In online poker as it is in live poker. Position will allow for you to expand the number of hands that are going to be fit for open raising. K8 suited isn’t going to make sense to open raise with from under the gun, but it will be the perfect open raise if you are on the button and are looking to steal. The less action that there is. What Does It Mean in Poker? Raising means to increase the size of an existing bet in a betting round. “The HiJack limped, and I raised to $10 on the button.” « View All Poker Terms. In no-limit and pot-limit games, unlimited raising is allowed. In limit poker, for a pot involving three or more players who are not all-in, these limits on raises apply: A game with three or more betting rounds allows a maximum of a bet and three raises. Poker begins preflop, and choosing the right range of hands to open-raise is crucial. This guide explains which hands to open with, for EACH position!

Playing poker live for the first time can be a nerve racking experience, and also a bit intimidating. The last thing you want to do is upset another player by doing things you shouldn’t, right? The purpose of this column is to offer some hints and tips on good poker etiquette and to make the introduction to live poker as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

I’ll assume that you already know the basic rules of poker and are comfortable with the mechanics of the game. But there are many more rules, regulations, and etiquette issues you should know before embarking on your first foray into live poker.

Don’t let anything in this column put you off playing live poker. Everyone was a novice at one stage and poker players are generally a friendly bunch who are welcoming to new players. If you explain you’re new to the game then nobody will expect you to be perfect, but the following points should help you integrate into the game without any unexpected bumps:

#1 – Keeping Up with the Game

Poker players get frustrated when the game is moving slowly. Pay attention to the game so you know when it’s your turn to act. When it’s your turn to post blinds/antes, then do so without having to be continually prompted. Everyone can forget sometimes, so don’t beat yourself up about this too much – but players will appreciate it if you pay attention and keep up with the flow of the game. Also, only act when it’s your turn – don’t check, call, or fold out of turn. This annoys other players.

#2 – “I See You….And”

You’ve probably seen poker in the movies where they all say “I see you…and I’ll raise” – STOP! This is incorrect, and phrases like “I see you” are classed as a call, plain and simple. If you wish to make a raise then just say “raise”. Then make your bet. At some venues you might get away with this kind of sloppy table talk, but it’s a bad habit and one that should be eliminated early on.

#3 – Saying “Raise” When You Mean “Bet”

Another very common verbal error that beginners to poker make is saying “raise”, when they are just making a bet. Don’t say raise when you mean bet. For example, after the flop the first to open the betting should say “bet” rather than “raise”. Even though there is money in the pot, they aren’t raising a new bet – they’re opening the betting. Saying “raise” should only occur when you’re actually increasing the bet and thereby raising someone else’s previous bet. Other players probably won’t say anything because it’s such a common occurrence, but a good one to avoid nonetheless. It won’t get you into trouble but saying raise when it’s just a bet is like holding up a big neon sign saying “I’m a poker novice”.

#4- String Betting

A string bet is when a player entering his chips into the pot as a bet or raise proceeds to move chips in multiple chip movement, such as dropping chips one at a time or going back to their chip stack to pick up more chips. The ruling for string bets varies from region to region, with some places being far stricter than others. Avoiding a habit for string betting is a good idea as it can prove to be a costly mistake. Here’s some advice – when you want to make a bet, put the chips in one smooth movement. Better still; verbally declare your bet amount before even touching your chips.

If you’re wondering why this is even at all important, then let me be clear about why string betting is frowned upon. String betting is not allowed because it opens up the possibility for cheating, by trying to gain a visual tell or response from another player in the pot. Other players will probably pull you up on string betting – so just be extra careful when making bets.

#5 – The One Chip Rule

Here’s another betting situation that beginners to live poker often fail to understand – until it’s too late. If you don’t announce raise or call and throw one chip into the pot then it can be classed as a call. For example if it’s 100 to call and you place one 500 value chip across the line without declaring raise or call it’s usually only classed as a call. This is why it’s good to declare your action verbally before moving your chips. Just like with string betting, verbal declarations help cut out any potential mistakes.

