Poker Trends and Strategy

I ran very well over this past weekend and made two final tables. Both poker tournaments were multi-table tournaments with more than 180 players in each. There was no magic in how I was able to grind out the victory but I definitely noticed a trend that seems like it will not be going away any time soon. I noticed that every time I would bet out post flop when I had a big hand I was getting minimum raised. From my experience this usually means two things.

1. My opponent has a big draw and is trying to get more money in the pot
2. My opponent has the best hand
   

Since I was the one hitting the big hands on the flop I was more than happy to continue calling to the river and then re-raising. The same two players acted the exact same way any time they were involved in a pot. It was almost like they had read some book on minimum raising. The truth is that they had no idea of where they were at in the hand and it made it very easy for me to pick them off and send them to the rail. The minimum raise is not your friend. Use it with extreme caution.