Preflop raising
An under the gun player minraises, a middle position player calls, and you’re in the cutoff with 86 suited. What should you do?
The answer is raise.
Three-betting in position preflop with most reasonable hands is the standard play in shorthanded online games. Any low pocket pair, suited connector, Ax suited or high cards are hands that you should be raising with in these situations.
Many times, the other players in the hand will simply fold and you will collect the pot without even having to see a flop. This is a consistent money-maker, and you should be happy to win the small pot preflop.
Other times, you’ll get called, which is also fine. This gives you an opportunity to collect even more money with a flop continuation bet, or maybe you’ll even hit your hand. Perhaps the biggest value in re-raising light preflop is that it disguises your hand well. You could have AA, you could have 78s, or you could hold a pocket pair and flop a set. No one will ever be able to tell the difference.
My general rule of thumb in regards to preflop raising in shorthanded games is that I’ll always open for a raise from any position with Axs, K8s or better, medium-strength suited connectors and up, all pocket pairs and high cards. I’ll re-raise or fold in position against one player, and I’ll usually re-raise an early position player and one or more callers. Suited connectors play best in position, while low pocket pairs are well disguised in any position but often need more than one opponent to get enough implied odds against a preflop raise.
I believe the most important concept of preflop betting is that it shouldn’t be an automatic thing. Almost everything in poker is situational. It depends on your opponents, your position, your table image, your cards, stack sizes and the previous betting action. If you don’t feel like you can call a four-bet from your opponent, then maybe cold calling a preflop raise is the best option. If you have a hand like 87s, you should probably fold against a short stack raiser because you’re not getting good enough implied odds if you hit your hand. If you know that you’re up against an opponent who sees most flops, don’t hesitate to make your raises bigger with your premium hands. Make your opponent pay to try and outflop you.
Remember that position is key in preflop raising without monster hands. Having taken the lead in the hand and having position is a deadly combination and a profitable one at that.
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