Pre-Flop Bet Sizing in MTTs

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How Much to Bet Pre-Flop in MTTs?

There are 3 decisions to be concerned about when betting pre-flop in MTTs, these are how much to raise when you’re opening the action, how much to raise against pre-flop limpers, and lastly how much to 3bet when you’re holding the best hand.  

1.      Opening the Action Pre-flop

Depending on your style of play i.e. LAG vs TAG there are a few different approaches.  If you’re a loose player then raising 2-3xBBs will get you enough action from limpers and also get you lots of dead money post-flop.  This also encourages multi-way action which is perfect for set-mining and getting implied odds with suited connectors.

Tight-agressive players with a VPIP% below 15% generally want to take down the pot down pre-flop, so will open-raise 3-4xBBs which is just enough to stop limpers and tight players flat-calling with marginal hands.

2.      Raising Pre-flop to Get Rid of Limpers

You should treat limpers like parasites, they are the most annoying things in poker tournaments.  With a strong hand like AK/AQ I’m raising pots 3-4xBBs to fold limpers however with my premium hands I like to set traps and will commonly min-raise 2-3xBBs to build some pots.  In position I’ll also going to raise a bit more because it looks like a steal. If no-ones opened the betting I’m definately raising 3-4xBBs from EP with marginal hands that’ll get me a lot of credit.

3.      3Betting Pre-flop in MTTs

The strength of your hand, table position, and image of players at your table is key.  When I’m running deep I’m re-raising 12xBBs or 3x initial raise from any position at the table with premium holdings. However if I’m short-stacked (below 10xBBs) or if the opening raiser’s in late position, I’m definatley just jamming my stack with marginal hands like suited connectors and 88+.  From early position I never recommend 3betting without premium hands AK+.

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