There are two situations in which there is some confusion about the minimum raise amount.
To really understand how this works, we need to first wrap our heads around one critical distinction, and that is the difference between a “raise” amount and a “total bet” amount.
If player A, facing no bet, bets 1000, and player B then raises to a total bet of 3000, the raise amount is 2000.
Got it? Good.
Now, here is the key statement:
The minimum raise amount is always the amount of the previous raise (if any) or bet.
Let’s continue.
Preflop, What is the Minimum Raise?
Preflop, the minimum initial raise amount is the amount of the big blind, to a total bet of at least two big blinds.
For example, if the blinds are 200/400, and no one has raised before the action gets to you, you may call the 400, or raise to any amount 800 or more.
Pretty straightforward.
But What is the Minimum Re-raise?
The key statement, as always, applies. The minimum raise amount is always the amount of the previous raise (if any) or bet.
So, if there is a raise in front of you, and you wish to re-raise, you have to determine what the previous raise amount was, as distinct from what the previous total bet was.
For example, preflop with blinds at 200/400, if a player before you raises to 1,000, what do you think the minimum re-raise would be?
Many players think the answer is “double the bet,” to a total of 2,000, but this is not correct. When the player before you bet 1,000, the raise amount was actually 600 — that is how much he or she raised, on top of the 400 bet they were facing.
So, if you wish to re-raise, you must add at least an additional 600. Your minimum re-raise, therefore, is to a total of 1600.
Ok, What About Postflop…..a Trick Question…. ; )
If blinds are 200/400 and the player first-to-act on the flop makes a bet of 1200, what is the minimum total bet amount required, if the next player wishes to raise?
If your answer was that the raiser has to “double the bet, to a total of 2400,” you get a silver star. (Silver, not gold, because you got the right answer but we need to stop using the phrase, “you have to double the bet.” That is where a lot of confusion comes from.)
The blinds don’t matter, here. (I told you it was a trick question!) The big blind amount is the minimum bet the first player could have made, but he was not facing a bet of 400. He could have checked. So the full amount of his bet (1200) is the amount by which you must raise, if you want to raise.
