Poker Hands To Raise Preflop

admin 7/26/2022

Winning Poker Strategy Starts Before the Flop is Dealt

If you regularly find yourself in tricky spots in poker games – the root cause could be the way you are approaching the game before the flop. This guide focuses on the details of a solid, winning pre-flop poker strategy. Picking the right cards to play is essential, though there is a lot more to pre-flop poker to this. Players make mistakes with position, odds, putting opponents on ranges and stack sizes.

Here is what you will find in this detailed guide to pre-flop poker mistakes:

Pre-Flop Hand Selection: What cards to play, and which ones to avoid
Position: Where you will act in the betting (both in order of play and in relation to the pre-flop raiser) is a vital concept.
Bet Sizing: Some common mistakes which novice players make with their bet sizing before the flop.
Putting Opponents on a Range: How does your hand do against the kind of hands specific opponents raise?
Pre-Flop Mistakes in Poker Tournaments: Specific advice during different stages of multi-table tournaments
Wrap Up: Bringing the different factors together

In almost all cases, you want to raise and re-raise with them preflop, and you should often be happy to get all the money in preflop with them (for 100bb or less). In some instances (versus extremely tight players and usually those in live games), poker hands like JJ and QQ should avoid getting the money in preflop (except versus shorter.
By making a minimum raise you are letting opponents with marginal hands come in cheaply, and you are almost defeating the object of making a preflop raise. The idea of a preflop raise is to reduce the amount of players who follow you to see a flop, as it is easier to make profitable decisions when there are fewer players in the pot.

Selecting the Right Hands Pre-Flop

You could even consider calling a preflop raise cold with big suited hands if the pot is already mulitway. Hands like KTs, QTs and JTs are downgraded to the middle position minimum opening hands because many hands can dominate them, but they still have straight and flush potential.

The single biggest mistake new players make in pre-flop poker is to play too many hands. At the lower buy-ins, you will often find multi-way flops, where 4 or 5 players are seeing the community cards each time. Not only does this waste money when you fail to connect, it creates situations where you are unsure of what hands your opponents might hold.

A better strategy is to select a range of hands which are ahead of the average holdings your opponent’s choose – and to be selectively aggressive when you play them. As you will see in the section below, your position at the table will have a big influence on the types of hands you should play.

While you gain experience, it is important not to play hands which can put you in tricky spots after the flop. The concept of domination is important. If you play hands like Ace-Eight for example, you can be up against a pair higher than the eight when you flop this card. You can also find opponents with an ace and higher side-card when you flop the ace. This leads to tough decisions. Unless you flop 2-pair or better, you will be left guessing – and when the pot gets big, you are more often than not going to be behind.

It is important not to play hands which can put you in tricky spots after the flop.

Risky Hands Pre-Flop

Here are some of the risky types of hand that you should cut out of your range:

Unsuited Broadway Cards: Hands like King-10 off-suit are risky, especially from early position or in multi-way pots.
Ace-X Hands: With a kicker above 10, you can play these hands (much better for a raise), with a kicker lower than this, you take on significant risk. Fold unsuited ace-x hands to a raise and avoid them from early position.
Suited Hands: Many novice players enter a pot with any two suited cards. This is suicidal over the long-run. Even if you make that rare flush or unlikely 2-pair, you will never know if you are ahead or behind.
Small Pairs: These can be played for their set possibility. It is often a mistake to play them from early position – especially when the table is active, and you might not even get to see a flop.

Solid Pre-Flop Hand Selection

A better selection of hands which will avoid major mistakes includes the hands listed below. Again, keep in mind that you need a stronger range of hands from early position. If you are on the button and everyone has folded, you can use some riskier hands to steal the blinds.