#6 – Verbal Goes

In a few of the points mentioned so far, I’ve recommended making verbal declarations. I even said “verbal declarations help cut out any potential mistakes” – but they can also be costly, if made in error. You’ll often here poker players say “verbal goes”, and what they mean by this is – what you said first and foremost stands. If you say “call” and proceed to muck your cards, then your call stands and you have to put the chips in (you cards will be dead though in this example).

Make sure you’re up with the game (see #1) before making any verbal declarations. For example, if someone had made a raise before you and you thought there hadn’t been a raise, yet you announced call, then your call will stand. Sometimes this ruling is relaxed, especially for beginners, but it could cost you a lot of chips/money. So use verbal utterances with great care and concentrate on what’s occurred before it’s your turn, so you know exactly what you’re calling or raising.

#7 – Cards on the Table

The cards should remain on the table at all times. Sometimes new players like to hold the cards up towards their chest when sneaking a look – and most people won’t be too strict about this. It’s something beginners tend to do. However, your cards should be visible at all times. Do not hold your cards under the table or away from view. It’s quite obvious why this would be unacceptable, but I’ve seen many new players do this.

When your cards are on the table, avoid covering them with your hands. Other players should be able to see who is involved in the hand, and shouldn’t have to ask “do you still have cards?” If you want to protect your hand then just place a chip onto of them or buy a card protector.

#8 – Mucking Your Cards

When the time comes to fold (muck) your cards, then place them into the muck pile. A lot of new players will barely push their mucked cards forward. This can cause confusion, with other players unsure whether they’ve actually been folded. Avoid any potential confusion and properly muck your cards face down along with the other mucked cards.

Be careful and muck your cards properly. Don’t wildly throw your cards into the muck, because if you cards should miss their intended target and end up on an opponent’s hole cards, then their cards could be declared dead. They won’t be best pleased with you either! This is one reason why it’s a good idea to protect your cards (see previous point), should someone do the same to you.

#9 – Talking / Gesturing During a Hand

When a hand is in progress you should refrain from talking about the hand. General table talk is usually acceptable, but if things get serious then pipe down. If by chance you would have made a great hand, then don’t let the whole table know about it either. For example, you fold 7/2 pre-flop and the flop comes 772. Don’t thump the table, yell “Oh my god!” or shake your head profusely. Do this after the hand if needs be, but never during it. It indicates what you had to the other active players involved in the hand and is considered very poor etiquette.

#10 – Slow Rolling

If a hand enters a showdown (where cards are revealed) then you should show your hole cards as soon as possible, if you’ve been called. If your opponent has shown their cards first and you have a better hand, then reveal it immediately. Don’t let your opponent think they might have won the pot, then slowly turn over the nuts (best possible hand). This is known as “slow rolling” and is one of the main ways to upset people at the poker table. You want to win their chips, not upset them!

Playing poker live is great fun. I hope you’ve found this article useful, particularly if you’re interesting in playing live poker for the first time. If you’re playing in a casino or cardroom and are unsure or confused about any aspect of the game (such as the structure, blinds/antes) then just ask the dealer when you’re not involved in a hand, preferably upon sitting down.

By Tim Ryerson

Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990’s. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief’ at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.

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Whenever I reviewed sit n go hand histories or sweated one of my horses, one of the sit n go strategies I always suggested they try was the min-raise.

Many players don’t agree with the min-raise. The reasons usually fall under the scope of you won’t have any fold equity because it’s so cheap for people to call.

I disagree (obviously) with the naysayers. I know from experience that min-raising works. You just have to know when to do it. It probably helps to know why, too.

When to Min-Raise in a Sit n Go Tournament

One of the keys to min-raising successfully is knowing when to do it.

You don’t want to min-raise until you get to the 100/200 level. The rounds before this, everyone will be deep enough to where a min-raise won’t have that much fold equity. Not only that, but you won’t be stealing nearly as often as you will be in the later stages. In other words, you’ll be playing (fewer) stronger hands that you want to get value for so you can build a big stack. So you’ll definitely want to 3-4x your raises earlier on.

