by Jav » Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:28 am
Well, the problem lies with your premium hands. When you get a premium hand you really want to raise at least 3xBB (for tournaments, I prefer something like 4-6xBB in ring games). With premium hands you want to raise enough that you will generally only be called by other premium hands that you have dominated. Of course you'll also get small and medium pairs calling, but the point is to raise enough that you have a good idea what type of holdings your opponents have if they call you.
This allows you to play the rest of the hand better since your read on your opponent will be better. It also minimizes the times that you will get your stack taken because you couldn't read that 68o straight.
Now, you also want to raise with some hands that aren't premium, for deception and because you feel you have the best hand. When you raise AJ from late MP you want people to not know if you have AA, AJ, or 56s. If you start lowering your raises for your non-premium hands, then people will eventually pick up on it and know that you raise more with premium hands and less with speculative hands, and they will be able to play you appropriately.