Betting actions
Open-raise in poker
Definition
The first raise before the flop, made when nobody else has raised yet.
The open-raise sets the pot size and the initiative for the hand. The size is usually 2 to 3 big blinds, and the range you open depends heavily on your position: tight from early seats and wide from the cutoff and button.
Preflop charts list which hands to open from each seat.
Example
From the button in a 6-max game you might open-raise to 2.5 big blinds with a wide range of hands.
Related terms
- LimpTo enter the pot before the flop by calling the big blind instead of raising.
- 3-betThe second raise before the flop: the big blind counts as the first bet, the open-raise as the second and the re-raise as the third.
- Under the gun (UTG)The first player to act before the flop, seated directly left of the big blind; the earliest and toughest position.
- Cutoff (CO)The seat directly to the right of the button; the second-best position and a common seat for steals.