I just wanted to say Hi, I am new to the forum, heard about you guys from FCP and I think you have a great SNG setup. I am on a quest to play 2k in the next few months and see what I can get. I actually have a question my first 11 $11 on party and I have placed 3rd in 6 of them, so I have made like $5 bucks or something. I generally am raising lots of hands. People seem to be playing tight weak at most of my tables, so I like to min raise (when the blinds are 200/400 or at least 100/200) most of the time it folds around. I know people at FCP hate min raising I don't see a problem with it since it seems to be working what do you guys think?

Min-raising is a losing strategy. I forget the exact numbers, but you're giving the SB and BB GREAT odds to call with any two cards! The biggest source of income in poker is from inducing and capitalizing on your opponent's mistakes. If you have less than 10x BB, I advocate pushing any hand you consider playing. That way you have more fold equity and you get to see all five cards when you could be bet out of the pot if the flop misses you.

I know it sounds suicidal, but it's really not. I usually push with A5+, A2s+, KT+, K7s+, any pair, and then a variety of suited connectors. In almost every case, you're not much of an underdog (or you're at an advantage). The only thing you have to worry about is someone calling with an over pair or your hand being dominated. Even domination isn't so bad when you're short-stacked.

For a more thorough analysis, read Harrington on Hold'Em volume 2 and read .

When I have a big enough stack, I call every min-raise in the BB. I'm getting 3.5:1 on my call which is more than enough to call with any two cards. The only time I'm in a really bad situation would be if I'm against an overpair. Even when I'm dominated, I'm only a 2.75:1 dog.

Where'd I get the 3.5:1 number? The pot is the BB + SB + the min-raise (2 BB). Then you divide that by how much it costs to call (1 BB if you're in the big blind). So the blinds in the example below are 100/200. There's 200 + 100 + 400, or 700 in the pot, and it costs me 200 to call. 700 / 200 = 3.5

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (3 handed)

Button (t7150)
SB (t2270)
Hero (t5580)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
Button raises to t400, 1 fold, Hero calls t200.

Flop: (t900) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t525, Hero calls t525.

Turn: (t1950) (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t1000, Hero raises to t4655 (All-in), Button calls t3655.

River: (t11260) (2 players)

Final Pot: t11260

Results in white below:
Hero has 6c 4s (three of a kind, sixes).
Button has Ad Qs (two pair, queens and sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins t11260.

I also knew he was a fairly aggressive player and would bet that regardless of his hand.

A couple more examples where I called the BB with crap against a min-raise:

Ultimate Bet No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed)

Hero (t6585)
Button (t8415)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
Button raises to t800, Hero calls t400.

Flop: (t1600) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t400, Hero raises to t1800, Button folds.

Final Pot: t3800

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins t3800.

I can't get the hand converter to work for the next one, so I'll just paste the raw text:

Hand #9299815-28 at TurboSnG-0010g (No Limit Hold'em Sit and Go)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 29/Oct/05 11:45:09

villain is at seat 0 with 775.
NA is at seat 1 with 1990.
NA is at seat 2 with 1940.
NA is at seat 3 with 1730.
NA is at seat 7 with 5400.
EscapePlan9 is at seat 9 with 3165.
The button is at seat 6.

NA posts the small blind of 50.
EscapePlan9 posts the big blind of 100.

EscapePlan9:

Pre-flop:

villain raises to 200. 5 folds.
EscapePlan9 calls.

Flop (board: ):

EscapePlan9 bets 600. villain folds. EscapePlan9 is
returned 600 (uncalled).

Hand #9299815-28 Summary:

No rake is taken for this hand.
EscapePlan9 wins 450.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t300 (3 handed)

Button (t1330)
SB (t1695)
Hero (t4975)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
Button raises to t600, 1 fold, Hero calls t300.


I would have folded if he pushed all-in. Instead he gives me GREAT odds to see a flop first.

Flop: (t1350) , , (2 players)
Hero checks, Button calls [t730] , Hero calls t730.

Turn: (t2080) (2 players)

River: (t2080) (2 players)

Final Pot: t2080

Results in white below: [color=#FFFFFF]
Button has 9c Ah (one pair, sevens).
Hero has Ks 2s (flush, king high).
Outcome: Hero wins t2080.

Reason two million not to min-raise:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (5 handed)

BB (t2230)
UTG (t3860)
Hero (t2755)
Button (t915)
SB (t3740)

Preflop: Hero is MP with , .
UTG raises to t400, Hero calls t400, 3 folds.

Flop: (t1100) , , (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets t700, UTG folds.

Final Pot: t1800

Results in white below:
No showdown. Hero wins t1800.

I would have folded to a raise of 600. Outside of the blinds, I'll call every min-raise with any pocket pair as long as I have more than 12x BB.