Premium Pairs: This is aces, kings and queens. They can be played aggressively from any position at the table. In lower buy-in games, don’t try to get tricky with them, if you can build a big pot before the flop, then go right ahead.
Ace King / Ace-Queen: These high card hands are among the best poker hands when they are suited. Even when off-suit they have a lot of high-card strength. In games where opponents play a lot of aces with small kickers, they are even more valuable.
Mid-Pairs: Nines through to Jacks can win pots unimproved, they can be played aggressively from position, though are not ideal for 3-betting with as they can’t stand a 4^th raise easily.
Small Pairs: Play pairs under Eight either to steal or for set value. If you hit a 3^rd card on the flop, you will often have a hidden monster which can win a very big pot.
Suited Aces: Any ace-x hand which is suited can be played for implied odds value. The ones with higher kickers can also win pots with high-card strength. Aces with 2-3-4-5 side-cards can also make small straights. If you enjoy playing ace-x hands, make sure you have some flush potential – folding the unsuited ones.
Suited Connectors: These hands go from 4-5 suited to K-Q suited. The strength of these hands is that they can make both straights and flushes, which will be disguised. This type of hand is ideal when you can see a flop cheaply. Like the suited aces, they rely on implied odds to be profitable.

Position and Pre-Flop Poker Mistakes

Once you have a solid starting hand range, you can start to factor in your position in the betting. When you are one of the first players to act, you have little information about what your opponents hold (and whether they will raise). You also act first in the betting on the flop, turn and river.

This makes a big difference to how many hands you can profitably play.

For example, small pairs rely on hitting a set to be profitable. If you are in later position (the dealer button is ideal), and see a raise and a call, you can play this type of hand profitably. If you are one of the first players to act. You need to bet – and might get raised in one or more spots. This means you don’t have the correct odds to try and hit your set – and the hand needs to be folded. The same logic applies to suited aces and suited connectors.

You can adjust for position by playing a narrow range of hands (higher pairs, ace-king and ace-queen suited) and then add in hands for each spot closer to the dealer button. If you are one of the last few players to act, a wide range of hands can be used as a steal.

Position in relation to the pre-flop aggressor also needs to be factored in. Say two loose players from early position limp, and someone in middle position raises. You are on the button with a good (though not premium hand). Here you can expect at least one of the limpers to call. When they check to the raiser on the flop, this player will likely bet. Now you need to act before you know what the early position players will do. While you are ‘last’ in the betting, your position relative to the raiser is bad. If you call, and then face a re-raise from another player – you have found yourself in a tricky spot. You can avoid this pre-flop poker mistake by playing a tighter hand range when you see this type of situation occurring.

Pre-Flop Poker Mistakes: Bet Sizing Mistakes

How much someone bets is one of the best online poker tells. Many novice players vary their raise size depending on how strong their hands are. For example, someone might bet 3x the big blind with mid-strength hands, and 4x when they have a premium holding.

To avoid this error, I recommend you pick a raise size and stick with it – playing all of your opening range the same way.

Here are some other bet sizing pre-flop poker mistakes to look out for:

Limping Aces / Kings: Many players like to trap with their strongest pre-flop holdings by limping and then re-raising if someone tries to take the pot. This can work, though has some risks. You might find five calls behind you and no raises, forcing you to guess how your opponents hit the board on many flops. You also give away the strength of your hand, especially if you raise when entering the pot with other hands. If you raise, observant opponents will know that you don’t have aces or kings – valuable information which could win them a big pot.
Limping Too Many Hands: Some players limp a lot of their (loose) pre-flop range, and then call bets with them. This leads to situations where you have a lot of factors against you. Your range is capped (since you would have 4-bet with strong hands), you are out of position and your opponent has indicated that they like their hand.
Calling Bets Without the Odds:Calling with too many hands is not a pre-flop poker winning strategy. Most players continuation bet, and unless you hit the flop hard, you will never know where you stand. You also cap your range by calling, again you’d be re-raising with strong hands. If you are hoping to hit a set or straight / flush draws, then you need to ensure that the stacks are deep enough to make this play profitable. You should not call more than bets without 12x the chips behind with pairs, and 25x the bet behind with suited aces or suited connectors.

Bet sizing errors made before the flop can easily snowball after the community cards are dealt. This leads to situation where you find yourself facing a big bet on the river – with no real idea of where you stand!

Bet sizing errors made before the flop can easily snowball after the community cards are dealt.

Putting Your Opponents on a Range Pre-FlopTight

A big mistake many players make before the flop is to focus only on their own cards. Even with a solid starting hand strategy, awareness of position and taking odds into account – you’ll need to think about what kind of hands different opponents are playing.

