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In no-limit ring games and tournaments, a limp re-raise is an effective weapon to use in order to take advantage of aggressive players who have position on you. Instead of raising pre-flop with your premium hands like pocket aces, by limping when you are the first to enter the pot you will encourage aggressive players who act after you to raise the pot.

You can then re-raise with your premium hand, which will result in you either taking down the pot, which is now larger, or playing a very big pot if they decide to call your re-raise. The benefits of this move are that you will get more chips in the pot. The key is that you want to be the first to enter the pot, so this move works especially well when you are under the gun.

The danger of attempting to limp re-raise is that nobody raises the pot behind you. You would then be forced to play a multi-way pot not knowing if one of your opponents has outdrawn you. So if your table happens to be classified as fairly passive, you would be better off to merely raise pre-flop with your premium pocket pair.

You should consider limp re-raising with hands like pocket aces and pocket kings. You can also limp re-raise with pocket queens or AK if your opponents are willing to raise with less than great hands. However, since pocket queens and AK are hands that you are more likely to fold after seeing the flop, then it is usually better to just raise with them pre-flop.

The amount that you re-raise with does depend on the stack sizes in relationship to the blinds. Since you should be willing to get all your chips in the middle with pocket aces or kings, your re-raise should be a significant amount. Usually a re-raise of three times that of your opponent’s raise is sufficient.

If either you or your opponent is relatively short-stacked, you might as well go all in with your re-raise. Just keep in mind that you are trying to build a large pot and if your opponent does fold, you will still have won a nice pot.

Another benefit of limp re-raising with your pocket aces is that if your opponents see that you are capable of making this move, it may allow you to limp in the future with hands like pocket fives without being raised. They will fear that you have a premium hand and allow you to see a flop cheaply. It will offer you more options to play hands from early position.

The flip side of course is when an opponent makes a limp re-raise from under the gun. It is a sign of great strength and unless your opponent plays like a maniac, you should fold all of your hands with the exception of pocket aces.

Nine times out of ten that your opponent attempts an under the gun limp re-raise they have pocket aces, so this might be one of the rare times that folding pocket kings is correct.

Poker should be considered one big, long session. Each time you sit at the table you should attempt to play your best. As long as you are playing well and your opponents are making mistakes, you should keep playing.

Whether you are up or down for the night should not be a consideration if you are thinking about getting up from the table, unless it is affecting your play.

Luck plays a large factor in your results in any given night. Poker is about the long run and your job is to make good decisions. Leaving a table simply because you are up for the night may cause you to miss out on even bigger wins later on.

Many players set a limit for their potential losses when they are at the table (ie. if they lose a certain amount of money they will stop playing). This is a very good strategy if you are the type of player who is more likely to make mistakes if you are down.

Some players experience this type of tilt, especially if they are losing as a result of their opponents’ luck. However, if you are able to play solid poker even when you have been losing, then it might be in your best interest to stay at the table.

If you are losing because your opponents have been getting lucky, then you are at a good table. Your opponents are making mistakes, which is what you want from your opponents. Chances are that your opponent’s good luck will not continue if they are playing poorly. By staying at the table, you may find that you will be able to recoup your losses and show a profit.

Regardless of whether you are winning or losing, you want to play at a table where your opponents are playing badly. So, unless you find that you do not play your best based on being up or down for the night, then you might as well keep playing……after all it is just one big, long session.

When playing no limit ring games or tournaments, it is important to keep your bet sizes the same. By raising pre-flop the same amount each time, it becomes difficult for your opponents to put you on a hand. If you end up raising less with your premium pocket pairs, your observant opponents will be more likely to accurately put you on a hand.

Typically, most good players will raise pre-flop three to four times the big blind. They will make the same size raise if they have pocket aces or 76 off-suit. This keeps your opponents guessing if the flop helped you or not.

It is also important to maintain consistency with your bet sizes post-flop. If you end up varying the size of your bet based on whether or not you were helped by the flop or not, your opponents will have a huge advantage. It will be almost as if your cards are face up. A bet on the flop after you were the pre-flop raiser is called a “continuation bet”. Post-flop bets are typically measured in relationship to the pot size.

A typical continuation bet is at least half the pot. Sometimes it is advisable to bet three quarters of the pot or a bet that equals the pot. Bet any less than that and you are giving your opponents the proper pot odds to continue with the hand. Betting more than the pot will most likely result in your opponents folding, and you not getting paid off on your strong hands.

Obviously the size of your continuation bet should depend on the characteristics of your opponents. When up against calling stations, you will need to bet a little more and likewise, against tight passive players you should probably bet a bit less.

Another factor to consider is the number of opponents. In a hand against multiple opponents, your bets need to be a little larger because there is a greater chance that at least one of your opponents is on a draw. If you are up against a single opponent, you will likely be able to protect your hand with a smaller bet.

The nature of the flop is also important when determining how much to bet. If you have top pair or an overpair and the board appears safe, you should make a smaller continuation bet as you want your opponents to call with hands like middle pair. If the board has obvious potential straight or flush draws, then you will want to bet more in order to protect your hand. You want to charge your opponents more, in order to hit their draw.

There are many factors in determining how much you should bet. There is a fine line between getting value out of your strong hands while protecting your hand against your opponents’ draws. Being consistent with your bet sizes will give you a big advantage over your opponents because you will be tougher to read.