Raise Sizing in Tournaments

The latest trend in tournament poker is to minimize the size of preflop raises. You'll see players in televised tournaments raising 2.5x or 3x early in a tournament, and lowering this to between 2x and 2.2x the big blind later in events. What's the deal with these tiny raises?

Essentially, these small raises are made by excellent players who do not fear their opponents in the big blind. Players outside of the blinds aren't going to react to a 2.2x raise much differently than a 3x raise, so the size of the raise doesn't affect their actions too often. But the smaller bet sizing do increase the likelihood of the big blind (and to a lesser extent, the small blind) making a call. A strong player doesn't really mind this, since they'll have position on the blinds after the flop.

But the bigger reason for these small raises later in a tournament is that these players are trying to get the best odds possible for stealing the blinds and antes. By raising a lesser amount, these steals do not have to be successful nearly as often to be profitable. Also, since raises will generally represent a larger percentage of a player's stack as the tournament goes on (in most tournaments, the blinds go up more quickly than the average stack size does), players are less likely to call even these small raises very often -- making them all the more profitable.

Is there any time when making a larger-than-normal raise makes sense? Certainly! If you're up against a tough opponent in the big blind, and you know you're outclassed, don't be afraid to raise to as much as 4-5x the big blind to discourage loose calls. Yes, it's far from the optimal way to play, but it will mean that you probably won't have to try to outplay Phil Ivey next time he's in the big blind against you!