out of position for the rest of the hand, which will make subsequent rounds harder to play effectively.

• Someone who limped in from early position may have slow-played a huge hand and three-bet, eliminating some of the field and defeating your purpose.

In a large field, you still should raise with A-A and K-K, but no longer with Q-Q or J-J. These latter two hands have the quality of being either excellent if no overcards hit or pretty much useless if they come. If overcards come, you can quietly fold your hand for a minimal loss. If, instead, your pair is higher than the flop, you can often try to check-raise to force out overcards that might want to hang around for a single small bet. Plus, you will often get excellent action, as your premium hand is well-hidden.

You also can raise with A-K suited and A-Q suited, although you will often find yourself checking and folding after the flop. The equity in flopping a nut-flush draw in a large field, coupled with your marginal but useful high-card value, makes this raise reasonable. If you have fewer opponents, the high-card value of these hands goes up, so you can raise with them from the blinds almost all the time.

Note that the reasons discussed for not raising with big offsuit aces in the last issue continue to be true. You can find that column and all of my previous columns at www.CardPlayer.com.

Against five or more opponents, you also can raise with small and medium pairs. Again, you will often check and fold when your set does not hit, but when it does, the size of the pot will ensure that you will get lots of action from players who are often drawing nearly dead.

To win the blinds

At some theoretical level, the blinds are there to be won, and any preflop raise is an attempt to win them. Realistically, however, raises intended specifically to win the blinds come from the last two positions in a full ring game, and sometimes from the last three.

These “steal” raises from late position are often made with considerably worse hands than those from earlier position. The general idea is that your above-average hands figure to be better than the ones that the blinds have, and you will have position for the rest of the hand, putting the poor blinds in an even worse situation.

Some players overdo this, of course, and raise with junk hands, as well, hoping for the best. Like everything in poker, it occasionally works, but it is never a good idea to go into battle with inferior firepower, even if you have the high ground.

Here are things to take into account when contemplating a blinds steal:

• The ability of your opponents in the blinds. You can expand your range if your opponents are weak. Similarly, you must tighten up if your opponents play well after the flop, especially if they are aggressive and tricky.

• The tendency of the players behind you (if any) to reraise. Opponents in position know that you might be raising light, and the stronger ones will take you to task for it when they can. Tighten up your standards if the player(s) behind you will three-bet freely.

• How likely the blinds are to defend. You may find this a bit counterintuitive, but remember that your primary objective is to win the blinds. If they play all or most of their hands, you can’t do it. True, they will be at a huge disadvantage when you have a very good hand, but they will not be far behind, and will often be ahead, if you elect to raise with hands like 10-8 or 6-5 suited. So, don’t do it. Take advantage of their errors when you do have your better hands, but do not bother with speculative holdings. Conversely, if they rarely defend, you can widen your range to include almost anything. Just remember that when you do get called, they have a real hand and you need to surrender rather easily.

• Your hand. Clearly, you will always raise with premium holdings. Never try a fancy slow-play with aces or kings. Just raise. From the last two positions, any pair and any two Broadway cards are worth a raise. Also raise with aces down to A-9, and any suited ace. Worse offsuit aces are marginal, at best, as they tend to present significant playing problems for most players. You can add them in recommended expanded-range situations, as well as 10-9. If you start playing hands worse than these (and a lot of aggressive people get a kick out of doing so), you can have very difficult decisions later in the hand if the blinds elect to play. Very few players can actually play weak hands well enough to bother. Just fold your J-6 suited, 6-3, and so on. You will not miss much, and the fact that you do fold will lend credence to when you raise with some of your weaker holdings.

Next issue, we will continue looking at preflop raises, starting with reason No. 3: to gain position.

Barry Tanenbaum is the author of Advanced Limit Hold’em Strategy, and collaborator on Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies. Barry offers private lessons tailored to the individual student. Please see his website, www.barrytanenbaum.com, or write to him at [email protected].