Raising from late position when you are first to act is almost expected, but too many players do it blindly without thinking about the proper situations that they should be raising and the situations in which they should fold. This article is going to go over these situations and give you an idea of when and where to raise from late position.
The factors
There are multiple factors that you need to take into consideration when you are raising first to act. These factors often work with one another to provide a more detailed picture of whether you should raise or not. Sometimes, just knowing that one factor is prevalent will be enough, but most times you will need an understanding of all four in order to be successful. They are, in order, as follows:
- the likelihood that all of your opponents will fold
- the likelihood that if your opponent does not fold that you can win the pot post-flop
- stack sizes in relation to the blinds for you and your opponents
- the strength of your hand
The likelihood that all of your opponents will fold
This is the most important factor because without opponents that will fold, you are either going to need a hand or know that you will be able to take the pot away from them post-flop. How do you know if a player will fold their blinds? Watch them from the time you start playing with them and you should be able to figure it out. Here are some tell tale signs of a player that will fold their blinds without much resistance:
- They fold their big blind at any time to a minimum raise
- They fold their small blind in an limped multi-way pot
- They have shown tight tendencies from other positions or in other situations (for example, they say that they folded pocket 7's in early position pre-flop after a 7 flops)
- They play few hands and when they do, it is almost always with a raise (meaning their hand selection is small)
The likelihood that if your opponent does not fold that you can win the pot post-flop
Many people refuse to fold their big blind no matter what cards they hold. It is as if they feel that they have money in the pot and they have a right to see what the flop brings. Typically, these players will only proceed post-flop if they hit something. These are the best players to take on because not only do you pick up the blinds and antes, you get the additional chips they put into the pot pre-flop. You have the additional benefit of having position on them post-flop so you will be able to react to their actions. If they check to you, you can bet blindly and often take it down.
The following are signs that you are up against this type of player:
- They have called any time someone has made a small to medium sized raise of their blinds
- They have called any time they have limped in or raised and someone has raised
- They have shown check folding tendencies when they do not like their hand
- They have shown check calling and/or bet/raise tendencies when they do like their hand
Stack sizes in relation to the blinds for you and your opponents
This factor is often overlooked when deciding whether or not to raise first to act. If a player is so short that they will likely call or move all in regardless of what they are holding then raising with any two from the button is probably not a good idea. It is a good time, however, to raise with hands like Q-J or pocket 6's as you know that you're not going to be put to a post-flop decision as all the chips will go in pre-flop. An example would be if the player in the big blind has 3,000 in chips with the blinds at 1,000/2,000 after posting his big blind. They probably are going to call any raise you make in this case.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, if a player has so many chips that calling a standard raise is a small percentage of their stack then you need to proceed with caution. For example, if the blinds are 1,000/2,000 and the big blind has 200,000 in chips, then raising with 7-5 off is probably not a good idea. The ideal stack size to be looking to attack is a player who has enough chips to survive folding their blind but not enough that calling a raise will not be a significant portion of the stack. This would typically be a player who has between 10-20 big blinds.
In addition to your opponent's stack size, you also need to factor in your own. If you are under 10 times the big blind and you are first to act, unless the blind is a big stack or the type of player that is very likely to call you, you should consider moving all in regardless of your holding. Picking up the antes and blinds at this stage is crucial to your tournament survival and more times than not if the blind is the type that folds their blinds, this is an idea spot to pick up some much needed chips. If you are between 10 to 20 big blinds, you need to be careful when making a first to act raise. You don't have enough chips to be folding to re-raises or post-flop bets frequently so if you enter a pot with this stack size, you need to be willing to go with the hand if a person puts you to the test. Above 20 big blinds, you have plenty of options available to you and should proceed as you normally would.
The strength of your hand
Understanding all of the above factors will help you to make correct decisions when you decide to raise first to act, but the strength of your hand can make the factors mute. If you have aces, kings, or queens, it doesn't matter what your stack size is, what your opponent's stack size is, or whether or not your opponent is going to call or not. You're going to raise and most of the time, you're going to re-raise if your opponent re-raises you. Those decisions are easy, but others are not so well defined. The following is a guide of suggested hands you should open raise, call a three bet, and four bet with from late position in various situations. These suggestions are for normal situations where stack sizes do not come into play (meaning calling a re-raise is not for a significant portion of your stack) and where the re-raises made are normal sized.
Tight player in big blind:
Open – with any two
Call a re-raise – small pocket pairs less than 10's, A-Q, A-J, and A-10
Raise a re-raise – jacks and higher, A-K
Defender who will fold post flop in big blind OR a normal player with stack size equal or smaller than yours:
Open – any connectors, pairs, aces, or hands containing two cards ten or higher
Call a re-raise – small pocket pairs less than 7's, A-J, A-10, K-Q, K-J
Raise a re-raise – eights and higher, A-K, A-Q
Aggressive player who will call and re-raise with a large range of hands OR a good to great player who understands position well:
Open – any pairs, big aces (A-10 through A-K), hands containing two cards ten or higher
Call a re-raise – none, if you're going to play against this player in this situation you should either be folding or putting in a 4th bet
Raise a re-raise – any hand you would open with
To raise or not to raise, that is the question
The above suggestions were just that – suggestions. Poker is very situational and the first three factors will help you more than anything to decide which type of hands you should open, call, and re-raise with. Before you blindly raise or fold your hand, look at the situation and determine what the best course of action is. Just because you have 7-2 off doesn't mean you should fold, and just because you have Q-J suited does it mean you should raise. The key to proper late position play is understanding who your opponents are and what their tendencies are.
*Check our Strategy Section for more helpful tips on Tournament and Ring game Poker*