This can get complex, and as you move up the stakes you’ll need to construct ranges for specific opponents. At a basic level, you can decide whether an opponent is tight or loose, and how tricky they play – and use this to assess their likely holdings.

Tight Players: Tight players are waiting for premium hands. This type might call with small pairs or suited connectors (when it is cheap to do so), though when they raise you can put them on a narrow range of the best hands. When a tight player re-raises before the flop, they may well only have queens, kings, aces or ace-king. When you are deciding which hands to profitably play, ask yourself how you do against this range.

Loose Players: Now you will see a huge range of hands played, this can be as wide as 50% of all starting hands, including any suited cards or unsuited high cards. Many small stakes players divide their range pre-flop. They limp with a wide range, raise with a smaller one, and re-raise with the types of hands that you might only call with. Flop betting is more important here, though you can certainly widen your own re-raising range to ‘isolate’ the worst offenders. Some of the loosest players will fold to a big bet pre-flop, though most will not. When you do isolate them, make sure you have a hand that is likely to be the best by showdown.

Tricky Players: Some opponents will play ‘backwards’, mistaking this for being deceptive. If someone raises a lot, then limps in later position with aces or kings, they are making a huge mistake. You can call with a wide range of high implied odds hands here and hope to out-flop them. Remember when these tricky players do raise, they will likely have hands that can’t stand too much pressure.

Pre-Flop Poker Mistakes in Tournaments

So far, the discussion assumed we were in a cash game with relatively deep stacks. If you are playing in a high-stakes poker tournament, there are some other factors to keep in mind. The most important of these is to keep stack-depth in mind – and adjust how you play accordingly.

In the later stages of a tournament, stacks can vary in size. Some opponents will only have 10x the big blind, while others have more than 100x. This leads to spots where ‘restealing’ pre-flop becomes a profitable play.

For example, it is folded to player A in the small blind, who opens for a raise. Player B in the big blind only has 8x the size of the big blind in her stack. This player then shoves all-in, putting player A to a decision.

Let’s use round numbers to look at the math.

If the blinds are 500 / 1000 and player B has 7000 chips left after posting the big blind. The pot is now 1000 (bb) + 500 (sb) + 500 (antes) + 1500 (raise from player A) = 3500 chips. Player B raised for 7k more, putting 10,500 chips out there. Player A needs to call 5,500 chips to play (almost 2/1 odds).

Almost every legitimate raising hand has plenty good enough odds to make this call. However, player A will expect to lose the majority of the time.

The mistake was the initial raise. If player A had gone all-in instead, the player in the big blind would not have had the opportunity to re-steal, and those extra chips would have gone to the aggressor.

Poker tournaments stack sizes determine pre-flop play in other ways too. When the bubble approaches, mid-sized and small stacks will tighten up – looking to reach the money before taking any risks. If you have a big stack, failing to raise a wide range of hands to put pressure on these stacks would be a mistake – you are leaving money on the table. A similar situation occurs just before the final table.

Wrapping Up: Components of a Solid Pre-Flop Strategy

Working on your pre-flop poker game will make a big difference to your profits. You will rarely win a big pot before the flop – though you can easily set up situations where you can lose them. A solid starting hand selection, which varies depending on your position at the table is the best place to get started. You need to take into account odds, plus your read on what the bet sizes of opponents mean.

Once you have mastered the basics, you’ll be able to adjust your pre-flop poker strategy for different situations. At this point, you’ll be ahead of most novice players, able to exploit their pre-flop poker mistakes to your advantage!

How to Play Poker When There is a Raise Ahead of You

When someone raises before you act in No-Limit Hold’em – also known as a pre-flop raise – you have three choices. You can re-raise, fold or choose to flat call. This page looks in-depth at the third option – calling someone’s pre-flop raise and playing poker from there.

As you’ll see below, there are a lot of factors to consider before using a flat call. These include your cards, table image, depth of your stack and position at the table. Each factor will be discussed in turn, with the maths of your different options assessed.

Here is what you will find below:

Flat-Calling and Implied Odds

If you have a good poker hand, you’ll often (though not always) be re-raising before the flop. Since most of the time you will have a good, though not great hand, implied odds become an important factor.

This describes a spot where you might not have the best hand at the time you make the call – though you can win a lot of money on later streets if you do improve. The classic example would involve a small pair.

