Guidelines for Raising in No Limit Texas Holdem

Guidelines for Raising in No Limit Texas Holdem

My daddy told me, "Todd, by no means draw to an inside straight and at all times know why you are raising. Follow this advice and you'll be a consistent winner." For the most part he was right. Clearly, no -limit Texas holdem is a strategic game requiring multiple and important decisions on every street. Mastering strategy provides a sure fire edge, especially against weaker opponents.

Drawing to an inside straight, a draw with merely four outs, is almost always wrong in no-limit holdem. My daddy was right. Clearly, he was right about only raising with a clear-cut goal in mind. Raising without a purpose is almost always incorrect.

To my mind there are just a few reasons to raise in no-limit holdem:

Raising for information

Raising to isolate an opponent

Raising to push your opponent off a hand

Raising to steal blinds

Raising to bluff

Raising for Information

Raising when you have only a little information about your opponent is a way to tease out information about the potency of your opponent's hand. How your opponent responds to your raise, when seen in the light of his position and your read on his style often reveals a good deal about how your opponent sees his hand.

Raising to Isolate

When you hold a substantial hand you want to play against as few opponents as possible. Strong raises often induce opponents with marginal or speculative hands to get out of the way, thereby isolating you against a single opponent. Strong hands almost always play better against single opponents than they do in multiway pots.

Raising to Push your Opponent off a hand

With a board textured to a flush, straight or both a raise represents either a strong draw or a made hand. Representing a flush or a straight against a hand that can be beaten by what you are representing is almost always enough to push an opponent off a hand.

Raising to Steal the Blinds

In tournaments in middle and late stages, when the blinds are large relative to stack sizes, raising to steal blinds is a powerful strategy. Making a raise from late position is enough to push random hands in the blinds off the hand. It is less valuable in early stages of tournaments or in cash games because of the small size of the blinds relative to the stacks.

Raising to Bluff

The courage to bluff in no-limit holdem is an important strategy that insures deception. Representing big hands with nothing is an aggressive strategy that works well against more passive players. Bluffing can be overused and works best when employed with restraint.

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