I don't play that much cash game N/L and am looking for a basic guideline to reraising. Of course it depends on position, stack size, number of players, your read on the player(s), etc... (please feel free to add)

How much do you usually reraise? I do 3-4 times what their raise was if i am next to act.

If there is a caller inbetween I usually go with 4-5, really not too sure of this though.

Suggestions please.

owise1

3-4 times the initial raise is good...sometimes the size of the pot is good too its game dependent. I generally will raise more if their are other callers since i usually have a hand i want to keep to a minimum amount of players


do you play on bodog by any chance?

I don't play on Bodog. They don't allow Canadians for some reason.

I too raise more if there are more callers. But if I am the first to act after the raiser, do you think 3-4 times the raise is a good amount?

owise1

interesting that you bring this up..though i havent read the book yet (comin this week through amazon) the new sklansky book deals with this very thought of how to bet preflop.

The recommendation used and one i inadvertantly used is to raise 3-4bb as a kind of standard and then add 1bb per person in the hand. Its a nice kind of standard way that isnt to complicated.

Reraising or raising a raise is a different situation and generally will be 3x the initial raise or greater.

My general plan of action is to announce my intention to raise and put in whatever I owe to the pot, then add up the pot and bet a specific percentage of the pot. It is the same decision procedure as making any other bet once you put in what you owe to the pot. I generally play live, but this strategy is adaptable to online play.

OK, so the question is, what percentage? and how do you decide on this percentage?

Clearly 1 or 2 times their raise is not going to chase anyone away ( if that is your goal)

This is a huge "It depends." Raise somewhere between 1/3 and 2.5 times the pot.

Think about the odds against what they would like to draw, estimate the effects of implied odds, consider their perception of your hand, and so forth. Encourage them to make a mistake.

If I'm reraising preflop, I generally raise at least the size of the pot.

The same way I decide what percentage of the pot for any of my raises. I do not have a set guideline. I consider my image, what the person will think my bet means, how many others are currently in the hand, what I want them to do in the hand, if I am a better postflop player than my oppoents, etc. Sometimes I overbet every raise, other times I consistently make small raises, but most often I alter my raises throughout the course of a session depending on what I think the others think my raises mean.

I think how much to reraise someone is one of the more player specific things you'll do.

Your goal is probably not to get everyone to fold. You want worse hands to call you. For instance, if you have AK and you reraise AQ, you don't want them to fold. You want them to put money in the pot as a huge underdog.

If you raise too much, only hands that beat you will call/reraise back. Too little, then you aren't getting as much equity as you could out of your hand now, while you supposedly feel its ahead. Finding this magic number depends a lot on how stubborn the person you're reraising is. Will they call just about any reraise once they've raised the pot? Then reraise 6X their bet. Will they fold AQ to any reraise? Then min reraise them.

Obviously there are lots of facets to reraising. Sometimes you know you don't have the best hand but want to take the lead away, etc. But just keep in mind that your goal isn't for everyone to fold. Its for everyone to put as much money in the pot as possible as an underdog.

Mark