A pre-flop flat call is a useful strategy for even poker pros like Phil Ivey.

Let’s use an extreme example to illustrate. The tightest opponent you ever met raises under the gun. You somehow know that he has pocket aces. You are on the button with a pair of 5’s. You know you’re behind, and that raising here would result in an all-in from your opponent.

Instead you call. If the flop has a 5, and no ace, you stand to win your opponent’s entire stack.

Here you did not have the odds to call the pre-flop raise, though your future profit potential more than made up for it. Most of the time, you’ll miss the flop and fold. That one in eight times you flop a 5 make up for this – your implied odds were huge!

Of course, things will not always be this clear cut. The important point here is that when you call, the potential to make money on later streets is a key factor. You might also win the pot when your opponent checks (giving up) and you put in a timely steal. If they are ‘raising light’, you might well already have the best hand.

Primary Reasons to Call Pre-flop

Improving to the best starting poker hand is only one reason you might call before the flop. Here are several other factors that come into making this decision.

Preflop Raise Size

Calling to Trap: You might have pocket aces yourself and know that someone still to act will often re-raise to steal pots. We don’t recommend making a habit of this play (it is too transparent if you do it often). If you mix things up with the occasional trap, you can get a lot of money into the pot pre-flop.
Taking the Pot on Later Streets: if your opponents are loose and passive, you may have many opportunities to ‘float’ on the flop. This scenario involves calling pre-flop, then calling another bet on the flop – even if you don’t hit. Many opponents will give up on the turn when they hit resistance. If you choose your spots, you can win a mid-sized pot with a bet from position.
Defending Your Button: Late position players will raise with a wide range of hands. If you have the dealer button position, you can make their lives difficult with the occasional flat-call. This is particularly effective when the flop contains lower cards, which are more likely to have hit a caller’s range than those of a raiser.
The Raiser is Loose: Sometimes you’ll face opponents that raise almost every time with a huge range. This can include any ace, junky suited hands and more. With a good, though not premium hand you could choose to call here. After the flop, you’ll have a better idea of where you stand.
Implied Odds: Some hands work better heads-up against a single opponent, others work better multi-way. If the stacks are deep, your implied odds can be big.

Best Types of Hands to Flat Call a Pre-Flop Raise With

Many of the situations covered above rely on position – and detecting when your opponent is weak after the flop to justify your call. There are three types of hands which are ideal candidates for a flat call. These can make monsters after the flop – and win you big pots.

Suited Aces: Adding the ability to make the nut (highest possible) flush gives you a powerful way to win a big pot. I do not recommend calling with hands like Ace-8 off-suit, though hands Ace-2 to Ace-5 suited have shots at both flushes and straights. Higher suited aces are re-raise candidates.
Suited Connectors: This category includes hands from 4-5 suited to J-Q suited. They can make both flushes and straights. The real strength of these hands is that you can play them aggressively when you flop strong draws. This gives you multiple ways to win the pot. You will sometimes improve to the best hand, and other times win as a semi-bluff.
Small / Mid Pairs: Here the strength comes from those times you make a set on the flop. If your opponent(s) are tight, then you can win a lot of money those times they incorrectly believe that the flop is safe for their aces.

You could also add suited Broadway hands and ace-jack / ace-queen off-suit to this list. Those are more dependant on the table dynamic and table image. If you are unsure of your post-flop skills, it is usually better to either take the lead in the hand by raising or ditch those hands pre-flop.

How Table Position Affects Your Pre-flop Flat Call Range

Not only your own position, but the position of the player that raised needs to be factored in before you call pre-flop.

If the raiser is in early position – and a thinking player – their raising range is likely to be strong. If you are sat on their immediate left, then there will still be a lot of players still to act. Here re-raising looks very strong, and even calling should involve a stronger hand range than from later position. Those implied odds hands covered above can’t stand a 3-bet from later position and become too risky in this setup at all but the most passive (‘call-heavy’) games.

If you are in later position, especially on the button, and the raise comes from early position – then the implied odds hands go up in value. With the raiser having a narrow / strong range, they will be more reluctant to fold to a single bet on a ‘safe’ flop. If you are in the blinds facing an early position raise, then you need to factor in the fact that you are out of position before you consider a call. It is hard to get full value when you act first on the flop, turn and river.

