Bet Sizing: Preflop Raises

One interesting area that we haven't look at yet this week is preflop raise sizing. At most low stakes (say, $1/$2) no-limit games, the preflop raises are unusually large -- often $12 or more. Even if the players making these very large raisers are good, this oversized preflop raise should be exploitable simply by tightening up and punishing them when you have a monster. Since you're playing mainly with poor-to-mediocre players at these levels, it's simply handing you more money in the long run, as you're likely to outplay your opponents after the flop (not to mention the fact that most of your opponents are likely raising with a range that includes some relatively weak hands).

The ideal preflop raise is probably more like $6 or $7, even after accounting for the rake or drop taken preflop. Some players would suggest going as low as $5; I recommend going about as low as you can without making your raises significantly smaller than the "standard" raise made at the table, since this will be less likely to draw attention. For instance, if most preflop raises are in the $10-$12 range, try raising to $8 -- that should be enough to get the same results, will allow you to keep the stacks fairly large in comparison to the pot, and shouldn't be enough of a deviation from the norm to make other players wonder what you're up to.