WHY I RAISE PREFLOP IN NO-LIMIT OMAHA HI-LO

People get very upset because "the book" says raising preflop is bad strategy. They cry "Bingo" and hurl insults. They are upset they don't get to see a cheap flop with a weak starting hand.

Preflop raising is bad strategy in the real world of OHL, with actual money stakes, where you need to slowly build a pot with everyone contributing. Not on REPLAY.

Here are the reasons:

Good Hands - If you have AA23 double suited you should be raising because the odds of victory are very good. In this game you know that you will win at least half the pot even with only a decent hand. Good odds = bet more.

Bad callers - Replay is full of clowns who call every street and get lucky. You cannot afford to let the entire table be involved if you start with a good hand. Someone will find a miracle at the river. Also, preflop raise will not scare away every bad caller on Replay, therefore one or more will be there to contribute big chips when you do win. Raise it up!

Small pots - You don't want to have a monster hand and arrive at the end with a pot full of the minimum bets. This family-style check/limp all around min-betting that everyone demands be played will mean when you finally bet big on the river everyone will fold or at best you will get a pittance for your efforts. No thanks, i will raise PF.

Split pots - You need bigger pots because in this game even when you win, often you only win half. If 50% is all i'm getting for my efforts i want a large pot, which starts with (guess what) preflop raising.

High Hopes - People have a burning desire to see flops. They will often call preflop raises but not later bets because they have seen their hopes dashed on the flop. The time to get them involved is when they are willing to pay to see more.

Provocation - People are willing to fold preflop multiple times but eventually they get angry and start calling with weak hands. This is how you get action for a good starting hand and how you get frustrated players to call big bets. Irritate, agitate, get paid.

"In for a dime ..." - "... in for a dollar" - whereas a good player will fold once they see their prospects fade on the flop, a bad player will feel committed once they have called preflop. They can be enticed to keep calling because they have "invested" preflop and don't want to just walk away when you bet half the pot on a great flop.

Gathering Information - When the entire table limps in it is not possible to know who has a strong hand. When a chronic folder decides to finally call your preflop raise, you know that player probably has a strong hand, so you can be cautious. Similarly, when someone calls every preflop raise you can guess they probably don't have much and are mainly calling out of pride and may very well be bluffing if they lead out.

Boredom - This game is fun but not so fun when you just limp and fold constantly. Raising the stakes gets the blood flowing. After all, there is no real money to keep it interesting. Live a little.

Bad hands - Again ... you want action? Then let them see you raised preflop with a junky hand. That means next time they will call if on the fence and that will be the time you have a monster. You cannot raise preflop only with quality because you will get only folds.