#BOMpreflop #HandMalta

The Swedish pro knows that most players tighten up near the bubble, and play is getting timid. I know that my table image is somewhere between TAG and LAG, leaning closer to tight at this point. I want to extract chips from this player, but I want to eliminate the blinds from the hand if possible. So a three bet is my best bet here, but how much? The minimum raise preflop would be to 8000 chips, but I think this would raise a red flag to the pro. So I'm going to raise to somewhere between 9500 and 10,000. One of two things will likely occur. One of the blinds will read the raise as weak and try to make a squeeze play. If this happens, the Swedish pro will either fold or reraise. if he folds, I can then make a decision about flat calling the blind or five betting. If the pro calls or reraises, I can either five bet shove if I'm happy with the pot size or just call to keep him in the hand.

So for now, I'm only raising to 9500-10,000 range from the button, and then giving off physical tells of weakness.