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pot limping/min raises in tournies...
There has been a lot of discussion on limping into pots at the 10/20, 15/30 and 25/50 blinds levels in tournaments, especially bounty hunters. I have sat and watched, time after time, as this practice seems to dominate early play. Someone raises 2xBB and everyone follows, like lambs to the slaughter, even those holding premium hands either flat call the blind or min raise. I do have a theory on this and wonder if anyone else agrees....
We all start with 100 bigs... therefore by raising 5xbb in the early stages its only 5% of your stack, and therefore very little to call any raise at that level, and premiums hands are less likely to win because of the amount of callers and the wider range of hands played. It is also the 'nature or the beast'... a bounty hunter.. heads means cash.. so people are also more willing to risk that 5% of their stack to call with anything connecting, suited or smaller pairs hoping to hit the flop and take down the premium starting hand, as so often happens at these early stages.
So, here is my theory on this 'pot limping/min raise' style of play...those with premium hands are less likely to make a 5xbb raise (even with the nuts) for two reasons, one, he will get more than one caller even if he does raise 5xbb and get out drawn, and two, he wants to protect his stack rather than his hand... sees the flop cheaply and makes his play, he/she plays it safe. Obviously, table position plays a big part as well, but so many premium hands get busted because they are cheap to call a this level. Having said all that, by not raising at least 4xBB with a premium hand you are also inviting trouble, it's a 'devil and deep blue sea' scenario. I tried a little experiment, I re-raised any limp min raises to a 1.5x+ pot sized bet, and in general all folded because I made it too expensive for them to call with their pockets..of course this is a risky play, but at least you will narrow the field very quickly and with a good CBet (and a bit of luck).. take down the pot.. This also serves another purpose, it will show you very quickly the pot limpers and calling stations on your table, and the ones to look out for, what I call the 'trappers'...if you get re-raised,unless you've got decent pockets... fold...
We all start with 100 bigs... therefore by raising 5xbb in the early stages its only 5% of your stack, and therefore very little to call any raise at that level, and premiums hands are less likely to win because of the amount of callers and the wider range of hands played. It is also the 'nature or the beast'... a bounty hunter.. heads means cash.. so people are also more willing to risk that 5% of their stack to call with anything connecting, suited or smaller pairs hoping to hit the flop and take down the premium starting hand, as so often happens at these early stages.
So, here is my theory on this 'pot limping/min raise' style of play...those with premium hands are less likely to make a 5xbb raise (even with the nuts) for two reasons, one, he will get more than one caller even if he does raise 5xbb and get out drawn, and two, he wants to protect his stack rather than his hand... sees the flop cheaply and makes his play, he/she plays it safe. Obviously, table position plays a big part as well, but so many premium hands get busted because they are cheap to call a this level. Having said all that, by not raising at least 4xBB with a premium hand you are also inviting trouble, it's a 'devil and deep blue sea' scenario. I tried a little experiment, I re-raised any limp min raises to a 1.5x+ pot sized bet, and in general all folded because I made it too expensive for them to call with their pockets..of course this is a risky play, but at least you will narrow the field very quickly and with a good CBet (and a bit of luck).. take down the pot.. This also serves another purpose, it will show you very quickly the pot limpers and calling stations on your table, and the ones to look out for, what I call the 'trappers'...if you get re-raised,unless you've got decent pockets... fold...