Call, Bet or Raise

Players can gain advantages over their opponents by placing bets wisely. According to experienced poker players, right calling, raises and bets in a poker game can be used as a strategy to increase chances of winning. Therefore, it is necessary that players know the situations that will surely help them make the best out of their decision to call in the game.

When to call…

  • It is advantageous to call if you have a drawn hand since it will open opportunities for you to have a glance at other community cards. By calling, you can correctly assess the pot odds in a particular game. On the other hand, some players may resort to calling to prevent other players in the table to re-raise their bets.
  • Calling can also be used by players to avoid their opponents to know or determine that they have one of the dominant poker hands. If players have a strong hand, calling is a good move to let other players increase the bets in the pot and have a chance to get the pot at the end of the game. Above all, just like raising bets, calling is also used by some players as a way to bluff or deceive their opponents that they have a strong poker hand.

Knowing the best times to call in poker is important to ensure that players are at the path to succeed. The appropriate timing of calling in poker is crucial to the performance of players. The situations mentioned above will surely help you discern whether it is the right time to call raises and bets in the game.

Calling is an effective betting strategy in poker so players are highly encouraged to use it to gain advantages in the game. Furthermore, calling is important to be assured that players have better odds of winning or they still have the chance to get back the losses that they have incurred in their past games.

When to bet…

There are several reasons to bet in poker:

  • To get more chips in the pot
  • To drive out competition
  • To get information
  • To bluff (or semi-bluff)
  • To get a free card

The most basic reason for betting is to put more chips in the pot. For example, if you flop a flush and have several players in the hand you may not want to slow play by checking and simply bet your hand with the goal of getting multiple callers and perhaps a raise. If you slow play your hand you are not only giving your opponents a chance to draw out against you (perhaps they have 2 pair or a set) but you are also getting less chips into the pot. Remember the goal is more chips in your stack.

When to raise…

An effective poker strategy is all about raising and re-raising tactics. A good poker play is not just raising in poker pre-flop, but raising substantially pre-flop. Calling or checking pre-flop may be considered but they are generally not good moves in poker. There may be times when calling may be warranted but often we lose the opportunity to position for a major strategy when we do that, and allow other players to take advantage of a call situation.

Raising from the small blind

If you’re playing the small blind against an aggressive player, you should bet three times. If you can’t see yourself 3-betting, fold. When you’re playing against a loose opponent, do your best to isolate him and take charge of the pot.

Raising from the big blind

A raise preflop will alert your opponent that you have something strong. If you just call, and check on the flop, he’s going to bet anyway. You can take that bet then instead of now. With a really good flop, you’re looking at a lot of action.

Raising when there are many people already in the pot

Failing to raise preflop is a common mistake all across the board, not just from the big blind, but it’s even more common there. Remember, as soon as the pot is multiway, you should play preflop aggressively and exploit the loose callers. I know it’s tempting to just hit “check” and get to see what the flop will bring you, but if you follow the rule of thumb: Temptations are generally misleading in poker.

START NOW
close
phone
phone
Customer Care
1800 572 0611
10 AM to 7 PM | All Days