Why Min-Raising Works

Min-raising works for numerous reasons:

• Most stacks are going to be shallow enough to where you have fold equity. They can’t afford to call you light preflop because too often they’ll have to fold to a c-bet postflop.
• To random / fishy players, a min-raise looks extremely strong, as if you want action.
• Players who don’t know optimal strategy tighten up drastically during these stages because stack sizes are either short or near 10-15 big blinds, and depending on the game you’re playing, you might be near the bubble.

The bottom line is that most players don’t know how to adjust during the later stages, nor do they know how to react or interpret a min-raise. So you’ll get more folds than you probably think that you will

That said, I do want to point out that, like always, poker is situational. So if you’re min-raising and you’re not getting folds or you cannot c-bet profitably (you c-bet and have to give up and/or are committed), then you need to change up your strategy. Min-raise for value or raise bigger and make it look like you’re committed. Don’t keep doing the same thing if it’s not working.

How Min-Raising is Profitable

Another benefit to min-raising is that it’s very profitable. After all, you’re risking less to win (more). This will affect you both pre and postflop.

Preflop you’ll notice smaller gains, especially before antes. But they’re still there. For example, say the blinds are 100/200 with no antes. That would put 300 chips in the pot. A min-raise would be 400. If you have to fold, you only lose 100 chips. But if you did a standard 3-4x raise, every time you folded you’d lose 200 to 400 chips. That’s a big difference, especially if you look at how it adds up over the course of a session, week, month, year, etc.

With antes, you’re given a lot more slack. For example, during the same level with antes (25), the pot would be 525. So now with a min-raise you’re now risking less to win the money in the pot. However, if you were to 2.5x you’d nearly break even, and a 3x would put you at risking more than what you stand to win.

The moral of the story? One, min-raising allows you to wager less to earn more, increasing your margins regardless if you win or lose. Two, min-raising is more effective when there are antes.

Dealing With Re-Shoves

Another benefit to min-raising preflop is that you put less money in the pot. This is good because at the later stages of the tournament, the pot is bloated with dead money already due to the blinds and antes (when compared to stack sizes). This makes it extremely profitable for players to re-ship on raises. However, the less money you put in the pot, the worse the odds it is for someone to re-shove on you. So, you’ll have to fold (to re-shoves) less often, giving you more opportunities to steal the blinds. Win-win.

Continuation Bets Are Cheaper

Continuation bets will be the same way. The smaller your bets preflop, the smaller the pot is postflop. That means your c-bets will also be less.

For example, say you bet 600 chips preflop at 100/200 without antes. You got one caller and the blinds folded. The pot would be 1500. A c-bet here would have to be around 1,000 chips. So you’re investing 1,600 chips in this hand. That can be a massive blow to your stack and tournament equity if you end up having to fold.

Now consider this. Say you min-raised instead. There would only be 1100 chips in the pot. A continuation bet here would be around 750 chips for a total investment of 1150 – 450 chips less! That’s a huge difference when you consider that 450 chips can be the equivalent to 10-20% or more of your existing stack

Poker When To Raise Blinds

The moral of the story? Min-raising has a positive compounding effect that cannot be ignored.

Use the Min-Raise Wisely

The min-raise works in sit n go’s. I hope you see that by now.

But that’s not the key takeaway, at least not the primary one.

Poker When To Raise Hdl Cholesterol

The takeaway here is that using a strategy that others don’t agree with, use or understand is the out of the box thinking that can separate yourself from your competitors, as well as propel your ROI to heights seen by few players at your games and stakes.

But on top of thinking outside the box you also need to know when to use the strategy, which means knowing what opponents to min-raise against, when and how to adjust the strategy when it stops working. Once you get the hang of all of this, I guarantee that you’ll find min-raising to be a massively profitable betting strategy.