When I started to play no-limit hold’em, the standard raise was usually three times the big blind. Today, though, that’s definitely changed—especially in tournaments, and even more so online.
I was watching a friend of mine playing in a major online tournament. Many players were making minimum raises while others were raising just slightly more than that. Raises of three times the big blind were few and far between. I had to ask myself if this new practice makes sense.
First, consider the goal when we raise. We want to win the pot right then, or build a larger pot, or perhaps disguise our hand. So why have raise sizes shrunk?
For sake of discussion, let’s assume the blinds in a tournament are T1,000-T2,000 with a T250 ante. Back in the day, a normal raise would be to T6,000. I remember experimenting then, seeing if a raise to T5,800 would have the same impact, and it usually did. I usually kept adjusting downwards until I found the level of resistance.
Today, though, online players routinely make very small raises in all situations. Now these good players are not making the mistake of differentiating their raise sizes when they have good hands. However, they do give players with bad hands far better odds to call pre-flop and get lucky.
Consider this hand played by Scott. He raised to T4,000 from early position with Kd-Kh. He was called by a player in middle position and the big blind. Scott began the hand with T72,455 while the middle position player had T65,000 and the big blind had T71,000. The blinds and antes were as noted above.
The flop came 10s-4h-4d, about as innocuous a flop as you could hope for with pocket kings. After the big blind checked, Scott made a continuation bet of T7,300 and he took down the pot.
On the very next hand the very same middle position player raised to T4,099 with the button and the big blind calling, and all of the players in the hand had at least T55,000. The flop was 9c-3c-3h, another innocuous flop. After the big blind checked, the middle position player made a continuation bet of T7,321 with only the big blind calling.
The turn was the 2s, a card that figured to change nothing. Both players checked.
The river was the 6d, yet another card that did not figure to change the hand. The big blind bet T12,000 and the original raiser called. The big blind revealed 8h-3h and took down the pot when the original raiser held Ks-Kh.
What would have happened had the raise been to T6,000 on each hand? On the first hand, Scott would have likely won just the blinds and antes. On the second hand, the middle position player would likely have been called by the button but not by the big blind. It’s likely (but not certain) that the big blind would not have called with his garbage hand.
So does the ability to make smaller raises, conserving precious tournament chips, outweigh the chance of having a good hand beaten by garbage? Good online tournament players don’t mind playing post-flop when deep; they believe they can outplay weak opposition. Aggression is also the name of the game online, so making smaller raises makes sense from that standpoint, too.
In the end, smaller raises will lead to tournament poker becoming an even higher variance game. Everything runs through cycles; I won’t be surprised to see raise sizes increase in the future.
Russell Fox is the co-author of “Mastering No-Limit Hold’em,” “Why You Lose at Poker,” and “Winning Strategies for No-Limit Hold’em.” He’s a federally licensed tax preparer specializing in gambling, with a blog at taxabletalk.com. E-mail Russ at rcfox@claytontax.com
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