Min-Raises are for Suckers

One of my favorite things about online poker is the “raise” button. It is so convenient, right there, big and bold, ready to be clicked. Despite my love for it, however, I almost never use it in No Limit Hold’em games. I leave that up to my opponents, who, by using the “raise” button, are telling me, “Hi, I don’t think about what I am doing and might as well show you my cards.” Allow me to explain.

When a player hits that button, they are min-raising, one of the worst moves possible in No Limit Hold’em. In most situations, it accomplishes nothing positive, while the person who executes the min-raise feels he is being clever. 

Take, for example, a weak player on the button in a $.50/$1 full-ring, No Limit Hold’em game. Two players limp in before him for $1 each, and he hits the “raise” button, min-raising to $2. The two limpers are almost guaranteed to call, as they already had hands that were good enough to play and they only need to call one more bet. The blinds, especially the big blind, are solid candidates to call, as well, not only because they already have money in the pot, but also because they know the limpers will call, giving them tremendous pot odds. Think about it. Even if the small blind folds, the big blind will almost assuredly be getting 7.5-to-1 odds on the extra bet (assuming the limpers call, there will be $7.50 in the pot before the big blind calls the $1 raise).  This makes it worth playing essentially any two cards pre-flop. Considering the potential implied odds if the big blind hits his hand, it makes the call automatic.

Even if both blinds and the first limper fold, the second limper (the only one left in the hand besides the raiser) will still be getting 5.5-to-1 odds to call. A nice bet, if I’ve ever seen one.

The usual purposes of a raise are to build the pot, trim the field, or force everyone to fold. Well, this pre-flop min-raise does sort of build the pot, but as already discussed, it gives the other players unnecessarily sweet odds with which to call. And besides, if nobody hits their hand on the flop, the raiser isn’t going to get any more money from the hand, anyway. A larger raise with only one caller would have resulted in a similar pre-flop pot. As for trimming the field or forcing everyone to fold, a min-raise obviously doesn’t work. Might as well be playing fixed limit poker.      

In addition to the pointlessness of a min-raise, it is also an extraordinarily transparent move, allowing you to narrow down the holdings of a player with amazing accuracy. Keep in mind that the players who min-raise are typically unsophisticated, low-stakes players (I’m not saying that all low-stakes players are unsophisticated, since I am a low-stakes player myself, it’s just that those who min-raise are usually unsophisticated… anyway, you get the point). These types of players are usually not bold enough to raise with a marginal hold, such as connectors, suited aces, or low to mid pocket pairs. At the same time, they will frequently want to bet everyone out of the pot with strong, yet vulnerable hands, like A-J, A-Q, or T-T. They just are not good enough to outplay people post-flop with those holdings.  On the other hand, with premium hands like A-A, K-K, Q-Q, and maybe A-K, they will either a) want to try to be tricky and disguise the strength of their hand, or b) raise to show strength, yet not raise so much that they scare people away. Little do they realize, however, that they are doing themselves a great disservice by playing the hand this way. They have not only given players great odds to call the raise, even call it cold, but they have also broadcast their hand to the entire poker room. 

These same basic principles apply post-flop, as well, although post-flop, it will be less likely to see multiple callers than it would be pre-flop.

One notable exception to the “do not min-raise” rule is in situations where the one or more chip stacks are very small in relation to the blinds. This scenario frequently presents itself in the later stages of tournaments, when the blinds have escalated. In these cases, a min-raise could represent a significant enough portion of an opponent’s stack that they would have to go all-in or fold if they were going to play the hand after the raise, regardless of how much you bet. 

For example, in the heads-up portion of a sit-and-go, you could very likely be in a situation where you have 10,000 chips and your opponent has 5,000 (10 players originally, 1,500 chip starting stacks). If the blinds have gotten to 150/300, which is not at all unusual, your opponent might come out raising on the button to 1,000, a fairly standard raise. If he has a poor hand, he will likely fold to any re-raise as he will still have enough chips to give him a few more hands of play, so a min-raise to 2,000 will work just as well as re-raising three times his bet to 3,000 or putting him all-in for the rest of his 4,000 chips. If he has a strong hand, he’s going all-in if you re-raise, so by only min-raising, you can still get away from the hand. It is better to lose 2,000 chips and still be in the chip lead than end up pot committed, have to call his all-in, and face a 2-to-1 deficit.  

Remember, think about your reasons for making every move in a poker game. Don’t just indiscriminately raise because you think you should. Why are you raising, and why did you choose that amount? Those who min-raise, especially those who do it on a regular basis, rarely put enough thought into their poker decisions. So, when you see a min-raise, sniff it out for what it is and take the appropriate steps to take advantage of it.