This has been bugging me for awhile now. There is a standard of raising 3x to 4x the BB in no limit hold'em. Does this mean raising TO 3 or 4 times the BB or raising 3 to 4 times BB ON TOP of the BB. In a .5/1 game should I be open raising and making it $4 to go (raising it TO 4x the BB) or making it $5 to go (4x the BB ON TOP of the BB).

If I am open-raising, I almost always raise 3x including the big blind - with .50/1 blinds, I raise to $3. If there are a couple of limpers, I go up to $4 because I don't want people who have not called yet to get a better price because there are a couple extra dollars in the pot from the limpers.
Mike

Generally it means raise to 3-4X the BB. But this is a loose number, and the actual raise should be enough to get only a couple callers. Depending on your table, this might actually be 5X the BB. I prefer tables where I can make a 4XBB raise and get the volume I want.

In tournaments, I prefer 3XBB when possible, since you can't reload if you pre-flop raise a few times but have to fold after the flop.