Raises from middle position should be with a wider range of hands. This improves your ability to take the pot on later streets, even when you miss the flop – since your opponent will not always have a hand which can withstand pressure.

If the raise comes from the button or cut-off position and you are in the blinds, a different dynamic applies. Here the raiser will often have a wide range. While this might mean you have the best hand more often, it also means you are less likely to be paid off with those implied-odds type hands. Add being out of position, and many calling hands should be ditched. With many hands, it is better to take the lead (or win the pot right there) with a 3-bet instead.

Calling vs Tight or Loose Opponents

Sometimes an opponent will be the classic loose ‘calling station’. This means they will raise a lot of hands (sometimes oblivious to position), and then call too many bets post-flop with any chance of winning. While calling can win a lot of money, you will often find that re-raising is the better play. You’ll knock out the hands behind you that might have called. If you hit the flop, you can win a lot of money from these players.

Tighter opponents increase your chance of winning a big pot after the flop with the right types of hand. If you miss and they raise, you should often give them credit for a premium hand and get out of the way. If you do spike a set with a small pair (for example), expect to win multiple bets.

Your own table image also comes into play. If you are calling a lot of bets pre-flop, then folding to continuation bets – you are encouraging opponents to open a wider range against you.

If there are loose opponents still to act, you should generally play a narrower range of hands for flat-calls. An active button, that likes to 3-bet when seeing a raise and call can make your life difficult. You are denied the correct odds to call – and would have to play out of position for the rest of the hand.

Stack-Depth Factors and Pre-Flop Calling Hands

Cards worthy of a flat call when faced with a pre-flop raise.

When considering a call, the amount of money you can win on future streets is a primary factor. If either you or the raiser has a shallow stack – for example 20x the big blind – then you do not have the correct odds to call with your implied odds hands. In fact, calling both pre-flop and on the flop will make the pot so big that you are probably committed to call bets on later streets.

With very deep stacks of 200x the big blind or more, certain hands shoot up in value. Those suited aces and suited connectors can now win huge pots after the flop – and can be played more often. Conversely, vulnerable hands like Ace-9 or K-10 off-suited go down in value. These hands are easily dominated, making it difficult to know where you stand after the flop. This means that have ‘reverse implied odds’ – you could lose a big pot those times you do hit the flop, and someone else hits it better.

If there is a short-stack still to act, then you have another type of risk. For example, someone with 100x the big blind opens, and you call (also with 100x) with a small pocket pair. A player nursing a 10x stack then goes all-in behind you, and the original raiser folds. Here you have huge odds to make the call – though would have preferred not too, as you won’t have the best hand most of the time.

When to Flat Call Pre-Flop in Poker Tournaments

All of the factors covered above apply as much to tournaments as they do to cash games. There are also some extra considerations for tournament poker. These arise from the generally lower standard of strategy knowledge for tournament players, stack size differences and bubble dynamics.

In the early stages of poker tournaments, pots will be contested by more players than in cash games. You can call a raise before the flop, only to see 2 or 3 other players also flat call. When you see the flop 5 handed, you’ll need to hit it hard to have a shot at winning the pot. This improves the value of hands like small pairs and suited aces. It significantly reduces the value of high card hands (even as good as Ace-Queen). Many poker experts recommend a flat call only from position in small stakes poker tournaments – and choosing hands which can hit hidden monsters.

When you get to the middle stages, with bigger blinds, there will be a huge range of stack sizes at your table. Some players will have 100x stacks, others will be 10x or so – with many in that comfort-zone in between. If you want to flat call, you need to take stack depth into consideration first. While you might have great implied odds against a deep stack, a small stack behind you is a big risk. Instead of using a flat call, you should raise more often. This keeps the pressure on your opponents. It works well against those comfortable mid-sized stacks, who will often decide to look for a better spot.

Texas Holdem Preflop Chart

The bubble of a poker tournament sees most players tighten up – and the big stacks go on the rampage, stealing as many pots as possible. When a small or medium stack raises, they usually have a good hand (otherwise they would not take the risk). A flat call is not recommended. Instead, you should be looking to chip-up – taking the lead in the hand whenever possible.