Poker Texas Holdem Minimum Raise
Earlier this week, Igor Kurganov outlasted an 86-entry field to win the PokerStars Championship Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller and earn a seven-figure score.
Aug 23, 2017 Tournament rules vary, but a minimum reraise (typically) would be another raise by the same amount previously raised. After the flop, a min-raise would be twice the opening bet. So — as Kurganov. Aug 25, 2016 The minimum raise amount is always the amount of the previous raise (if any) or bet. So, if there is a raise in front of you, and you wish to re-raise, you have to determine what the previous raise amount was, as distinct from what the previous total bet was.
While on his way to that victory, Kurganov took time to review some strategy with PokerNews and addressed the pros and cons of min-raising in no-limit hold'em, both before and after the flop.
A minimum raise or 'min-raise' is exactly what it sounds like — a raise for the minimum amount allowed.
Min-raising before the flop means making an opening raise worth exactly two big blinds (the least possible). Tournament rules vary, but a minimum reraise (typically) would be another raise by the same amount previously raised.
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After the flop, a min-raise would be twice the opening bet. So — as Kurganov gives as an example — following a bet of 10, a min-raise would be to 20.
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Kurganov begins here addressing postflop min-raising, pointing out that a big negative against min-raising after the flop is that by doing so a player will usually give an opponent very good pot odds to call.
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Say there is 20 in the middle when a player bets 10 (half the pot), then the other player min-raises to 20. The first player only has to call 10 more to continue, and the pot at that point is 50. That's 5-to-1 pot odds (betting just 10 for a chance to win 50), which often will 'price in' a lot of hands.
Kurganov agrees how that becomes an argument against min-raising, especially when players have relatively deep stacks.
However, he points out that 'the situation changes a little bit when you're playing with very short stacks,' giving an example from a tournament where a min-raise can be more difficult for a player to call since even that small amount represents a significant percentage of a player's stack.
Position likewise is a factor affecting whether or not min-raising is a good idea.
Finally Kurganov addresses the preflop min-raise, which unlike postflop is much more often a good choice. Take a look:
For more discussion of postflop min-raising that addresses reasons why it is often not a good idea, check out Robert Woolley's article 'When the Minimum Raise is Maximally Wrong'.
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tournament strategycash game strategyno-limit hold’emmin-raisingIgor Kurganovpreflop strategypostflop strategystack sizespositionpot oddsRelated Players
Igor Kurganov